0:01

Due to the graphic nature of this

0:03

episode, listener discretion is advised. This

0:05

episode includes discussions of sexual assault

0:08

and the murder of children. Consider

0:11

this when deciding how and when you'll

0:13

listen. If

0:20

you're a fan of true crime, you

0:22

know how important DNA can be in

0:24

forensic investigations. Since

0:26

in the past few years, advancements

0:29

in DNA analysis have helped close

0:31

even the coldest of cases. The

0:34

Lady of the Dunes, Kristen Smart, even

0:36

the Golden State Killer. These

0:39

days, it's easy to take the science for

0:41

granted. But as recently as the

0:43

early 1980s, things like

0:46

blood and semen samples couldn't necessarily

0:48

be linked to a singular person.

0:51

The best way to catch a murderer was

0:53

with a fingerprint. So if a

0:55

killer wore gloves or wiped down the crime

0:57

scene, all bets might be off.

1:00

It wasn't until the mid-80s

1:02

when a killer struck a

1:04

tiny English village that a

1:06

brand new technology called DNA

1:08

fingerprinting was first used in

1:10

a murder investigation. It

1:13

showed investigators the last thing

1:15

they were expecting to find

1:17

and changed forensic science forever.

1:24

I'm Vanessa Richardson, and this is

1:26

Serial Killers, a Spotify podcast. You

1:28

can find us here every Monday.

1:30

Be sure to check us out

1:32

on Instagram, at Serial Killers podcast.

1:35

And we'd love to hear from you, so if you're

1:37

listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us

1:39

your thoughts. April

1:42

25th marks National DNA Day

1:44

in the US. It's

1:46

a time to celebrate advancements in

1:48

DNA research, like the ones that

1:50

scientists and detectives now use to

1:53

bring justice to victims, sometimes

1:55

after years or even

1:57

decades have passed. were

2:00

exploring the first murder case ever

2:02

solved using DNA analysis. But

2:05

it's not just the scientific breakthroughs that make

2:07

this story so fascinating. It's

2:10

the human drama surrounding them. Without

2:13

a dogged detective, a renowned

2:15

researcher, and one brave woman who

2:17

chose to come forward, this

2:20

case might never have become the

2:22

forensic landmark it is today. Stay

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you ever experienced something that felt like

4:08

fate? Maybe it was landing

4:10

your dream job, meeting the love of

4:12

your life, or making a life-changing move

4:14

to a new city. Whatever

4:16

the case, you look back and realize that

4:19

a million little things had to fall into

4:21

place in order for you to be where

4:23

you are now. The

4:25

story you're about to hear is a lot like

4:27

that. Numerous things had to happen

4:30

exactly the way they did for the

4:32

outcome to be possible. And I'm

4:34

not just talking about a few small coincidences.

4:37

This story was years in the making.

4:40

For the people of Leicestershire County,

4:42

England, the stars aligned just in

4:44

the nick of time. The

4:50

biggest city in the county is

4:53

Leicester. It's a metropolitan hub with

4:55

train stations, shopping centers, and a

4:57

university. But drive a few

4:59

miles out and you'll find three

5:02

small villages, Enderby,

5:04

Narborough, and Littlethorpe. The

5:06

villages are connected by a series

5:08

of semi-wooded footpaths. It only takes

5:11

10 or 15 minutes to get from

5:13

one village to the next. Most of

5:15

the kids go to the same school. So

5:18

while Leicester is a modern city,

5:20

the villages are a vestige of

5:22

a simpler time. They each

5:24

have small markets, a couple of

5:27

pubs, post offices, and churches. Everything

5:30

feels slightly ancient. In

5:32

Narborough, the butcher shop proudly displays

5:35

a sign that says, established 17th

5:37

century. But

5:40

now it's the 80s. So

5:42

the villages are a unique intersection between

5:44

the old world and the new era.

5:47

In the midst of these Renaissance

5:49

buildings and cobblestone streets, teenage girls

5:51

walk around with teased hair and

5:54

blue eyeshadow. One of them

5:56

is 15-year-old Linda Mann. Linda.

6:02

Lives in Arbor out with her

6:04

mom, step dad, and two sisters.

6:06

She's the middle child, but she

6:08

stands out. She's always trying. New

6:10

hairstyles and fashion trends. Plus,

6:13

she excels in school,

6:15

especially with languages. She's learning

6:17

French, German, and Italian.

6:20

Her. Dream is to break out of the

6:22

villages and travel. The world. Are

6:25

now she's stuff riding the school bus.

6:34

On November twenty first, Nineteen Eighty

6:36

Three, Linda hops off the bus

6:38

and rushes home. Is a painfully

6:40

cold day, but she can't wait

6:42

to be in the words. As

6:45

soon as she's inside, Linda slips open

6:47

a textbook. She's laser focused for a

6:49

while until it's time for her to

6:52

go work a couple of baby sitting

6:54

gigs. The. Second job falls

6:56

through so Linda returns home around

6:58

seven pm and tells her mom

7:00

and stepdad she wants to go

7:02

see a friend and enderby. She

7:04

says she'll be home by ten,

7:06

then bundles up and. Leave. Linda

7:10

guess who are friend's house at about

7:12

seven thirty but only stays for a

7:14

few minutes before heading out again. She

7:16

plans to visit another friend before heading

7:18

home for the evening. But

7:21

she never makes it. Around

7:28

twelve thirty am, Linda's parents,

7:30

Kathleen and Edward East would

7:32

get home from a night

7:34

out there. greeted by their

7:36

oldest daughter. she's frantic. Linda

7:39

hasn't come home and she should have been

7:41

back hours. Ago. Edward

7:43

sets off into the night to look for

7:45

his. Stepdaughter probably hoping she just

7:48

lost track of time. he

7:50

drives through Nor Brother narrow

7:52

streets. And eventually parks his car

7:54

to walk down a footpath called

7:56

the Black Pad. He knows Linda

7:58

would have used. The to get

8:00

to Enderby. But he

8:02

doesn't find any. Trace of her.

8:06

At one thirty am, he calls

8:09

the police and reports his daughter

8:11

missing. Officers aren't initially concerned. From

8:13

their point of view, a teenager

8:15

being out late isn't cause for

8:17

alarm. Historically, the villages are extremely

8:20

safe and Linda's only been gone

8:22

a few hours. So

8:24

the Eastwood's are on their

8:26

own. They keep searching for

8:28

Linda, holding tight to the

8:30

thought that she's okay. Less

8:33

than six hours later, that

8:35

hope is shattered. Around

8:41

seven Twenty Am on November twenty

8:43

second, a man is walking to

8:45

work. He's an employee at The

8:48

Carlton He's Hospital, a psychiatric institution

8:50

that sits on a big swath

8:52

of farmlands between two footpaths. On

8:54

the east is Ten Pound Lane.

8:57

On the west is the Black

8:59

Pad. The trail. Where edward search

9:01

for Linda. The man is

9:03

crossing through the field when he sees something

9:05

in the grass. At first he

9:08

thinks it's a discarded manucho, which

9:10

strikes him as odd. When he

9:12

gets closer, he realizes it's a

9:14

girl. She's unconscious and there's a

9:17

scarf squeezed around her neck. The

9:19

man runs to get a coworker

9:21

and together they checked. for a

9:23

pulse. There isn't one.

9:28

At least thirty officers. Arrived on

9:30

scene. Their. Led by

9:33

Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker.

9:36

Investigators. Canvas. The area

9:38

while a forensic pathologist examines the

9:40

body. Right away it's clear

9:42

that girl has been raped and

9:44

murdered. The. Scarf around her

9:47

neck was likely used to strangle

9:49

her. For.

9:51

The police. It's a real shock.

9:54

This is the first murder

9:56

case ever investigated in our

9:58

Enderby. Or little Thorpe. Nothing

10:00

like this has ever happened in

10:02

the sleepy villages, at least in

10:04

recent history. But. Detective Baker

10:07

doesn't hesitate. He connects the body

10:09

to the missing person report the

10:11

eastwards filed the previous night and

10:13

arranges for an officer. Didn't notify

10:16

the family. He. Needs

10:18

to know with this is Linda. When.

10:21

Edward learns that a bodies been

10:23

found. He races to the seen.

10:25

Nothing can prepare him for the

10:27

moment. He sees his little girl

10:29

lying in the grass. The.

10:31

Shock and grief are

10:33

indescribable. He realizes that the

10:36

night before he'd walked within just a

10:38

few hundred. Yards of her body.

10:41

Oh. He wants to do is take

10:43

her home. Give. Her a

10:45

proper burial. But. He can't

10:47

do that yet. Authorities need to

10:50

perform an autopsy. A

10:55

medical examiner determines that Linda died

10:57

of asphyxiation. There also able to

11:00

retrieve the semen sample and even

11:02

though Dna analysis isn't available just

11:04

yet, police can still use bodily

11:07

fluids to analyze other aspects of

11:09

a person's biology. They figure out

11:12

that whoever attack Linda Us has

11:14

Type A blood as well as

11:16

the enzyme marker known as P

11:19

G M One Floss which can

11:21

be found in blood and semen.

11:24

These characteristics allow investigators to

11:27

narrow down the pool. Of

11:29

potential suspects. However,

11:31

according to a Forensic Files episode

11:34

on the case, about ten percent

11:36

of the British male population has

11:38

this specific combination, so the discovery

11:41

is more useful. For. Ruling suspects

11:43

out. Investigators at least

11:45

have a new tool, though When they

11:47

find a person of interest, their first

11:49

step will be to. Order a blood

11:52

test to see if that person

11:54

matches Linda's killer. The

11:58

first suspect Linda's. Dad

12:00

Edward. Eastwood. It's

12:03

a formality. Family and friends are

12:05

often among the first people police

12:07

investigate, but Edward gives a blood

12:10

sample and doesn't match the profile.

12:12

However, The mere insinuation that

12:14

he could have done this upsets

12:17

him. He's morning his child and

12:19

the police are wasting valuable time.

12:22

In law enforcement's defense they are

12:24

trying. They just don't have any

12:26

experience with an investigation like this.

12:28

Once they rule edward out a

12:30

go back to the semen sample

12:32

to. See if they can glean any more

12:34

information. Experts then noticed that

12:36

the sperm count in the sample

12:38

is relatively high, which makes them

12:40

think it came from a young

12:42

man or team, probably between the

12:44

ages of fourteen and thirty one.

12:47

It's. Not a lot to go off of, but

12:49

at least it narrows down there possible suspect

12:51

pull a bit. They

12:55

turn their attention toward all known

12:57

violence sexual offenders in the villages

12:59

within that. Age Range: This is

13:01

a lot harder than you might

13:04

imagine. Remember it's the early eighties,

13:06

so most police records aren't digital.

13:09

They. Stored in filing cabinets,

13:11

Officers flip through thousands of

13:13

pages to compile a list

13:15

of Leeds. At

13:17

the same time members of the community

13:20

flood them with calls. It seems like

13:22

everyone has a tip. They saw teenager

13:24

with a punk haircut who looked suspicious

13:26

or up. Heard a stranger at a

13:28

pub whisper something. About. The case. There's.

13:31

Also, the matter of the Carlton Hayes

13:34

Hospital. The hospital houses and

13:36

treats people experiencing a range

13:38

of mental health problems, not

13:40

just violent offenders. But that

13:42

doesn't stop the public over

13:44

the police from considering the

13:46

possibility that a patient somehow

13:48

broke out and committed this

13:50

murder. Remember. The hospital

13:52

as right beside the black Pad and

13:55

Linda body was found on the farm

13:57

land. near by Officers

14:03

scan through the records of over 10,000 current

14:06

and former patients to see if

14:08

any are worth investigating more closely.

14:11

None of these leads pan out. By

14:14

Christmas, Linda's loved ones still

14:16

have no answers. In

14:19

February, three months since Linda's murder,

14:21

the police ratcheted up their efforts.

14:24

There are now more than 100 officers

14:27

on the case. In total, investigators

14:29

have taken 3,000 statements

14:32

and followed up on 4,000

14:34

tips. And

14:36

still nothing. As

14:40

1984 carries on,

14:42

authorities keep hitting dead ends,

14:45

so the crew starts to shrink. What

14:48

was once a team of over

14:50

100 investigators drops to 50, then 30,

14:53

then 8. By

14:57

the summer of 1984, there

14:59

are just two detectives working

15:01

the case part-time. It's

15:04

not just heartbreaking. It's scary. There's

15:06

still a killer out there. And

15:08

Linda's parents fear that if he isn't

15:11

caught, he'll strike

15:13

again. Hey,

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16:00

Dawn Ashworth is working at a

16:02

newsstand in Enderby. Over

16:05

the past two and a half years, she's

16:07

seen all the coverage about Linda Mann's murder.

16:10

It might be the biggest news ever

16:12

in the villages, and Dawn is close

16:14

to it. She and Linda went to

16:16

the same school just a few years apart.

16:19

They had mutual friends. Ever

16:23

since Linda's body was found, Dawn,

16:25

along with practically every other teenage

16:27

girl in Narborough, Enderby, and Littlethorpe,

16:29

has been getting the same lecture

16:32

from her parents. Don't

16:34

go anywhere alone at night, and

16:37

never take the footpath. Dawn

16:40

finishes her shift at 3.30pm. It's

16:43

still daylight, so walking home alone is no

16:45

big deal. When she gets there,

16:47

her mom reminds her they've got a family friend's

16:50

birthday party that night at 7. Dawn

16:53

wants to visit a different friend in

16:55

Narborough beforehand. Her mom says, okay,

16:57

as long as she's home in time for

16:59

the party. Dawn heads out around

17:01

4. From

17:04

the Ashworth's house, there are two routes

17:06

to Narborough, the main road and the

17:08

shortcut along 10-pound lane, which is one

17:11

of the footpaths I mentioned earlier. Maybe

17:14

because it's the middle of the afternoon,

17:16

Dawn doesn't take her parents' advice. She

17:19

heads down 10-pound lane and gets

17:22

to her friend's house soon after. But

17:24

her friend isn't home. Her mom

17:26

says she might have gone to the center of town,

17:28

which is sort of like a town square. Dawn

17:31

leaves, once again walking down

17:34

10-pound lane. She

17:36

never makes it into town. Dawn's

17:40

parents, Barbara and Robin, wait over two

17:42

hours for her to come home, but

17:45

she misses the birthday party and

17:47

her regular curfew. They're

17:50

immediately concerned. They can't help

17:52

but think about Linda Mann. At

17:56

9.40 p.m., Barbara and Robin call

17:58

the police. Officers don't

18:00

jump to conclusions. They consider

18:03

this a missing person case, so they

18:05

follow the usual protocol, question

18:07

family and friends, alert the

18:10

public, conduct searches. Nobody's

18:13

forgotten what happened to Linda. It's

18:15

just that police have chosen to believe

18:18

that was an isolated incident. They

18:20

don't see any reason why Dawn won't come

18:22

home safely... until two

18:24

days later. On

18:28

the morning of August 2nd, a police

18:31

officer searches a field near the

18:33

same area where Linda Mann's body was

18:35

found. It's a routine precaution.

18:38

But then, the horror starts all

18:41

over again. There's some

18:43

foliage and hay piled up in a

18:45

way that looks unnatural. He

18:47

gets closer and sees

18:50

Dawn Ashworth lying dead in

18:52

the grass. The

18:55

officer calls for backup, detectives

18:57

swarm the area and a

18:59

forensic pathologist examines Dawn's remains.

19:03

Right away, the pathologist determines

19:05

that Dawn was raped and

19:07

strangled, just like Linda. They're

19:10

able to test a semen sample

19:12

and figure out that it belongs

19:14

to someone with Type A blood

19:16

who is a PGM1 plus secretor,

19:19

just like the sample taken from Linda's

19:21

body. Remember that

19:23

profile applies to around 10% of

19:25

the male population, so this doesn't

19:27

prove the cases are related, but

19:29

between these matching samples and the

19:31

fact that both girls' bodies were found

19:34

less than a mile from each other, the

19:36

police see a connection. The

19:40

tiny villages where a murder investigation

19:43

had never even happened before now

19:46

live in fear of a possible serial

19:49

killer. Street

19:53

corners, where kids used to hang out,

19:56

are now empty. Girls

19:58

walk home from school in packs. Everyone

20:00

looks at their neighbors with suspicion,

20:03

probably because at this point, lead

20:05

detective David Baker has publicly stated

20:07

his belief that the killer is,

20:10

quote, within this community.

20:14

There are a couple reasons he thinks

20:16

this. First, the footpaths near where the

20:19

girls were found are only really known

20:21

to locals. Second, the fact

20:23

that two murders have occurred in the

20:25

same place makes it seem unlikely the

20:27

killer was just passing through. Police

20:30

feel like he's probably been waiting

20:32

to strike again. The

20:34

investigation ramps back up. Over

20:36

200 detectives are on it.

20:39

Tips pile in. This

20:41

time, the calls point somewhere.

20:45

Several witnesses report seeing a

20:47

motorcycle parked beside 10-pound lane

20:50

around 4 p.m. on July 31st, the

20:53

time Dawn was likely murdered. Police

20:56

look into it and find that

20:58

the motorcycle belongs to a 17-year-old

21:01

named Richard Buckland. Two

21:04

things about Richard stick out. One,

21:06

he works in the kitchen at the Carlton

21:09

Hayes Hospital. Police have considered

21:11

the possibility that a hospital patient could

21:13

be responsible for these crimes. Now

21:15

they wonder if it could be an employee. And

21:19

two, Richard apparently has a

21:21

reputation for verbally abusing women

21:23

and girls. In

21:28

1980s England, this amounts to enough for

21:30

an arrest warrant. On August 8th,

21:32

six days after Dawn's body was

21:34

found, Richard Buckland is

21:37

taken into custody. He's

21:44

questioned by several different officers.

21:46

He admits he knew Dawn Ashworth.

21:48

He even says he saw her

21:50

on the day she died, but

21:52

the circumstances aren't totally clear. At

21:55

first, he claims he saw her approaching

21:57

10-pound lane and stopped to talk to her about

21:59

a murder. mutual friend. He says

22:01

he went straight home after that. But

22:04

the police continue to press him. They

22:07

keep pushing and pushing, and

22:09

gradually, Richard's story starts to

22:11

change. He seems to

22:13

know details about the crime scene,

22:15

details they think only the killer

22:18

should know. Finally,

22:20

after fifteen hours of

22:22

interrogation, Richard breaks.

22:25

He says he and Don walk together

22:27

along the footpath. At some

22:29

point, he pushed her into the field

22:31

beside the hospital, where he raped

22:33

and murdered her. Then,

22:36

officers hit him with another line

22:38

of questioning. What about Linda

22:40

Mann? Richard Bocks. He's

22:42

adamant that he had nothing to

22:44

do with Linda's murder. Detective

22:48

David Baker doesn't believe this

22:50

at all. In a

22:52

press conference, he says he's 300% certain

22:56

that Richard is guilty of

22:58

both murders. He just has

23:00

to prove it. And

23:03

he thinks he knows how. He

23:06

remembers an article he read in a

23:08

local paper, the Lester Mercury, a few

23:10

months back. It was about

23:12

a new discovery made by a genetic

23:14

scientist at Lester University, which,

23:17

as coincidence would have it, is

23:19

less than ten miles from where

23:21

Linda and Don's bodies were found.

23:26

Dr. Alec Jeffries is studying the

23:29

human genome. He has

23:31

been since the late seventies. He

23:33

wants to learn more about how hereditary

23:35

diseases are passed from one generation to

23:38

the next. For a

23:40

bit of background, by this point, scientists

23:42

are aware DNA exists. It was discovered

23:45

in 1869,

23:47

and the double helix structure was identified

23:49

almost a century later in 1953. Knowledge

23:55

surrounding DNA continued to skyrocket

23:57

through the sixties, seventies and eighties.

24:00

Experts realize DNA is found

24:02

in all known living organisms

24:04

and is passed through generations.

24:07

Children inherit half their genome from one

24:09

parent and half from the other. They

24:12

also know that all human beings are 99.9%

24:14

genetically identical. Every

24:19

variation in our DNA comes from

24:21

that remaining 0.1%. And

24:25

this is where Alec Jeffries comes in.

24:28

He realizes that within that

24:30

small variation, each human

24:32

being is totally unique. Aside

24:36

from identical twins, who sometimes

24:38

share the exact same genetic

24:40

makeup, every person on

24:42

Earth has a distinctive DNA pattern.

24:45

Right away, Jeffries knows how

24:47

pivotal this discovery is. Because

24:51

everyone's DNA is both inherited

24:53

and unique, it

24:55

could be instrumental in identifying

24:57

deceased individuals or determining

25:00

whether two people, living or

25:02

dead, are related. It

25:04

could end paternity disputes. It

25:07

could solve crimes. But

25:11

there's a major roadblock. Before

25:14

any of those things can actually happen,

25:16

Dr. Jeffries needs to find an accurate,

25:18

repeatable way to isolate that 0.1% of

25:20

a person's DNA then

25:25

illustrate the unique variations.

25:28

As you might imagine, it's easier said

25:30

than done. But after

25:32

a lot of trial and error,

25:35

he figures it out with the

25:37

help of an already established technique

25:39

known as Southern Blot Analysis. In

25:46

the most basic terms, Jeffries takes

25:48

a sample of bodily fluid and

25:50

uses a special process to extract

25:52

the DNA and then

25:54

isolates the specific sequence he needs

25:56

to analyze. He Takes

25:58

the purified DNA. Sample and

26:00

injects that into a small block

26:02

of shell. Were in electric

26:04

current is used to separate the

26:07

genetic material even further. Then

26:09

he places a filter on top of

26:12

the gel and transfers the image of

26:14

the Dna on to it. The

26:16

resulting. Image which has been exposed

26:19

to a radioactive film looks like

26:21

a bar code. With each

26:23

black line symbolizing part of a

26:25

person's dna make up. This

26:28

allows Doctor Jeffrey to create

26:31

images that reflect the genetic

26:33

profiles of specific people and

26:35

compare those with samples of

26:38

on identified blood, saliva, or

26:40

semen. He calls these dna

26:42

fingerprints. I

26:45

can't overstate how huge. This breakthrough

26:47

is but at the. Time. It's

26:49

pretty nice only people in

26:51

the scientific community realize how

26:53

important it will eventually become. That's

26:55

probably why Detective David Baker didn't

26:58

find out about. It from the

27:00

B B C but from a local paper.

27:04

Regardless, Bigger recognizes that

27:06

this research could be useful for

27:08

his particular case. In the Fall

27:10

of Nineteen Eighty Six, he contacts.

27:13

After Jeffries. And asks if you

27:15

be willing to assist with the investigation. Jeffries.

27:18

Is ecstatic. This is exactly

27:21

the opportunities. Been waiting for. Their

27:25

to questions to answer were Lydia

27:27

and Dawn murdered by the same

27:30

person? And is so is

27:32

that person. Richard Buckland.

27:36

At. His. Lab at Leicester University.

27:38

Doctor Jeffries analyzes the semen

27:40

samples found at both. Crime

27:42

Scene: When the Dna fingerprints

27:44

come back, they look exactly

27:46

the same. This is a

27:49

huge deal. The Dna confirms that

27:51

police are looking for one man.

27:53

A repeat offender? It's no longer

27:55

just a hunch. next

27:58

police to listen of Richard Buckland's

28:00

blood and bring it to Jeffrey's

28:03

lab. Jeffrey's isolates the

28:05

DNA, captures the image,

28:07

and creates that genetic

28:09

barcode. He

28:11

hands the results to Detective

28:13

Baker, who can't believe what

28:15

he sees. Richard

28:18

Buckland's DNA is not

28:21

a match. Police

28:35

now know for certain Don Ashworth

28:37

and Linda Mann were murdered by

28:39

the same person, but that

28:41

person was not Richard Buckland. Detective

28:44

David Baker doesn't believe it.

28:47

He asks another scientist to run

28:49

the test again. The results come

28:51

back the same. Authorities

28:54

are baffled. How did Richard get

28:56

information about the crime scene? Why

28:59

did he confess? Well,

29:03

if you remember, Richard's confession came after

29:06

15 hours of interrogation. As

29:09

for the details police believed he had from the

29:11

crime scene, it's possible he

29:13

got that information from their own leading

29:16

questions, and they just didn't realize it.

29:19

In a later interview, Richard says

29:21

he only confessed because of the

29:23

pressure. Investigators are

29:26

back to square one. But

29:28

they're not ready to give up. They've made it

29:31

this far, and they're not going to let all

29:33

their efforts, or this groundbreaking

29:35

science, go to waste. Over

29:39

the next couple of months, Baker's team

29:41

works with Jeffries to figure out their

29:43

next move. They come up

29:46

with an idea. It'll take planning and

29:48

a lot of effort, but they think

29:50

it just might work. On

29:53

January 2, 1987, authorities announced their most

29:55

desperate play yet. The.

30:01

Police send a letter to every

30:03

man in the villages between the

30:05

ages of seventeen and thirty four.

30:08

Because. That's who was within the fourteen to

30:10

thirty one range of the time of Linda's

30:12

murder. In these letters, authorities

30:14

asked the men to come to

30:17

a designated police station on various

30:19

assigned dates and time slots to

30:21

give blood and saliva samples. Over

30:24

four. Thousand men fall into the

30:26

designated age group and authorities plan

30:29

to test every single one first

30:31

to see if they match the

30:33

type a P G M one

30:35

plus blood profile. If so, the

30:38

sample will move on for full

30:40

dna fingerprinting. As I said, it's

30:42

a massive undertaking and it's also

30:44

kind of confusing because these are

30:46

voluntary blood and saliva donations a

30:49

person is trying to get away

30:51

with. Murder could just not show

30:53

up. Police.

30:57

Realize this. They're not expecting

30:59

a killer to waltz in and hand

31:02

over his blood. Rather, this is a

31:04

way to narrow down potential suspects. Any

31:06

innocent man should be willing to submit

31:08

a sample. Anyone who

31:11

does and immediately looks suspicious.

31:14

By. August Nineteen Eighty Seven. A

31:16

year since Dawn Ashworth. Smarter?

31:19

Ninety. Eight per cent of men

31:21

have responded. Officers. Have

31:23

tested more than four thousand samples.

31:25

None of them are a match.

31:29

Police. Look into the remaining

31:31

two percent and still don't

31:33

find any compelling suspects. Then

31:35

on September eighteenth day get

31:38

of very. Interesting call.

31:42

It's from a woman who works at a

31:44

bakery and Leicester. she says about

31:46

six weeks ago she went to

31:48

a pub with some coworkers they

31:50

got to talking about the dna

31:52

testing going on in the villages

31:54

that's when one of her colleagues

31:56

a man named ian kelly said

31:58

something she couldn't forget Ian

32:02

explained that another coworker, a

32:04

man named Colin Pitchfork, came

32:07

to him a few weeks prior in a bind.

32:09

Apparently, one of Colin's friends had a criminal

32:12

record, so he was afraid of giving a

32:14

DNA sample because he thought it might put

32:16

him back on law enforcement's radar. As

32:20

Colin told it, he agreed to submit

32:22

a sample for his friend. He

32:25

thought it would be okay because Colin himself

32:27

didn't move to the village until after Linda

32:29

Mann's murder, and because the police hadn't sent

32:31

him a letter. Only

32:34

now they had, and

32:36

Colin didn't know what to do. He

32:38

couldn't submit two samples or authorities would

32:40

know one of them was false, so

32:43

he asked for Ian's help. Ian

32:47

didn't live in the villages, so he wasn't

32:49

going to be tested. He could give blood

32:51

on Colin's behalf and police would never be

32:53

the wiser. According to

32:55

Colin, two wrongs would make everything

32:58

right. Ian

33:00

agreed. Ian

33:02

drove to the testing station. When

33:05

asked for ID, he handed over a

33:07

fake passport Colin had made for him. He

33:10

gave blood and saliva, then

33:12

signed Colin's name. A

33:14

few days later, a letter arrived at

33:17

Colin's door. His results came back.

33:19

He wasn't a match. At

33:22

the pub that night, Ian bragged that he

33:24

and Colin pulled it off. The

33:31

woman sat on this information for a

33:33

while. She didn't want to rat out

33:35

her coworkers, but she couldn't shake the

33:37

feeling that Colin was lying about why

33:40

he couldn't take the test himself. After

33:43

mulling it over, she decided to call

33:45

the police. Others

33:49

verify the story by comparing a

33:51

signature Colin Pitchfork already has on

33:53

file with the one submitted alongside

33:56

his DNA sample. The

33:58

handwriting doesn't match. Ian

34:01

Kelly forged the signature. Baker

34:04

sends officers to question Ian, and

34:07

it soon becomes clear that Colin

34:09

was the mastermind behind the whole

34:11

operation. He manipulated

34:13

Ian, who detectives describe

34:15

as, quote, extremely gullible.

34:19

Police confirm that Colin's DNA hasn't

34:21

been tested at all, and

34:23

even more suspicious, Colin also

34:26

has a long history

34:28

of indecent exposure. Now,

34:31

in 1980s England, indecent

34:33

exposure was considered a, quote,

34:35

nuisance crime. That means Colin

34:38

didn't have to register as a sex offender.

34:40

Therefore, his name didn't come up when

34:42

police first searched for suspects. He

34:45

flew under the radar. But

34:49

not anymore. Authorities now

34:51

feel certain that Colin is guilty.

34:54

Officers are dispatched to his home to

34:56

make the arrest. They

35:01

surround his house, covering all the exits

35:03

in case Colin tries to run. They

35:06

knock on the door, and

35:08

a tall, round-faced man

35:10

answers. He's only 27, but he looks

35:12

older. His

35:15

face is lined, and his hair is

35:17

thinning. It's Colin

35:20

Pitchfork. An officer tells him

35:22

he's under arrest for the murder of Don

35:24

Ashworth, and he just

35:26

stands there. His face is

35:28

blank. He asks if he can

35:31

have a moment to speak to his wife. Police

35:33

say, okay, but the two of them will have

35:35

to be with him as a precaution. One

35:38

of the officers calls Colin's wife Carol

35:40

into the kitchen. Colin tells

35:43

her he's being arrested for the

35:45

recent murders. Carol's eyes

35:47

widen. She knows about Linda and Don.

35:49

Their stories have been all over the

35:52

news for years. But

35:54

she read the letter with his DNA

35:56

results, the one that said Colin was

35:58

innocent. She's confused. She

36:01

asks Colin something to the effect of, well, did you

36:03

do it? Colin

36:07

stares at her. Then, he nods. And

36:12

Carol lunges at him. She claws

36:14

at his face and punches him in the nose. The

36:16

police have to hold her back. They

36:19

finally get Colin out of the house in handcuffs. Then

36:21

they drive him to the police station and

36:24

bring him into an interrogation room. Colin

36:29

knows there's no way out of this. He's

36:31

already confessed to his wife in front

36:33

of the police. He's also

36:35

given a sample of his blood, for

36:38

real this time. It's

36:40

sample number 4853. And

36:45

it's a match. So Colin

36:47

doesn't pull any punches. He's

36:50

a horrifically open book. He

36:55

tells police that on the evening of November 21, 1983,

36:59

he'd just dropped his wife

37:01

off for an evening class at a nearby

37:03

community college. He was driving

37:05

home with his infant son in the

37:07

back seat. That's when he decided to

37:09

make a pit stop. He

37:12

was looking for a girl to

37:14

flash. He saw Linda Mann walking

37:16

toward the black pad. He

37:18

parked his car, got out, and stood further down

37:20

the road from her. When

37:23

she got close to him, he exposed

37:25

himself. According to Colin, Linda

37:27

screamed and ran into the field beside

37:30

the Carlton Hayes Hospital. Colin

37:32

chased her down and raped

37:35

her. He claims that

37:37

at this point, he got worried that Linda would be

37:39

able to identify him to the police. He

37:42

didn't want her to report the assault,

37:44

so he strangled her. He

37:47

left her body in the field, walked back

37:49

to his car, and

37:51

drove home with his child. A

37:54

few hours later, he picked his wife up from class and

37:56

acted as though everything was perfectly

37:59

normal. Dawn's

38:01

murder was similar. On the afternoon

38:03

of July 31st, 1986, he was driving around looking

38:07

for someone to flash. He

38:10

saw Dawn near 10-pound lane and

38:12

did the exact same thing he

38:14

did to Linda. Flashed her,

38:16

chased her into the field,

38:18

then raped and strangled her. Afterward,

38:21

he went home and baked

38:24

a cake. Researchers

38:30

describe Colin Pitchfork as cold,

38:33

emotionless, without an ounce

38:35

of remorse. At his

38:38

hearing in January 1988, Colin

38:40

pleads guilty. The death

38:43

penalty is outlawed in England by

38:45

this point, but the judge gives

38:47

Colin Pitchfork a life sentence. This

38:50

doesn't seem to faze him. When asked what

38:52

it'll be like to live out the rest

38:54

of his years behind bars, Colin

38:56

says, I will simply

38:58

be changing a larger world for

39:01

a smaller one. It's

39:04

not the kind of justice Linda and

39:06

Dawn's families hoped for, but it's

39:08

enough, for the next 33 years at

39:11

least. Fast forward to

39:13

2021, Colin is 62 years old. He spent more than half

39:16

his life in

39:20

prison, more years than Linda and

39:22

Dawn were alive combined. That

39:25

September, he's released

39:27

on parole. The

39:30

families and the public are outraged,

39:32

and soon after reports start coming

39:35

in about Colin. According to

39:37

the BBC, he, quote, approached young

39:39

women on multiple occasions while out

39:41

on walks from his bail hostel.

39:44

He also refuses to comply

39:46

with the condition of his

39:48

release mandatory polygraph. By

39:51

December 2021, he's re-arrested. Two years later,

39:57

a parole board rules he will

39:59

stay in prison for now.

40:04

Since the 80s, DNA technology has

40:07

gotten so advanced that experts can

40:09

now create a profile using nothing

40:11

more than the skin cells left

40:13

behind when someone touches a surface.

40:16

Even a discarded pizza crust can bring

40:18

down a serial killer. Just

40:20

ask Lonnie Franklin Jr., aka

40:23

the Grim Sleeper. These

40:29

breakthroughs are invaluable to law enforcement.

40:32

According to the BBC documentary series,

40:34

The Crimes That Changed Us, genetic

40:37

analysis is now used in 90%

40:39

of murder investigations. And

40:43

since scientists can use DNA

40:45

samples from decades-old evidence, it's

40:48

also been a driving force in solving

40:50

cold cases. Like I

40:52

said before, it's hard to overstate

40:55

just how pivotal forensic DNA analysis

40:57

is. And it's

40:59

forever tied to two teenage girls

41:01

in those tiny English villages

41:04

and a scientific breakthrough right

41:06

in their own backyard. In

41:09

the words of Dawn Ashworth's mother,

41:12

Barbara, now, when I hear

41:14

of a case where DNA has solved

41:16

a crime, I look up

41:18

to the heavens and say, there you

41:20

are, Dawn. We've caught

41:23

another one. Thanks

41:29

for listening to Serial Killers, a

41:32

Spotify podcast. We're here with a

41:34

new episode every Monday. Be sure

41:36

to check us out on Instagram

41:38

at Serial Killers podcast. And we'd

41:40

love to hear from you. So if you're listening on

41:42

the Spotify app, swipe up and give us

41:44

your thoughts. For more information

41:46

on the murders of Linda Mann

41:49

and Dawn Ashworth, amongst the many

41:51

sources we used, we found The

41:53

Blooding by Joseph Wamba and the

41:55

BBC documentary The Crimes That

41:57

Changed Us, DNA, extremely helpful.

42:00

to our research. Stay safe

42:02

out there. Serial Killers

42:04

is a Spotify podcast. This

42:06

episode was written by Caris

42:09

Allen, edited by Sarah Batchelor

42:11

and Andrew Kelleher, researched and

42:13

edited by Mickey Taylor, fact-checked

42:15

by Bennett Logan, and sound-designed

42:17

by Kelly Gary. Our

42:20

head of programming is Julian Boirot.

42:22

Our head of production is Nick

42:24

Johnson. Spencer Howard is our post-production

42:27

supervisor. I'm your host, Vanessa Richardson.