Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation

AKA Blood Spatter

Analysis
 Information to be gained from bloodstain patterns:
 mechanism of bloodstain pattern formation
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 movement of people or objects

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 Patterns:

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 Radial spatter patterns
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 Arc patterns or “cast off”

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_______Spatter _______Spatter
Contact Patterns and Transfers
 Finger, hand and foot impressions
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 Hair swipes
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Factors that impact drying time
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 Texture
 Porosity
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 Temperature
 Humidity
 Air Circulation

Factors that impact drop size

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 Low
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 Medium
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 High
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Additional Info…
The success or failure of any criminal investigation often depends on the recognition of
physical evidence left at a crime scene and the proper analysis of that evidence.
Crime scenes that involve bloodshed often contain a wealth of information in the form of
bloodstains. The pattern, size, shape and location of such stains may be very useful in the
reconstruction of the events that occurred.

Bloodstains are typically NOT interpreted by police – it requires an expert. The first step is
to confirm that the blood is human, and then take samples for DNA, etc.

Bloodstain pattern analysis: the examination of the shapes, locations and

distribution patterns of bloodstains in order to provide an interpretation of the physical
events which gave rise to their origin.

The determinations made from bloodstain patterns at the

scene or from the clotting in a case can be used to:
Confirm or refute assumptions concerning events and their sequence:
-Position of the victim (standing, sitting, lying down)
-Evidence of a struggle (blood smears, trails)
Confirm or refute statements made by witnesses/victims/suspects in the case:
-Are stain patterns on a suspects clothing consistent with his/her reported actions?
-Are stain patterns on a victim or at a scene consistent with accounts given by
witnesses or the subject?

Properties of Blood:
Blood Volume-
On average, blood accounts for 8% of total body weight.
(5-6 liters for men, 4-5 liters for women)
A 30% blood loss (internally &/or externally) causes incapacitation.
A 45% blood loss (internally &/or externally) causes irreversible shock and death.

Surface Tension
The elastic-like property of the surface of the liquid that makes it tend to contract, caused
by the forces of attraction between the molecules of the liquid.
Has a surface tension than is less than water.
Another way to Categorize Blood Stains…
Passive Bloodstains
Drops created or formed by the force of gravity acting alone.
Subdivided to include: drops, drip patterns & trails, pools and clots.

Transfer Bloodstains
Created when a wet, bloody surface comes in contact with a
secondary surface a recognizable image of all or a portion of the
original surface may be observed in the pattern; as in the case
of a bloody hand or footwear.
Subdivided to include: Contact bleeding, swipe/smear, wipe, and smudge.

Projected Bloodstains
Created when an exposed blood source is subjected to an action or force,
greater than the force of gravity (internally or externally produced). Size,
shape and number of resulting stains will depend, primarily, on the
amount of force utilized to strike the blood source.
Subcategories:
Arterial Spurt/Gush
Resulting from blood exiting the body under pressure from a severed artery.
Cast-off Stains
Blood released or thrown from a blood-bearing object in motion
Impact Spatter
Created when a blood source receives a blow or force resulting in the random
dispersion of smaller drops of blood.

Low Velocity

Relatively large
stains 4mm in size
and greater
Medium Velocity
Stain size 1-4mm in size often from beating
High Velocity
Stain size <1mm in size, mist-like appearance often from a gunshot or high powered
machinery
Additional Definitions:
 Arterial Spurting (or gushing) Pattern : Bloodstain pattern(s) resulting from blood exiting the
body under pressure from a breached artery.

 *Back Spatter: Blood directed back towards the source of energy or force that caused the
spatter.

 Bloodstain: Evidence that liquid blood has come into contact with a surface.

 Directionality: The directionality of a bloodstain or pattern which indicates the direction the
blood was traveling when it impacted the target surface. Directionality of a blood drop's flight
can usually be established from the geometric shape (tail) of its bloodstain.

 *Expirated Blood: Blood that is blown out of the nose, mouth, or a wound as a result of air
pressure and/or air flow which is the propelling force. Results in stain size of <1mm.

 Flow Pattern: A change in the shape and direction of a bloodstain due to the influence of
gravity or movement of the object.

 Forward Spatter: Blood which travels in the same direction as the source of energy or force
which caused the spatter.

 Impact Pattern: Bloodstain pattern created when blood receives a blow or force resulting in
the random dispersion of smaller drips of blood.

 Misting: Blood which has been reduced to a fine spray.

 *Parent Drop: A drop of blood from which a wave, cast-off, or satellite spatter.

 Passive Drop (Bleeding): Bloodstain drop(s) formed by the force of gravity acting alone.

 Projected Blood Pattern: A bloodstain pattern that is produced by blood released under
pressure as opposed to an impact, such as arterial spurting.

 *Satellite Spatter: Small droplets of blood that are distributed around a drop or pool of blood
as a result of the blood impacting the target surface.

 *“Skeleton Drop”: A bloodstain that consists of only its outer periphery, the central area
having been removed by wiping or flaking after liquid blood has partially or completely dried.

 Spatter: That blood which has been dispersed as a result of force applied to a source of blood.
Patterns produced are often characteristic of the nature of the forces which created them.
 *Spine: The pointed or elongated stains which radiate away from the central area of a
bloodstain.

 *Swipe Pattern: The transfer of blood from a moving source onto an unstained surface.
Direction of travel may be determined by the feathered edge.

 Transfer/Contact Pattern: A bloodstain pattern created when a wet, bloody surface comes in
contact with a second surface. A recognizable image of all or portion of the original surface
may be observed in the pattern.

 *Void: An absence of strains in an otherwise continuous bloodstain pattern.

 *Wipe Pattern: A bloodstain pattern created when an object moves through an existing stain,
removing and/or altering its appearance.