3D imaging tool solved over 300 murder cases
MORE than 300 murder cases have been solved over the last decade using cutting edge 3D imaging technology which was created in the West Midlands.
It helped crack a murder case following body parts found inside two suitcases in a Birmingham canal.
The technology, from Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, can produce images with resolutions 1,000 times more detailed than a hospital CT scan.
It has been used in murder cases by 30 police forces across the UK to view injuries in incredibly high detail.
This has helped investigators to convict the guilty, as well as clear the innocent.
The technology is so advanced it can show the difference between a wound inflicted with force, versus the typical profile of one delivered by natural causes. Cases it has been used in included strangulation, stabbing, blunt force trauma and bone fractures.
The technology was first used in 2014 when West Midlands Police approached WMG’s Prof Mark Williams. It asked him to help with their investigation into a Birmingham canal murder, where body parts were discovered in suitcases in a Birmingham canal.
Michael Spalding, 39, was killed, with his body being chopped up and dumped in suitcases found in a canal at Ladywood and Smethwick.
“We were able to help the police by examining a charred piece of evidence thought to contain human bone,” said Prof Williams.
“We discovered it was a perfect jigsaw fit to another piece of bone in the suitcase, and, using the very highresolution scanning technology, we were able to show the tool marks on both pieces in micro scale (one 50th of a millimetre).
“These matched the characteristics expected for the type of saw the offender had disposed of, alongside the victim.”
This microscopic level of detail led to the conviction of murderer Lorenzo Simon, who was jailed for 19 years for killing his friend and housemate Mr Spalding.
This marked the start of a productive research partnership for WMG with West Midlands Police, who have now used the technology in dozens of murder cases. Now, 30 police forces in the country have used the cuttingedge technology.
The technology has also been used in other high-profile cases, including to rule out foul play.
In one case where a 64-year-old had fallen, a 3D model printing of the skull of the deceased showed exact matches with the geometry of the door handle, suggesting a fall.
This resulted in the cause of death being ruled as accidental.
The high-resolution scans were also used to help convict murderers Nathan Maynard-Ellis, 33, and David Leesley, 28, who dismembered their victim Julia Rawson, 42, in a “flat of horrors” in May 2019.
Her remains were dumped on wasteland and lay undiscovered for 47 days.
The scans helped prove the deliberate nature of their behaviour after their crime, including the direction and variation of their cuts.
Both were convicted and will serve life sentences.