Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories · Spotify Studios

The First DNA Murder Conviction

·54 min·4 clips

DNA evidence proves the confessed killer is innocent, forcing detectives to hunt for the real murderer.

This episode details the 1983 murder of 15-year-old Linda Mann and the 1986 murder of 15-year-old Dawn Ashworth in three interconnected English villages. Host Carter Roy narrates the landmark investigation led by Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker. The case became the first murder investigation to use DNA fingerprinting, pioneered by Dr. Alec Jeffreys at Leicester University. The initial investigation into Linda Mann's murder, the first in the villages' recent history, yielded a semen sample indicating the killer had type A blood and the enzyme PGM1+. A 17-year-old kitchen worker named Richard Buckland was arrested after Dawn Ashworth's murder and confessed under lengthy interrogation. Detective Baker learned of Dr. Jeffreys's new DNA analysis technique from a local newspaper article. Jeffreys's tests proved the same man killed both girls but conclusively excluded Richard Buckland, forcing his release. Police then conducted a mass screening, requesting blood and saliva samples from over 4,000 local men aged 17 to 34. A bakery worker came forward to report that her colleague, Colin Pitchfork, had manipulated a coworker named Ian Kelly into giving a fake sample using a forged passport. Colin Pitchfork had a history of indecent exposure but had not been a registered sex offender. When arrested, Pitchfork confessed to his wife and then to police, detailing how he raped and strangled both girls after initially attempting to flash them. His real blood sample, number 4,853, was a definitive match to the crime scene evidence. Pitchfork received two life sentences after pleading guilty in 1988 but was released on parole in 2021, only to be re-arrested months later. The episode notes that DNA analysis is now used in 90% of murder investigations. It highlights that the mass screening's success hinged on a single tip from a community member about the sample deception. The tone is narrative and educational, building suspense through detailed storytelling and forensic explanations. Listeners interested in forensic science history and detailed cold case narratives will find this episode compelling. Those sensitive to descriptions of violence against teenagers may find the content distressing.

As heard by us

A landmark DNA case told with steady suspense and real forensic weight.

Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories follows the case that pushed DNA fingerprinting into murder work, beginning in 1980s England with the killings of Linda Mann and Dawn Ashworth.

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See how DNA fingerprinting moved from theory to the first murder investigation that used it.

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