Blood spatter analysis

Blood spatter can range from a few drops to large pools. Regardless, the pattern is left by blood travelling in space
and coming into contact with a surface.

Types

Passive stains: drops, flows and/or pools of blood resulting from gravity acting on an injured body.

The surface the blood falls onto also causes different patterns i.e. falling onto a smooth surface such as glass will
cause smooth edges in the blood drop whereas rough/uneven surfaces will cause spiny edges of blood drop.

Satellite spatter is when smaller droplets of blood bounce out to the sides of a larger central pool when they hit.
Satellite spatter also very common when there is blood-in-blood i.e. where blood drips repeatedly into an existing
pool of blood.

A ‘saturation’ or ‘pooling’ pattern indicates the victim has been bleeding from a certain part of the body for an
extended period of time with no movement. Typical to see on mattresses, beds and floors.

Transfer stains: occurs when an object that has wet blood on it comes into contact with another object.

Common examples include a shoe, hair, hand, weapon or clothing transfers. Can be extremely useful in determining
the victims and offenders’ movements at a crime scene.

A ‘swipe’ refers to blood that gets smeared as you move a bloody source across an unsoiled source. This causes
‘feathering’ typically in the direction of the movement. This typically also involves hands, hair and fabric.

A ‘wipe’ pattern by contrast is when you drag an object through an existing blood stain, removing sections of the
blood. Very typical when offenders rub a cloth through blood stains to conceal their crimes.

Projected stains: occurs when a force is applied to the source of the blood.

Important to look at the velocity of the projected stain: categorized in one of three categories: low, medium and
high.

Low velocity stains occur when a minimal amount of force is used to spatter blood, or when gravity alone causes
blood to drip (passive stains are an example of low velocity). Characterised by large drops, much bigger and chunkier
than medium or high velocity spatter. Examples of inflection include a punch/fist or a small stab wound.

Medium velocity stains occur with a moderate amount of force. Very common to see this pattern in bludgeoning,
beatings, and stabbings. The force applied to the blood source (usually the victims body) means that the blood
travels faster and produces smaller airborne droplets than it would in a low velocity pattern. Anything with greater
force than gravity but weaker force than a gunshot will produce medium velocity spatter, making it extremely
common. Generally speaking, the blunter the weapon, the more blood spatter will result due to the larger surface
area striking the blood. So sledgehammers and rocks produce far more spatter than knives or sharp objects.

‘Cast off’ is blood that flies off an object whilst it is in motion. Several ways this could occur, such as someone with
blood-soaked sleeves swinging their arms as they run, but more commonly the blood gets inadvertently flung off a
weapon being used to make multiple blows.

High velocity stains occur when something hits blood with tremendous force and atomizes it to a fine mist or
airborne particulates. Though it is frequently accompanied by saturation or pooling, the high velocity mist leaves
droplets so tiny that they are often imperceptible to the naked eye. Most high velocity spatters at crime scenes
(particularly in the US) are caused by gunshots, however the same pattern can also be as a result of explosives, car
accidents, circular saws and chainsaws.
References

Englert, R. and Passero, K., 2010. Blood Secrets: Chronicles of a True Crime Scene Reconstructionist. 1st ed. Sydney:
Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd, pp.113-136.

YouTube, 2020. Forensics Expert Explains How to Analyze Bloodstain Patterns | WIRED. [video] Available at:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jltioeaEyY&t=593s>.