Forensics could solve US murder

A groundbreaking forensic technique developed by a Northamptonshire scientist could help solve a murder on America's "most wanted" list.

Dr John Bond, a scientific support manager at Northamptonshire Police, can find fingerprints on bullets, even where a print has been wiped off.

Now Texas police are bringing Dr Bond brass shell casings from an unsolved murder in the hope he can find a print.

The murder of Marianne Wilkinson, 68, is on a "most wanted" website list.

The technique of "fingerprint visualising" detects where sweat has corroded metal on bullets, even where a print has been wiped off.

And Det Tony Roten, from North Richland Hills Police in Texas, is bringing the shell casings from the case.

Mistaken indentity

Mrs Wilkinson was shot as she answered the door on the evening of 9 December last year.

Police are investigating whether another woman in a nearby house was the intended target.

Mr Roten said: "This procedure could help us identify the person who loaded the murder weapon."

The state-of-the-art technique was named by Time Magazine as one of the top 50 inventions of 2008.

It is thought it can also be used on recovered fragments of bombs to test for prints, and military personnel in Afghanistan are interested in using it on roadside bombs.

Dr Bond, an honorary research fellow at the University of Leicester's Forensic Research Centre, said: "We have been overwhelmed with the interest shown in this technique."