CSI type question

Factual Questions
1

OK, I was watching a bunch of csi sort of shows yesterday, and there was one on Lizzie Borden and her little ax.

It was sort of neat, they actually showed the supposed hatchet, and a scarf, and some other spiffy stuff. And it turns out the house is now a bed and breakfast so you can stay there if you want.

My question is pretty simple.

Do they really not understand real life?

These guys went around the house looking for any remnants of evidence of what may have happened. I have no problem with them luminoling around the place. yes, there is a spiffy remnant of blood in the floor boards, after getting whacked with a hatched 19 times, I do agree that there would definitely be a pool of blood …

However they luninoled around the ‘dry sink’, a large basin in a niche in the basement that was used for washing up stuff in general, and they are apparently claiming that because they found glowy spots that lizzie probably did the axing, and washed up down there.

OK, so we have a house with 4 women in it … all of whome are there for a number of years, having menstrual cycles. Blood ensues [well endometrial lining ensues, but it is pretty bloody and has blood cells in it] and I dont know about you, but I have also had to wash up after butchering a chicken, and after a sheep and blood does tend to occasionally drip and spray as washing occurs.

My question is, what are the actual odds that it was lizzy washing up after the pair of murders as opposed to 10+ years of women cleaning up after menstruation, butchering chickens, accidently having a household oops with a kitchen knife peeling apples … or any other number of ways someone can ooze drip spray spurt or spatter blood without it being murder?

[oddly enough I am now having that issue right now and because of getting stuck in traffic had a leakage issue causing me to have to wash out clothing in the kitchen sink so the stains don’t set, and it rather looked like a murder occurred. You could probably actually luminol the batroom, kitchen and a random trail leading from the back porch into the kitchen and bathroom and find cleaned up blood spatter evidence.] Does luminol only react to human blood or anything with hemoglobin in it?

2

We are entering the realm of what we lawyers call something which has “probative value”. Evidence of the type that you mention is rarely enough on its own, you usually need two or three other pieces of corroberative evidence.

3

I just really really really wish they wouldnt just show them jumping to the conclusion that luminol glow around a basin that was used daily for all sorts of wshing up chores by a number of women who might legitemately have blood to wash off as proof that she washed off blood … of course she washed off blood at least once a month for years. She or her maid had to wash the cloth used to catch the menses, you didnt just go out for disposable sanitary napkins or tampons …

Hell Id hate to luminol the house here, there would be blood spatter all over the living room where one of my bitches with puppies attacked a nonbreeding female dog in a fit of maternal rage or whatever … blood spatter on the hearth where mrAru oopsed with a hatchet and some kindling and put a corner of the hatchet into his knee, in the kitchen where both of us have cut ourselves, the bathroom where I have been known to decide to sit on the john for an hour or so now and then instead of trying to shove another tampon in to soak up the blood … the barn wall by the chopping block is more or less an abbatoire.

I would hazard a guess that you could luminol any random house or appartment and find blood spatter all over the place for various legitemate reasons.

4

Luminol also apparently reacts in the same way to copper, fecal matter and certain bleach solutions, among other things. A positive reaction should never be taken as conclusive evidence that human blood was there, let alone that it was the blood of a murder victim, but it can form part of a compelling collection of evidence that puts the identity of the killer beyond reasonable doubt.

5

Furthermore, the house has been in fairly continuous use since the murders, and any one of the ensuing owners or guests could have washed blood down the sink for any number of legit or nefarious reasons. Luminol doesn’t come with little clocks, so we don’t know when the blood it reacted to was left there.