Forensic scientists work on DNA murder mystery case

Ever wonder what you might get involved with during PhD study?

This is one example of a project that was investigated by academics and PhD students from Northumbria and Leicester Universities. Further your studies and you too could find yourself cracking open age-old mysteries with cutting-edge technology.

Read on for the facts behind this intriguing murder case…

Researchers from Northumbria University’s Centre for Forensic Science have been trying to identify the victim of a gruesome 1930 murder case.

A male body was found in a blazing car in Northamptonshire in November 1930. Traveller Alfred Rouse was hanged for the murder of his victim who, to this day, has not been identified.

Last year, the descendants of a man named William Briggs approached Northamptonshire Police in an attempt to re-open the case. Briggs had left his family home at around the same time the crime was committed and was never seen or heard of again. His family always believed he could have been the victim of what had become known as the Blazing Car Murder.

With the help of Northamptonshire Police, the University of Leicester and The Royal London Hospital, the family were able to access tissue samples taken from the victim during his post-mortem examination.

If the 83-year old samples contained enough mitochondrial

DNA there was a strong chance that a comparison could be made with the DNA of Briggs’ descendants.

Dr Eleanor Graham and PhD student Victoria Barlow in Northumbria’s Centre for Forensic Science were asked to analyse the samples to see if there was a match that would identify Briggs as the victim of the Blazing Car Murder. The results revealed no consistency with the DNA of Briggs’ family members, meaning he could not have