| For 16 years, police in Germany hunted a female serial killer whose DNA was identified at 40 crime scenes, including six murders. Exasperated, investigators dubbed her “the phantom of Heilbronn,” after the town in which she allegedly killed a policewoman. A state prosecutor on her trail said he “just couldn’t believe that the same woman could be capable” of all the crimes to which she’d been linked. Well, it turns out she wasn’t. Police officials this week revealed the source of the DNA they’ve been chasing all over Europe. It came from the cotton swabs used to collect DNA evidence at each of the phantom-killer crime scenes. The swabs had probably been contaminated by a woman who works in the factory where the swabs were produced. (HT: Deborah Kenyon) [%comments]
The Phantom of Heilbronn Unmasked
TAGS: crime
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I wonder if the cotton for the swabs was hand picked. That would certainly screw up the process.
By the way–MesoAmerican natives grew cotton in all the colors of the rainbow….not just mild tints, but deep colors: blue, chile-red, green, pink, bright-yellow….amazing.
If this had happened in the U.S., that factor worker would be in Gitmo by now.
Wasn’t this the basic argument of the OJ defense team, against the DNA evidence?
No one else finds it fascinating that over 16 years all these swabs had the DNA of the same factory worker? Does that mean they’ve only been using old swabs or this factory worker has been there for at least 16 years and for some reason has been handling all the swabs passed to the police?
Or….
The cunning criminal is a step ahead of all of us and her job at the swab factory is an elaborate ploy to cover her involvement…
Hmmm…..
Agree with #12 and…
don’t they have latex gloves in Germany? Why are a factory workers fingers all over a swab we have to clean our ears with!