Bloodstain Pattern Analysis

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Picture this: you walk into a crime scene and the first thing you see is blood. It is all over the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling. Now any other person would probably not know the information that this evidence holds, but those that have studied blood, how it works, bloodstain patterns, and what they all mean, have an abundance of evidence to examine. Just from looking at the bloodstain patterns, they can discover many things about the crime and how it occurred.
There are five main categories of bloodstains: passive, impact spatter, transfer, other, and latent. Many of these categories also have sub-categories.
Passive stains are influenced by gravity. Passive stains include drips, splashes, flows, and pools. Drips, or drops, can show how far the blood fell from the source. Depending on the size and shape of the drip, the distance and angle the blood fell from can be determined. Also, if the suspect or victim moves throughout the crime scene and leaves a drip trail pattern, their movements can be established. Splashes come from blood dripping into blood. Splashes can lead to flows. Flows are created when accumulated blood flows from one area to another, being pulled by gravity. The flow direction shows movement from the blood source. If the flow is interrupted, this interruption can show the time that passed between the flow and its interruption. Pools can result from flows. A pool occurs when blood collects on a flat surface. If the blood source is on an absorbent surface, the blood will be absorbed and will spread out and create a larger pattern than the original pool.
Impact spatter stains come from the impact between an object and the blood source. Impact spatter can be separated into three classifications, low-veloc...

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...preting bloodstain patterns. Retrieved from http://www.crimescene-forensics.com/Crime_Scene_Forensics/Bloodstains.html
Houck, M. M., Crispino, F., & McAdam, T. (2012). The science of crime scenes. (pp. 323-329). Academic Press.
Minnesota BCA. (2013). Luminol (blood). Retrieved from https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca divisions/forensic-science/Pages/forensic-programs-crime-scene-luminol.aspx
Saferstein, R. (2011). Criminalistics: An introduction to forensic sciences. (10th ed., pp. 301 307, 309-313). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Schiro, G. (n.d.). Collection and preservation of blood evidence from crime scenes. Retrieved from http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/blood.html
Young, T., & Ortmeier, P. J. (2011). Crime scene investigation: A forensic technician's field manual. (pp. 293-302, 305-314). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

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