Original subtitles

[GUNSHOT]

Narrator: MURDER IS AS OLD AS TIME.

SO IS THE QUEST TO FIND THE KILLERS.

AND WHEN SLEUTHING MEETS SCIENCE...

NEW FORENSIC TOOLS ARE BORN.

IN THE 1980s, ONE CASE IN ENGLAND

WOULD REVOLUTIONIZE CRIME FIGHTING.

Man: TWO 15-YEAR-OLD GIRLS, LESS THAN THREE YEARS APART,

IN THE SAME GENERAL AREA...

Man: IT CERTAINLY LOOKED AS THOUGH

THERE WAS ONE PERSON RESPONSIBLE.

Narrator: THE BREAKTHROUGH...

DNA PROFILING... A GENETIC FINGERPRINT.

Man: THE PREVAILING VIEW WAS THAT DNA

WOULD NOT BE STABLE ENOUGH TO BE USEFUL IN FORENSIC SCIENCE.

Narrator: BUT THE RESULTS ARE TOTALLY UNEXPECTED.

Man: EVERY ONE OF THE COPS WERE JUST BESIDE THEMSELVES

WHEN THAT GOT THAT INFORMATION.

THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE IT.

Man: IT WAS QUITE A BODY BLOW.

Narrator: TWO DECADES LATER,

DNA PROFILING IS PUT TO THE ULTIMATE TEST...

TAKING ON ONE OF AMERICA'S MOST NOTORIOUS SERIAL KILLERS.

Man: DNA BECAME THE CORNERSTONE.

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS]

Narrator: WICHITA, KANSAS.

SPRING 2004.

A NEWSPAPER REPORTER RUSHES INTO POLICE HEADQUARTERS.

HE HAS A LETTER HE KNOWS OFFICERS NEED TO SEE.

Kenneth Landwehr: IT'S A ONE-PAGE DOCUMENT,

AND IT BASICALLY HAS THREE POLAROID PHOTOGRAPHS

AND A DRIVER'S LICENSE COPIED.

Narrator: THE PICTURES SHOW A WOMAN LYING ON THE FLOOR...

AND A DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR VICKI WEGERLE.

WICHITA INVESTIGATORS KNOW THAT NAME WELL.

IN THE 1980s VICKI WEGERLE WAS THE VICTIM

OF A HORRIFYING CRIME...

A COLD CASE THAT'S STILL OPEN NEARLY TWO DECADES LATER.

Landwehr: VICKI WEGERLE WAS MURDERED IN 1986.

HER BODY WAS REMOVED BY EMS TECHNICIANS

PRIOR TO THE POLICE ARRIVAL.

SO WE HAD NO PHOTOGRAPHS OF VICKI WEGERLE

AS SHE LAID AT THE SCENE.

Timothy Relph: THOSE WERE NOT OUR PHOTOGRAPHS.

Narrator: WHICH CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING...

Landwehr: IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THIS WAS THE KILLER.

Narrator: WEGERLE'S HANDS ARE BOUND,

A SCARF KNOTTED AROUND HER NECK...

AND THERE'S SOMETHING ELSE.

Landwehr: THERE WAS A MONIKER

THAT WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT LETTER...

Narrator: A FAMILIAR AND CHILLING SIGNATURE...

THE INITIALS "B.T.K."

Larry Hatteberg: BTK STOOD FOR BIND...

TORTURE...

KILL.

Narrator: AUTHORITIES IN WICHITA BEGAN HUNTING BTK IN 1974.

Landwehr: HIS FIRST HOMICIDE WAS A QUADRUPLE HOMICIDE

THAT OCCURRED IN EAST WICHITA.

THE OTERO FAMILY WAS KILLED ON THE MORNING OF JANUARY 15, 1974.

Relph: ALL FOUR HAD BEEN STRANGLED.

THEY WERE BOUND,

AND THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER WAS HUNG IN THE BASEMENT.

Hatteberg: OVERNIGHT, LOCKSMITHS RAN OUT OF LOCKS.

Narrator: THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

BTK STRUCK AGAIN AND AGAIN.

BY DECADE'S END, HE'D CLAIMED SEVEN VICTIMS.

Hatteberg: ALL OF A SUDDEN WE HAVE A SERIAL KILLER

IN WICHITA, KANSAS.

AND PEOPLE WERE SCARED TO DEATH.

Relph: IN WICHITA BACK IN THE '70s,

YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT THE BOGEYMAN,

THEY WERE AFRAID OF BTK.

Narrator: BTK FED OFF THAT FEAR.

IN LETTERS HE BOLDLY TAUNTED HIS PURSUERS.

Reporter: BTK BEGAN TODAY'S LETTER WITH A QUESTION.

"HOW MANY DO I HAVE TO KILL

BEFORE I GET A NAME IN THE PAPER?"

Hatteberg: HE LIVED ON PUBLICITY.

Narrator: LOCAL POLICE JOINED FORCES WITH THE FBI

IN A NATIONWIDE MANHUNT.

THEY STUDIED EVERY POSSIBLE CLUE, SEARCHING FOR ANY LEAD.

NO DETAIL WAS TOO MINOR.

Relph: THERE WAS A LOT OF WORK DONE

TO DETERMINE THE TYPE OF PAPER, THE COPIERS,

AND EVEN DOWN TO THE TYPEWRITER THAT WAS PROBABLY USED

TO TYPE OUT THE FIRST COUPLE OF NOTES.

Narrator: FOR DECADES, CRIME SOLVERS HAD RELIED

ON FINGERPRINTS...

THE ONLY SUREFIRE EVIDENCE UNIQUE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL.

BUT BTK WAS CLEVER.

HE'D LEFT NO PRINTS AT ANY OF HIS CRIMES.

BUT AT THE WEGERLE AND OTERO CRIME SCENES

HE DID LEAVE A CLUE...

SEMEN...

A MIX OF BODILY FLUIDS DESIGNED TO NURTURE SPERM CELLS.

SOME SEMEN CONTAINS ANTIBODIES

THAT CAN REVEAL A MAN'S BLOOD TYPE.

THAT COULD BE USEFUL IF BTK HAD A VERY RARE TYPE,

LIKE AB NEGATIVE.

OF THE EIGHT COMMON BLOOD TYPES,

ONLY 1% OF PEOPLE ARE AB NEGATIVE.

IF BTK WAS LIKE MOST AMERICANS, HE WAS TYPE A OR TYPE O...

ONE OF MANY, MANY MILLIONS.

BUT BTK'S SEMEN DID NOT REVEAL A BLOOD TYPE...

AND BTK KEPT ON KILLING.

THEN, IN THE MID '80s, BTK VANISHED.

Hatteberg: HE STOPPED HIS KILLING

AND HE STOPPED HIS COMMUNICATION.

Landwehr: BASICALLY BTK WOULD BECOME A COLD CASE,

BECAUSE THERE WOULD BE NO ACTIVITY.

HE MUST BE IN PRISON, HE MUST BE DEAD,

OR HE'S MOVED ON TO ANOTHER LOCATION.

Narrator: NOW, 25 YEARS LATER,

THE MACABRE LETTER TURNED OVER TO THE WICHITA POLICE

PROVES BTK IS BACK...

POISED TO SLAY AGAIN.

Hatteberg: NOW A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF PEOPLE WERE TERRIFIED.

Narrator: BUT NOW POLICE HAVE AN AMAZING NEW WEAPON...

A FORENSIC TOOL THAT CAN TURN

ALMOST ANYTHING THE HUMAN BODY PRODUCES...

FROM HAIR TO SKIN CELLS TO SEMEN...

INTO IDENTIFYING EVIDENCE AS ROCK-SOLID AS A FINGERPRINT...

DNA PROFILING.

LONG BEFORE IT REACHED THE CRIME LAB,

DNA, OR DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID, FASCINATED SCIENTISTS.

THEY REALIZED IT IS LIFE'S BASIC BUILDING BLOCK.

IN THE EARLY 1900s,

GENETICISTS FRIEDRICH MIESCHER AND FREDERICK GRIFFITHS

PROVED THAT DNA DECIDES THE CHARACTERISTICS

ONE GENERATION PASSES TO THE NEXT.

IN 1953, RESEARCHERS JAMES WATSON AND FRANCIS CRICK

USED X-RAYS TO SHOW WHAT DNA LOOKS LIKE...

THE FAMOUS DOUBLE HELIX.

NEARLY 30 YEARS AFTER WATSON AND CRICK'S DISCOVERY,

DNA WAS USED FOR THE FIRST TIME TO PROVE PATERNITY.

BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL THE 1980s

THAT DNA WOULD CATCH A KILLER FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

NOVEMBER 1983.

LEICESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND.

A TYPICAL MONDAY EVENING FOR A TYPICAL TEEN.

Joseph Wambaugh: LYNDA MANN WAS A PRETTY, BRIGHT, TOP STUDENT

WHO WENT TO SCHOOL IN THE VILLAGE OF NARBOROUGH.

ON A COLD NOVEMBER NIGHT IN 1983

SHE WAS TAKING A SHORTCUT AFTER BABYSITTING

ON A FOOTPATH CALLED THE BLACK PAD.

Narrator: THE NEXT MORNING, A MAN IS RIDING TO WORK.

David Baker: AS HE CYCLED UP THIS PATH,

HE SAW THE BODY OF A GIRL.

Narrator: IT'S LYNDA MANN.

Baker: SHE HAD BEEN STRANGLED, POSSIBLY WITH HER OWN SCARF...

AND HAD CLEARLY BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.

THERE WAS A FULL SEARCH MADE OF THE CRIME SCENE

AND THE SURROUNDING AREA.

Narrator: OFFICERS COMB THE SCENE FOR CLUES...

BLOOD, THREADS, BITS OF FABRIC...

ANYTHING THAT MIGHT TAG THE KILLER.

Baker: THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF SEMEN ON THE BODY.

Narrator: AND THE POLICE PROMPTLY PUT THE SEMEN SAMPLE

TO THE TEST.

AND ANTIBODIES PRESENT IN THE SEMEN

REVEAL THAT THEIR KILLER HAS TYPE "A" BLOOD.

BUT IT'S NOT MUCH HELP.

TYPE "A" IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON BLOOD TYPES IN THE WORLD.

IN ENGLAND ALONE, 1 IN 10 MALES HAVE TYPE "A" BLOOD.

Wambaugh: THAT NARROWED IT DOWN

TO SEVERAL MILLION PEOPLE IN ENGLAND AT THE TIME.

Narrator: SO BLOOD TYPE ALONE IS USELESS FOR THE INVESTIGATORS.

AND SCIENCE CAN DO NO MORE TO FIND LYNDA MANN'S ATTACKER.

FOR THREE YEARS THE INVESTIGATION SPUTTERS...

UNTIL A NEW SHOCK LEAVES LEICESTERSHIRE REELING.

SOMEONE SEXUALLY ASSAULTS AND MURDERS ANOTHER YOUNG WOMAN...

DAWN ASHWORTH.

AND THE ATTACK IS EERILY SIMILAR TO LYNDA MANN'S.

Wambaugh: TWO 15-YEAR-OLD GIRLS, LESS THAN THREE YEARS APART,

IN THE SAME GENERAL AREA.

Wambaugh: IMMEDIATELY THE LEICESTERSHIRE CONSTABULARY

CONCLUDED THAT PROBABLY THE KILLER OF LYNDA MANN

WAS ALSO THE KILLER OF DAWN ASHWORTH.

Narrator: THREE YEARS AFTER LYNDA MANN IS MURDERED

IN LEICESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND...

A GIRL THE SAME AGE IN THE SAME AREA

SUFFERS THE SAME AWFUL FATE.

Wambaugh: DAWN ASHWORTH,

ANOTHER VERY PRETTY, BRIGHT, WELL-LIKED STUDENT

FROM THE NEARBY VILLAGE OF ENDERBY,

WAS WALKING ON A FOOTPATH ONE EVENING.

Narrator: DAWN NEVER COMES HOME.

A FRANTIC SEARCH ENDS IN GRIEF AND HORROR.

Baker: SHE HAD BEEN STRANGLED.

ALSO... HAD BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED.

Narrator: AGAIN, INVESTIGATORS FIND SEMEN...

AND AGAIN THEY EMPLOY THE ONLY FORENSIC TEST THEY HAVE.

THE RESULTS SHOW DAWN'S KILLER HAS TYPE "A" BLOOD.

THE SAME AS LYNDA MANN'S MURDERER.

Baker: IT CERTAINLY LOOKED AS THOUGH THERE WAS ONE PERSON

RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDER OF BOTH GIRLS.

Narrator: BUT SUDDENLY IT LOOKS LIKE INVESTIGATORS

WON'T NEED A HELPING HAND FROM SCIENCE...

WHEN A LOCAL TEENAGER NAMED RICHARD BUCKLAND

STARTS TALKING ABOUT THE CRIME AMONG HIS FRIENDS.

POLICE BRING HIM IN FOR QUESTIONING.

Wambaugh: HE SAID THAT HE HAD SEEN DAWN ASHWORTH

ENTER 10 POUND LANE ON THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED.

HE DESCRIBED A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE CRIME SCENE

THAT THEY FELT HE SHOULDN'T KNOW ABOUT.

Baker: AND HE COULDN'T ACCOUNT FOR HIS MOVEMENTS SATISFACTORILY

ON THE 31st OF JULY.

Richard Buckland: NO, NO, I DIDN'T KILL HER.

Narrator: AFTER HOURS OF GRILLING, BUCKLAND BREAKS DOWN.

Wambaugh: HE CONFESSED TO THE MURDER OF DAWN ASHWORTH.

Narrator: AND WHEN THEY MENTION THE LYNDA MANN KILLING,

THEY'RE WAITING FOR BUCKLAND TO OWN UP TO HER DEATH.

Baker: HE TOTALLY DENIED ANY INVOLVEMENT

IN THE MURDER OF LYNDA MANN.

Narrator: WHICH IS NOT WHAT THEY THOUGHT THEY'D HEAR.

Baker: WE WERE FIRMLY CONVINCED

THAT IF HE HAD MURDERED ONE GIRL,

THEN HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDER OF THE OTHER GIRL.

Narrator: CONSTABLE BAKER IS DETERMINED

TO BRING CLOSURE TO BOTH CASES.

HE'S CERTAIN RICHARD BUCKLAND

KILLED BOTH LYNDA MANN AND DAWN ASHWORTH.

STRUGGLING TO MAKE A CASE, BAKER HAS AN UNUSUAL IDEA.

HE HAS NO CLUE HOW MUCH THIS IDEA

WILL CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY.

SINCE WATSON AND CRICK FOUND THE DOUBLE HELIX IN 1953,

DNA AND ITS MYSTERIES HAD DRAWN GENERATIONS OF SCIENTISTS.

AND RESEARCHERS AT THE LEADING EDGE OF DNA SCIENCE

WERE WORKING RIGHT IN CONSTABLE BAKER'S BACKYARD.

Baker: I WAS AWARE AT THAT TIME THAT DR. ALEC JEFFREYS

HAD BEEN WORKING AT LEICESTER UNIVERSITY

IN RESPECT OF DNA TESTS

INVOLVING PARENTAGE OF IMMIGRANTS.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT STUCK IN MY MIND

WAS THE FACT THAT HE'D ESTABLISHED

THAT A YOUNG ASIAN CHILD WAS IN FACT THE OFFSPRING

OF PEOPLE WHO CLAIMED TO BE HIS PARENTS

QUITE FIRMLY THROUGH DNA.

Narrator: DR. JEFFREYS KNEW HUMAN DNA IS MOSTLY IDENTICAL.

John Butler: AND WELL OVER 99% OF OUR DNA

IS THE SAME BETWEEN PEOPLE.

THAT ALLOWS US TO HAVE TWO EARS, TWO EYES, A NOSE,

FOUR FINGERS AND A THUMB ON EACH HAND.

Narrator: BUT JEFFREYS WANTED TO KNOW MORE

ABOUT THAT OTHER ONE PERCENT.

IN 1984 HE DISCOVERED A PATCH OF DNA

THAT WAS UNIQUE TO EACH INDIVIDUAL...

A SORT OF DNA FINGERPRINT.

AND WHEN CONSTABLE BAKER THINKS ABOUT JEFFREYS' WORK,

HE HAS A QUESTION...

IF DNA CAN PROVE PATERNITY, CAN IT ALSO PROVE

WHETHER RICHARD BUCKLAND KILLED DAWN ASHWORTH AND LYNDA MANN?

IT'S A LONG SHOT.

SEMEN DECOMPOSES QUICKLY,

SO BAKER'S THREE-YEAR-OLD EVIDENCE SAMPLES

MIGHT NOT BE NEW ENOUGH.

THEY'VE ALSO BEEN THROUGH THE MILL OF FIELD RECOVERY...

POLICE STORAGE...

AND UNSCIENTIFIC HANDLING.

THE SAMPLES ARE ANYTHING BUT FRESH...

WHICH MEANS THEY MIGHT ALL BE COMPLETELY USELESS.

Peter Gill: SO THE POSITION WE WERE IN IN 1985

IS THAT THERE WAS A VERY INTERESTING TECHNIQUE THERE,

BUT WE ACTUALLY HAD NO CLUE

WHETHER IT WAS GOING TO BE USEFUL

IN FORENSIC SCIENCE AT ALL.

IN FACT, WHEN I DISCUSSED THIS WITH OTHER SCIENTISTS,

THE PREVAILING VIEW WAS THAT DNA WOULD NOT BE STABLE ENOUGH

TO BE USEFUL IN FORENSIC SCIENCE.

Narrator: BUT THE POLICE ARE WILLING TO TRY ANYTHING.

THEY GIVE THE LAB THE CRIME SCENE SAMPLES.

THESE RESEARCHERS MAY KNOW DNA...

BUT THEY'VE NEVER USED IT TO SOLVE A CRIME.

THE RESULTS OF THIS REAL-WORLD EXPERIMENT ARE ANYBODY'S GUESS.

FIRST TECHNICIANS EXTRACT THE DNA

BY DISSOLVING THE EVIDENCE.

AT THAT TIME THEY NEEDED A SAMPLE AS LARGE AS A QUARTER

TO GENERATE A DNA PROFILE.

THEN JEFFREYS HAS TO PINPOINT THE DNA FRAGMENTS

THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THEIR OWNER.

TO DO THAT, HE USES A TECHNIQUE CALLED RFLP...

RESTRICTION FRAGMENT LENGTH POLYMORPHISM.

Gill: AND WHAT THIS DOES IS THAT IT CUTS THE DNA

INTO SECTIONS OF VARIOUS SIZES.

Narrator: TO GET THE DNA PORTRAIT HE NEEDS,

JEFFREYS HAS TO SORT THE FRAGMENTS BY SIZE.

THEN THE SAMPLE GOES ONTO ONE END OF A GEL PLATE.

TECHNICIANS APPLY ELECTRICAL CURRENT,

AND ELECTRICITY PULLS THE FRAGMENTS THROUGH THE GEL.

Gill: THE GEL ACTS EXACTLY LIKE A SIEVE,

AND THE SMALL FRAGMENTS ARE ABLE

TO TRAVEL QUICKLY THROUGH THE GEL,

AND THE LARGE FRAGMENTS TRAVEL SLOWLY.

AT THE END OF THE PROCESS WE HAVE AN X-RAY FILM

WHICH EFFECTIVELY HAS A BARCODE ON IT.

Narrator: IT MAY LOOK LIKE RANDOM SPLOTCHES,

BUT THAT BARCODE IS UNIQUE.

IN ALL THE WORLD, IT BELONGS TO ONLY ONE PERSON.

FOR A CENTURY, FINGERPRINTS HAVE BEEN

THE PLATINUM STANDARD OF IDENTIFICATION,

NO TWO AMONG BILLIONS EVER FOUND TO MATCH.

IF SCIENTISTS CAN ACHIEVE THE SAME WITH DNA...

A SUBSTANCE THAT RECURS IN EVERY CELL OF EACH ORGANISM...

A REVOLUTION WILL BE UNDER WAY.

AND SOON THE RESULTS ARE IN.

THE DNA FROM THE LYNDA MANN AND DAWN ASHWORTH CRIME SCENES

ARE AN EXACT MATCH.

Gill: THE TWO MURDERS,

THEY HAD BEEN COMMITTED BY THE SAME INDIVIDUAL.

Narrator: BUT THEN THE STORY TAKES AN UNEXPECTED TURN.

THE DNA PORTRAIT DOESN'T MATCH THAT

OF THE ONE AND ONLY SUSPECT...

RICHARD BUCKLAND,

WHO EVEN CONFESSED TO THE DEATH OF LYNDA MANN.

Gill: HIS DNA PROFILE DID NOT MATCH THE CRIME STAIN PROFILE

FROM EITHER OF THE TWO MURDERS.

Narrator: DESPITE HIS TORMENTED CONFESSION,

BUCKLAND DIDN'T KILL A SOUL.

Wambaugh: EVERY ONE OF THE COPS WERE JUST BESIDE THEMSELVES

WHEN THEY GOT THAT INFORMATION.

THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE IT.

Baker: IT WAS QUITE A BODY BLOW.

WE VERY MUCH DOUBTED THE EVIDENCE

WITH WHICH WE WERE BEING PRESENTED.

WE WANTED TO BELIEVE IN IT,

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND IT WAS TELLING US

THAT BUCKLAND WAS NOT THE PERSON WE THOUGHT HE WAS.

Narrator: ON NOVEMBER 1, 1986,

THE COURT CONVENES IN THE CASE OF RICHARD BUCKLAND.

Man: THE CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE HAVE BEEN KEPT INFORMED

THROUGHOUT THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS

AND HAVE DECIDED THAT THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST MR. BUCKLAND

SHALL BE DISCONTINUED.

Narrator: THE MOMENT TURNS FORENSIC SCIENCE ON ITS HEAD.

THE VERY FIRST USE OF DNA PROFILING

DOESN'T CONVICT THE SUSPECT;

IT EXONERATES HIM.

Gill: IT'S VERY POIGNANT, I THINK,

THAT THIS VERY FIRST CASE WAS USED TO EXONERATE AN INDIVIDUAL

WHO WOULD OTHERWISE HAVE STOOD QUITE A GOOD CHANCE

OF BEING CONVICTED OF A CRIME THAT HE HAD NOT COMMITTED.

Narrator: BUT IF BUCKLAND DIDN'T DO IT...

WHO DID?

Baker: SOMEWHERE OUT THERE

WAS SOMEONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDER OF TWO GIRLS.

Narrator: NOW POLICE HAVE A TOOL FOR MAKING THEIR CASE...

A DNA PROFILE.

THE ONLY THING MISSING IS THEIR SUSPECT.

IN WICHITA, KANSAS, BTK WAS TORTURING AND KILLING PEOPLE

LONG BEFORE DNA PROFILING CAME INTO EXISTENCE.

BUT NOW INVESTIGATORS HAVE SCIENCE ON THEIR SIDE...

AND OLD EVIDENCE WITH NEW POTENTIAL.

Landwehr: ONE PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT WE HAD IN ALL THESE CASES

WAS THE DNA.

Narrator: BY 2004, CRIME FIGHTERS

HAVE HONED DNA PROFILING TO A FINE ART.

LABS DELIVER PROFILES MUCH MORE QUICKLY.

BUT THE DNA IN WICHITA HAS SPENT NEARLY 30 YEARS ON THE SHELF.

AND INVESTIGATORS WORKING THE BTK CASE

DON'T KNOW IF THEIR EVIDENCE HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME.

Shelly Steadman: SOME OF THE EVIDENCE THAT WAS INITIALLY SUBMITTED

INCLUDED CLOTHING

AND THE FINGERNAIL SCRAPINGS FROM VICKI WEGERLE.

Narrator: THE '80s-ERA METHOD THAT CLEARED RICHARD BUCKLAND

WAS VERY SLOW AND REQUIRED LARGE SAMPLES.

NOW TECHNICIANS NEED ONLY A FEW BITS OF GENETIC MATERIAL

BECAUSE SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND A WAY

TO HARNESS DNA'S EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY TO REPLICATE ITSELF.

Steadman: IT'S ACTUALLY A REACTION

THAT OCCURS IN YOUR CELLS NATURALLY.

WHENEVER YOU SLOUGH OFF SKIN CELLS, FOR EXAMPLE,

YOU'RE REGENERATING CELLS CONSTANTLY.

EVERY CELL THAT YOU HAVE HAS THE DNA IN IT.

AND IN ORDER TO REPRODUCE THE CELLS,

YOUR BODY MAKES COPIES OF THAT DNA.

Narrator: BY GETTING DNA TO COPY ITSELF,

TECHNICIANS CAN MANIPULATE A SHRED OF EVIDENCE

TO POWER MANY TESTS.

THEY DO THIS USING A PROCESS CALLED PCR...

SHORT FOR "POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION."

Steadman: THE MAIN ADVANTAGES TO PCR

ARE THAT YOU CAN OBTAIN A DNA PROFILE

FROM A SAMPLE THAT'S 10 TO THOUSANDS TIMES SMALLER.

Narrator: THE DNA SAMPLES ARE HEATED TO A VERY HIGH TEMPERATURE.

HEAT PULLS THE DNA STRANDS APART.

WHEN THE PIECES COOL,

AN ENZYME CALLED POLYMERASE MAKES COPIES OF THEM...

UNTIL THAT SHRED OF UNIQUE DNA IS BIG ENOUGH TO ANALYZE.

THAT'S HOW PCR WORKS WITH FRESH DNA,

CAREFULLY HANDLED BY TRAINED SCIENTISTS.

BUT THAT MAY NOT BE THE CASE HERE.

THE POLICE FEAR THE BTK SAMPLES ARE TOO DEGRADED.

IT CAME FROM A CRIME SCENE.

IT'S OLDER THAN SOME OF THE LAB WORKERS.

SO OFFICERS WAIT...

ANXIOUS FOR AN ANSWER...

AND STEADMAN PROVIDES ONE...

MORE THAN 20 YEARS AFTER THE EVIDENCE CAME INTO POLICE HANDS.

Steadman: WE WERE ABLE TO DETECT QUALITY PROFILES

FROM THE SAMPLE THAT WAS COLLECTED

FROM JOSEPHINE OTERO'S SOCK,

AS WELL AS THE FINGERNAIL SCRAPINGS FROM VICKI WEGERLE.

Narrator: FINALLY POLICE HAVE A GENETIC SNAPSHOT OF BTK.

BUT STEADMAN HAS DONE ALL SHE CAN.

Steadman: AT THAT POINT THE DNA TECHNOLOGY ITSELF

HAD DONE EVERYTHING THAT IT COULD TO SOLVE THIS CRIME.

WE NEEDED TO FIGURE OUT WHO THIS PROFILE MATCHED.

Narrator: THEY HAVE ONE HOPE...

CODIS.

CODIS STANDS FOR "COMBINED DNA INDEX SYSTEM"...

A DIRECTORY OF DNA TEST RESULTS FROM OFFENDERS.

FOR YEARS, LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

HAVE BEEN BUILDING THIS DATABASE.

BY 2004, CODIS CONTAINS

MORE THAN A MILLION AND A HALF PROFILES.

AND INVESTIGATORS HOPE BTK IS IN THERE.

Steadman: SO WE ENTERED THE SAMPLES INTO THE DNA DATABASE

TO BE COMPARED TO SAMPLES

THAT WERE PREPARED BY OTHER LABORATORIES.

Narrator: BUT CODIS IS NO HELP.

Landwehr: WE KNEW THAT OUR KILLER WAS ONE PERSON,

AND WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE NO OTHER UNSOLVED CASES

THAT HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED TO CODIS COME UP WITH THE SAME DNA.

Narrator: AND THAT'S ALL THEY KNOW.

UNLESS BTK KILLS AGAIN, OR IDENTIFIES HIMSELF,

POLICE HAVE NO WAY TO GET ON HIS TRAIL.

IT'S NOVEMBER 1986 IN LEICESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND.

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, POLICE HERE

JUST USED DNA PROFILING IN A CRIMINAL CASE.

BUT INSTEAD OF FINDING A KILLER...

THE TEST EXONERATES THE LONE SUSPECT

IN THE MURDERS OF LYNDA MANN AND DAWN ASHWORTH.

Baker: WE WERE THEN FACED WITH "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW?"

Narrator: INVESTIGATORS FEEL THAT SOMEONE IN THEIR AREA

MUST MATCH THEIR DNA PROFILE.

SO THEY PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF THE REVOLUTIONARY NEW TOOL.

Baker: IT WAS DECIDED THEN THAT WE WOULD USE THE DNA

AND WE WOULD BLOOD TEST EVERYBODY

THAT LIVED IN THE THREE VILLAGES.

Narrator: IN A WORLDWIDE FIRST,

POLICE LAUNCH A DNA DRAGNET ACROSS LEICESTERSHIRE.

OFFICERS ASK ALL MALE RESIDENTS AGES 17 TO 34

TO PROVIDE A BLOOD SAMPLE.

SINCE THEY KNOW THE KILLER'S BLOOD IS TYPE "A,"

ANYONE WITH ANOTHER BLOOD TYPE IS HOME FREE.

Gill: THAT WAS ABLE TO ELIMINATE

THREE QUARTERS OF THESE SUSPECTS,

LEAVING 1,000 INDIVIDUALS TO BE ANALYZED BY DNA PROFILING.

Narrator: IT'S STILL A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING.

Gill: IN THOSE DAYS IT WOULD TAKE US MAYBE TWO WEEKS

TO GENERATE A DNA PROFILE.

IT WAS A VERY ARCHAIC METHOD, VERY, VERY LABOR INTENSIVE,

VERY LENGTHY, VERY EXPENSIVE.

AND AT THE TIME,

THERE WAS ONLY A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE IN THE WHOLE WORLD

WHO WERE ABLE TO RUN THIS TECHNIQUE.

Narrator: FORENSIC SCIENCE HAS GIVEN INVESTIGATORS ANSWERS...

BUT NOT THE ONES THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.

NOT ONE OF THE PROFILES

MATCHES THE KILLER OF LYNDA MANN AND DAWN ASHWORTH.

THEN, A LUCKY BREAK!

OUT OF THE BLUE, A WOMAN PHONES THE POLICE.

Baker: SHE'D BEEN IN THIS PUBLIC HOUSE

WITH A PARTY OF PEOPLE FROM HER WORK.

AND DURING THE CONVERSATION ONE OF THE PARTY,

A MAN NAMED KELLY, CAME UP WITH THE FACT

THAT HE HAD TAKEN THE BLOOD SAMPLE

FOR SOMEBODY ELSE.

Narrator: OFFICERS QUESTION KELLY,

AND HE SAYS A FRIEND PAID HIM 200 POUNDS

TO TAKE THE TEST IN HIS PLACE.

Baker: HE WAS A MAN NAMED PITCHFORK.

Narrator: COLIN PITCHFORK IS 27.

A BAKERY WORKER AND A FATHER OF TWO,

HE LIVES IN NEARBY LITTLETHORPE.

Baker: QUITE CLEARLY IF KELLY HAD GIVEN PITCHFORK'S BLOOD,

THERE WAS TROUBLE AFOOT.

Wambaugh: THEY CHECKED PITCHFORK'S RECORD;

FOUND OUT THAT HE DID HAVE A RECORD FOR INDECENT EXPOSURE.

Narrator: ON SEPTEMBER 19, 1987, POLICE ARREST PITCHFORK AT HOME.

AFTER THREE FRUSTRATING YEARS, POLICE MAY HAVE THEIR MAN.

TO PROVE IT, THEY DEMAND A DNA SAMPLE

FROM PITCHFORK HIMSELF.

DNA RESULTS HAVE ALREADY SHOWN

THAT ONE MAN COMMITTED THESE CRIMES.

IS THAT MAN COLIN PITCHFORK?

Baker: HIS WAS A COMPLETE MATCH

WITH THE SAMPLES LEFT BEHIND ON LYNDA MANN AND DAWN ASHWORTH.

Gill: THE PROBABILITY OF A CHANCE MATCH

WAS ONE IN MANY MILLIONS.

Narrator: IN 1988, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY,

A COURT USES DNA TEST RESULTS TO CONVICT A SUSPECT.

COLIN PITCHFORK IS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON.

Baker: WE REALIZED THAT THIS WAS SOMETHING

WHICH WAS GOING TO GO WORLDWIDE.

IT WAS A TECHNIQUE WHICH COULDN'T BE IGNORED.

Gill: THE IMPACT OF THE PITCHFORK CASE

ACTUALLY LAID THE GROUNDWORK

TO THE WHOLE OF THE FUTURE OF DNA PROFILING.

Narrator: DNA PROFILING ROCKED LAW ENFORCEMENT.

NOW ALMOST ANY TRACE A CRIMINAL LEFT

COULD LEAD TO IDENTIFICATION.

Gill: WE CAN GET DNA PROFILES FROM ALL KINDS OF BODY FLUIDS...

BLOOD, SEMEN, SALIVA.

WE CAN GET DNA FROM DEAD SKIN CELLS, FOR EXAMPLE.

SO IT'S AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL METHOD AND TECHNIQUE.

Narrator: IN 1993, DNA HELPS IDENTIFY THE REMAINS

OF RUSSIA'S LAST CZAR AND HIS FAMILY...

75 YEARS AFTER THEY WERE EXECUTED BY REVOLUTIONARIES.

DNA ALSO GIVES HOPE TO THOSE WRONGLY ACCUSED AND CONVICTED.

IN 1993, DNA UNSHACKLES KIRK BLOODSWORTH,

THE FIRST DEATH ROW INMATE SET FREE BY SUCH EVIDENCE.

AND EVEN WHEN DNA FAILS TO NAIL O.J. SIMPSON

FOR KILLING HIS EX-WIFE AND A FRIEND,

IT'S NOT THE SCIENCE THAT'S QUESTIONED,

BUT RATHER THE HANDLING OF THE EVIDENCE.

BY 2004, POLICE IN THE U.S. ALONE

HAVE USED DNA IN AT LEAST 20,000 CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS.

AND IN WICHITA, KANSAS, OFFICERS ON THE BTK CASE

HOPE TO ADD AN ENTRY TO THAT LIST.

BTK WAS MURDEROUSLY METICULOUS.

NONE OF THE EVIDENCE HE LEFT COULD LINK HIM TO HIS CRIMES...

AT THE TIME!

BUT NOW THE POLICE HAVE BTK'S DNA!

UNFORTUNATELY, THEY DON'T HAVE A SUSPECT,

SO THEY CAN'T TRY IT FOR A MATCH.

THEY FEAR HE'LL KILL AGAIN.

SO THEY DO AS BRITISH POLICE DID

IN THE PITCHFORK CASE IN THE 1980s...

RUN A DNA DRAGNET.

DNA SAMPLING IS NO LONGER A MATTER OF NEEDLES AND BLOOD.

THE SCIENCE HAS EVOLVED SO MUCH

THAT ORDINARY SALIVA DOES VERY NICELY.

Relph: SO WE SWABBED POLICEMEN, WE SWABBED NEWS PEOPLE.

WE SWABBED AUTHORS OF BOOKS.

ANYBODY THAT IN THE PAST HAD DEMONSTRATED A KNOWLEDGE OF BTK,

THEY WERE SWABBED ALSO.

DNA BECAME THE CORNERSTONE.

Landwehr: WE TOOK 1,326 SWABS IN THAT 11 MONTHS.

Narrator: WHEN MEN WON'T GIVE SAMPLES, OFFICERS SHADOW THEM.

Steadman: SO WHAT THEY WOULD DO IS FOLLOW THOSE INDIVIDUALS

UNTIL THEY DISCARDED SOME BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL,

FOR EXAMPLE, A CIGARETTE BUTT ON THE STREET,

AND THEY WOULD COLLECT IT

AND SUBMIT THOSE SAMPLES TO OUR LABORATORY.

WE WOULD GET BATCHES OF 25, 50 SAMPLES AT A TIME

AND JUST STAY HERE AS LONG AS WE COULD

TO PROCESS AS MANY AS WE COULD.

WITH EVERY BATCH THAT CAME OFF OF THAT ANALYZER

WE WOULD JUST HOPE THAT SOMETHING IN THERE WOULD MATCH.

Narrator: THE LAB CHECKS EVERY SAMPLE AGAINST BTK'S PROFILE...

AND NOTHING.

Steadman: YOU BEGIN TO WONDER

IF YOU'RE GOING TO WORK ON THIS CASE

FOR THE REST OF YOUR ENTIRE CAREER.

I MEAN, IT WAS LIKE IT WAS NEVER GOING TO END.

Narrator: PRESSURE IS MOUNTING.

BTK COULD KILL AGAIN.

DNA ALONE MAY NOT BRING HIM TO GROUND.

SO THE AUTHORITIES APPEAL TO HIS WARPED EGO.

Hatteberg: THE ONE THING BTK LIKED WAS PUBLICITY.

HE LIVED ON PUBLICITY.

Narrator: AND LOCAL MEDIA PLAY ALONG.

Landwehr: WE HAVE ASCERTAINED THAT IT ALSO IS FROM BTK...

I WOULD DO A TOTAL OF 22 PRESS RELEASES

IN THE NEXT 11 MONTHS,

BASICALLY TALKING TO BTK TO TRY TO KEEP HIM TALKING

AND BE INTERESTED IN OUR INVESTIGATION.

Narrator: THE TACTIC WORKS.

Landwehr: THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION HAS CONFIRMED

THAT A LETTER RECEIVED BY KAKE TV

AND TURNED OVER TO THE WICHITA POLICE DEPARTMENT

ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 5,

IS AN AUTHENTIC BTK COMMUNICATION...

Relph: WELL, YOU NEVER REALLY GOT TIME TO BREATHE

BECAUSE EVERY FIVE TO SIX WEEKS

ANOTHER COMMUNICATION WOULD COME.

Narrator: THE POLICE ARE BETTING BIG.

AND BTK UPS THE ANTE.

Hatteberg: AND THIS TIME IT WAS MUCH MORE PERSONAL.

HE WAS READY TO MURDER AGAIN.

Landwehr: HE WAS NOW THREATENING CHILDREN.

ALMOST ALL HIS COMMUNICATIONS

WOULD INDICATE THAT HE WAS GOING TO KILL A CHILD.

THAT IF HE KILLED AGAIN AND IT WAS A CHILD,

WE WOULD BLAME OURSELVES.

Narrator: FOR THREE DECADES, INVESTIGATORS

HAVE TRIED AND FAILED TO CAPTURE THE NOTORIOUS BTK.

THEY HAVE A DNA PROFILE...

BUT NO ONE TO COMPARE IT WITH.

Relph: ANYONE WHO'S EVER PUT ON

THE WICHITA POLICE DEPARTMENT UNIFORM

HAS WANTED AN OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH BTK.

THERE ARE MEN THAT IN THEIR DEATHBED

WERE REVIEWING STORIES OF THIS CASE

TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO HE WAS.

Narrator: IT SEEMS NO ONE EVER WILL.

THEN BTK SLIPS UP.

HE SENDS YET ANOTHER LETTER...

AND WITH IT, A KIND OF DIGITAL DNA...

A COMPUTER DISK!

ALONG WITH THE CONTENT THEY PRODUCE,

COMPUTERS COMMUNICATE METADATA, INVISIBLE BUT TRACEABLE CODES.

AND ONE KEYSTROKE REVEALS A MAJOR CLUE.

Relph: THE METADATA INDICATED

WHO THE MICROSOFT WORD PROGRAM HAD BEEN LICENSED TO.

IT JUST GAVE A FIRST NAME.

Narrator: THE NAME IS DENNIS.

THE DISK ALSO GIVES A LOCATION.

IT'S NOWHERE ANYONE EXPECTED TO FIND BTK.

Relph: THAT DISC HAD BEEN IN CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH

AT 53rd AND HILLSIDE IN WICHITA, KANSAS.

AND THE ONLY DENNIS WITHIN THAT CONGREGATION

WAS THE LAY CONGREGATION, A GUY NAMED DENNIS RADER.

Narrator: DENNIS RADER HARDLY FITS THE IMAGE

OF THE VICIOUS SERIAL KILLER.

Hatteberg: HE WAS WORKING IN PARK CITY

AS BASICALLY A DOGCATCHER, A CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.

HE WAS JUST THE GUY NEXT DOOR.

LIVED A NORMAL LIFE IN A NORMAL NEIGHBORHOOD,

HAD CHILDREN, HAD A WIFE,

AND THAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF ALL

FOR EVERYBODY TO ACCEPT,

THAT HE WAS A NORMAL GUY DOING MONSTROUS THINGS.

Narrator: THE TASK FORCE IS READY TO TAKE RADER DOWN.

BUT HE MIGHT SUSPECT THEY HAVE HIS DNA.

SO BEFORE THEY MAKE A MOVE,

INVESTIGATORS WANT TO PROVE RADER IS BTK,

WITHOUT TIPPING HIM OFF.

Landwehr: WE WANTED TO BE SURE.

THE ONE WAY WE COULD DO THAT IS TO GET HIS DNA.

WE KNEW THAT IF WE ASKED HIM DIRECTLY

HE WOULD TURN US DOWN.

FOLLOWING HIM AND TRYING TO GET A DNA SAMPLE THAT WAY

WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT...

Narrator: BUT DNA CROSSES GENERATIONS.

IF RADER IS A FATHER, HIS OFFSPRING HAVE HIS DNA.

Landwehr: SO WE DID RESEARCH ON HIS FAMILY

AND FOUND OUT THAT HE HAD TWO CHILDREN.

ONE OF THOSE CHILDREN WAS A 24-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER.

AND WE WERE ABLE TO OBTAIN, BY COURT ORDER,

A BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE THAT SHE HAD FROM HER GYNECOLOGIST.

Narrator: FAMILIAL DNA TESTING IS OFTEN USED IN COURT CASES

ON IMMIGRATION STATUS AND PATERNITY.

NOW IT MIGHT HELP CAPTURE A MONSTER.

Lisa Burdett: YOU GET HALF YOUR DNA FROM YOUR MOM

AND THE OTHER HALF FROM YOUR DAD.

AND BECAUSE OF THAT WE CAN THEN LOOK AT A SAMPLE

THAT WE THINK IS A SUSPECTED OFFSPRING

TO ANOTHER SAMPLE AND DO A COMPARISON.

Narrator: A WARRANT CLEARS THE WAY FOR POLICE

TO OBTAIN THE DAUGHTER'S PAP SMEAR.

AND THE SAMPLE GOES

TO THE KANSAS BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FORENSIC LAB.

Burdett: THERE WERE A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT

IN THE PRIORITY OF DOING SAMPLES

WHEN WE RECEIVED THAT PARTICULAR PAP SMEAR SLIDE.

WE STAYED WITH IT UNTIL WE WERE DONE WITH IT.

Narrator: THE RESULTS ARE UNDENIABLE.

Burdett: THE FATHER OF THAT PAP SMEAR

WAS THE INDIVIDUAL WHO LEFT THAT DNA AT THE CRIME SCENE.

Narrator: AND THAT IS DENNIS RADER.

ON FEBRUARY 25, 2005,

RADER IS DRIVING HOME FOR LUNCH WHEN POLICE CATCH HIM.

AND INTERROGATORS ASK HIM TO PROVIDE A DNA SAMPLE.

Burdett: AND HE ENDED UP MATCHING.

Narrator: EVEN AFTER 20 YEARS OF PAINFUL SILENCE...

NO NEW WITNESSES, EVIDENCE OR CRIME SCENES...

POLICE HAVE THE PROOF THEY NEED.

DNA IS ABSOLUTELY DEFINITIVE.

Burdett: THE PROBABILITY OF SELECTING AN UNRELATED INDIVIDUAL

AT RANDOM IN THE POPULATION

WOULD BE ONE IN 23 QUADRILLION.

Narrator: IN THOSE 20 YEARS

THE ARCS OF JUSTICE AND SCIENCE HAVE INTERSECTED.

ONCE, A SEMEN SAMPLE MIGHT BE GOOD FOR FINDING BLOOD TYPE...

HARDLY THE STUFF OF CONVICTIONS.

NOW, APPLYING NEW TECHNIQUES TO DECADES-OLD EVIDENCE...

POLICE IN KANSAS HAVE USED A MURDERER'S OWN DNA

TO PUT HIM AWAY.

Landwehr: NOW WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE EVIDENCE

THAT'S IRREFUTABLE, THAT IT'S HIM.

Narrator: AND DENNIS RADER KNOWS IT.

Landwehr: AT THAT POINT IN TIME HE ASKS ABOUT DNA.

I EXPLAIN THAT WE HAVE IT FROM HIS CHILDREN

AND THAT I KNOW THAT IT'S GONNA BE HIM,

AND AT THAT TIME HE ADMITS THAT HE'S BTK.

Narrator: THE ADMISSION UNCORKS SOMETHING IN RADER.

FOR 30 HOURS, HE RECOUNTS, IN SICK DETAIL,

EACH OF HIS HORRIFIC CRIMES.

Landwehr: WE HAD THE DNA, WE HAD HIS CONFESSION,

IT WAS A SLAM DUNK ON HIS CONVICTION.

Narrator: RADER PLEADS GUILTY.

THE JUDGE SENTENCES HIM TO 10 CONSECUTIVE LIFE TERMS.

WITHOUT DNA, HE MIGHT STILL BE OUT THERE.

Landwehr: IT WAS A GREAT FEELING.

IT WAS RELIEF THAT THE PERSON THAT HAD TERRORIZED WICHITA...

WE WEREN'T GONNA HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HIM ANYMORE.

Narrator: IN THE YEARS SINCE THE BTK CONVICTION,

DNA HAS CLOSED THOUSANDS OF CASES.

AND THE FORENSIC TOOL CHEST CONTINUES TO EVOLVE.

Butler: ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING THINGS, I THINK,

IS TRYING TO MAKE THE PROCESS FASTER.

SO RIGHT NOW THE OVERALL PROCESS OF DNA TESTING

TAKES AROUND EIGHT TO TEN HOURS.

WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON WAYS TO BE ABLE TO REDUCE THAT PROCESS

TO ABOUT 20 MINUTES OR LESS.

Narrator: SOMEDAY A DNA TEST MAY TAKE NO MORE TIME OR TROUBLE

THAN A LICENSE CHECK.

SOON SCIENTISTS MAY BE ABLE TO GENERATE A DNA PROFILE

FROM A TRACE OF SWEAT LEFT BEHIND

ON A PALM OR FINGERPRINT.

AS THE SCIENCE EVOLVES, ITS POWER GROWS EXPONENTIALLY.

NOW, A DNA PROFILE IS SIMPLY A SET OF MARKERS.

SOMEDAY IT COULD BE LIKE A POLICE ARTIST'S SKETCH.

Burdett: YOU COULD TEST A DNA STRAND

AND GIVE A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

THAT WOULD BE UNIQUE ENOUGH

TO PICK SOMEBODY UP OUT OF A LINEUP.

Narrator: BUT HARD FACTS REMAIN.

FORENSIC SCIENCE IS AN ART,

AND TOOLS ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE USING THEM.

Gill: IT'S NOT AS STRAIGHTFORWARD AS SAYING,

"WELL, WE'VE GOT A DNA PROFILE,

THEREFORE HE COMMITTED THE CRIME."

THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING ELSE THERE

TO CORROBORATE THE DNA EVIDENCE.

WE TEND TO THINK OF IT IN ISOLATION,

BUT THAT'S CLEARLY WRONG.

Narrator: THIS REVOLUTIONARY METHOD REMADE FORENSIC SCIENCE...

USING TECHNOLOGY TO TIP THE SCALES OF LIFE AND DEATH

TOWARD JUSTICE.

Gill: WELL, I THINK WE'VE ACTUALLY MADE

A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT BREAKTHROUGH IN THIS.

WE CAN TRULY SAY THAT THE TECHNIQUE REALLY HAS TAKEN OFF

AND BECOME A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON NOW.

Landwehr: IT'S ONLY GONNA GET BETTER.

WE'RE GONNA...

THIS HAS CHANGED SO MUCH IN THE LAST 12 YEARS,

20 YEARS SINCE WE'VE HAD DNA NOW,

IT'S ONLY GONNA GET BETTER.