CSI: Tasmania – In a scene right out of CSI, police in Tasmania used blood from a leech to make a DNA match from a 2001 crime scene, a court spokeswoman said.
Peter Alec Cannon, 54, pleaded guilty to aggravated armed robbery in the Supreme Court in Launceston on the island state of Tasmania for assaulting and robbing a 71-year old woman.
Crown prosecutor John Ransom told the court that a policeman had picked up a leech from near a safe at the scene of the crime from which forensic scientists extracted blood and a DNA sample, according to a report in local newspaper The Mercury.
Seven years later, when Cannon was arrested and charged with a drugs crime, police took a DNA sample from him and it matched the sample from the robbery.
The court heard that Cannon and another man had robbed and assaulted a 71-year-old woman at her bushland home, stealing $500 from her.
The court spokeswoman said Cannon was remanded in custody for sentencing on Friday this week.
And that’s the latest news on using blood from a leech to get a conviction, aka CSI: Tasmania.
Tags: crime, crime scene, csi, csi tasmania, tasmania
October 20th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Using leeches to solve crimes? Priceless!
October 20th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Is it really possible to get blood samples that way? Where do I sign up?
October 21st, 2009 at 12:48 am
Does every post get this many comments?