‘Why I’m determined to crack my only unsolved case’ | Global News Avenue

The crime scene was bloody. The victim was stabbed several times in an attempt to defend himself. In the process, the suspect was also believed to have been bleeding.

The attacker is still huge.

“It’s a frustrating case because I don’t actually think I have a case that I haven’t resolved in 27 years, so it’s not appropriate to me,” said Jo Ward, a crime scene coordinator for the West Midlands Police Department.

Joe has handled over 50 murders and is determined to track down her only unresolved case – Investigation in the new BBC series Forensic: The Real CSI.

On February 9, 2022, Joe was asked to investigate the murder of a Chinese national, who was 41 years old, murdered in his apartment in Diggbeth, Birmingham.

Soon, apparently, the apartment was used as a brothel, and the only witness to the brutal murder was a young Chinese woman who hid from the killer.

Initially, the motive was considered a robbery – the drawer on the bedside table had been pulled out and the property was searched. But this cannot be confirmed.

As a crime scene coordinator, Joe was the first to be on the scene, combing the property for evidence. Throughout the investigation, she worked with other experts, such as blood pattern analysts and CCTV coordinator, trying to piece together everything that happened that night.

Police believe the murder suspect may have been injured in the crazy attack.

Blood pattern analysis is a technique used to explain bloodstains at the crime scene, which helps determine which blood spots in the apartment might belong to the victims and which may be the killer.

A blood was found to be introduced from the property and CCTV was analyzed for hours to track the killer’s escape route.

The suspect is a black man, between 5-foot-2 inches (1.6m) and 5-foot-5 inches (1.7m) tall, and is slim. CCTV also revealed that he had an unusual way of walking.

Despite the discovery of DNA samples of the suspects, there is no match in the national DNA database – the database has a DNA profile of about 5.9 million people who were arrested, warned or convicted of crime.

The case is still ongoing and no one is charged with murder.

If it had been a decade ago, this would have been the end of the road, but the development of forensics means familial DNA searches can also be used to identify potential biological relatives of suspects, who may also be in national databases, Joe said.

“I have never done this kind of search before in 27 years as a[police],” Joe said.

Using family DNA search is not the only advance Forensics, the sample size required to obtain a complete DNA profile has also changed dramatically, Joe said.

“A few years ago, we used to have a lot of blood or any other cellular material and then actually got a DNA profile from it,” she said. “Now, we literally need a size of blood or any other honeycomb material to get a full profile.”

In the past, besides blood, the main source of DNA was cigarettes. But now, anything in contact with the lips and saliva can also be wiped to provide a DNA profile, such as jars, drink bottles, and more and more vapes.

Joe says cellular DNA can also be found when someone just touches an item.

“Obviously, when we have murder or sexual assault, we’ve been looking at (whether) completely caught by the offender during the attack (whether it has been caught by the offender). This is the goal for those areas and then see if you can get DNA from it.”

But despite the improvement in technology, getting answers is not always as fast as Joe wants.

“It’s not like your CSI Miami, where you get DNA, literally, they get results.”

She hopes the identification process will be accelerated in the future.

“Obviously, fingerprints have always been there, and we recover them with powder and feed them in,” Joe said. “I think there’s something simple coming up digitally, taking pictures, scanning directly, and it’s faster when identifying.”

Over the years, walking into so many murder scenes has had an impact on Joe. She felt like a butterfly in her belly, and she felt the same anxiety.

“Sometimes, I feel sick when I come out and don’t want to eat, but now I really have a mindset: ‘Okay, I can’t change what’s happening, but all I can do is what I do the best and then determine the responsibility of the victim and family.

Joe suffered from PTSD after her past murder investigations, which she said has taught her a lot. To avoid relapse, she tries not to make an emotional attachment.

“I think this is a mistake I made when I have PTSD, and I’ve been looking at all the family photos,” Joe said.

“It’s a tough job, but it’s also a very meaningful job when you get the results and identify the suspect and get charged.”

When it comes to her only unresolved case, Joe hopes someone will step up after watching the program and remember who might have led to the suspect.

She also sent a message to the killer: “We need to be justice for victims and families. Do the right thing and stand up.”

Forensic: Real CSI – Murder in a brothel Will start at 21:00 GMT on the BBC on Sunday, March 2, starting at 06:00 GMT on the BBC iPlayer

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