On: How does forensic handwriting identification work?

[eru]

And even DNA evidence is not infallible. Recently there was a series of crimes all over Germany where DNA evidence pointed to a single woman involved in all of them.

It turned out she was just an employee at the plant where the q-tips were made. The q-tips get sterilized before being used, but this process only destroys proteins, most DNA survives.

[wlievens → eru]

I read this story too over the weekend, I thought it was hilarious (and sad) in a way. They spent fifteen years in Germany, Austria and France searching for a serial murderer that had female DNA, looked like a man, and was to be found in gipsy circles.

[adamc → eru]

Sounds like the evidence was fine; it was the interpretation of that evidence that needed adjustment.

[eru → adamc]

I take the moral as the need for controls in experiments i.e. always analyse a 'clean' q-tip in each batch.