Case Study On Dog Dna

Something new was also used in this case, dog DNA. During the investigation, police learned that Taylor had been walking his dog around the time Leanne’s body was placed in the woods. Forensic examiners found dog hairs on Leanne’s body. The dog hair DNA sample was sent to a university in Texas. It produced a partial profile for a dog. However, this was not able to be used against John Taylor because he had killed this dog before the evidence was found. The dog had been buried, in Taylor’s back garden, along with three other dogs. Although it could not be used against him in court, this was the first-time dog DNA had been used in a British criminal case.
Forensic scientists also found a strand of pink carpet fiber on Leanne’s clothes. This
fiber had a specific dye pattern. Taylor tried destroyed this carpet by completely burning it. Hoewever, police found strands around a nail on the floorboard that matched the fiber found on Leanne’s clothes. Forensic scientists consider fiber evidence to be one of the most important evidence that can be found at a crime scene. It can provide a lot of information about DNA which can lead to identifying a victim or perpetrator. Blood was also found under the floorboard at Taylor’s house. Using DNA sampling, the blood was proven to be Leanne’s blood. This proved that Leanne has been in Taylor’s house and something had happened to her for blood to be there as well.
All evidence pointed to John Taylor being the killer but what exactly did he do?
Let us go back to the day that Leanne went missing. John Taylor was lurking in the woods, waiting for a victim. Leanne was walking through Houghley Gill, alone and at night. She became the perfect target for him. Taylor grabbed Leanne from behind, covered her mouth, blindfolded her and took her to his house. Taylor did not keep Leanne alive all those months. He killed her and then kept in her a freezer for the nine months she was missing. A witness reported seeing a big freezer when visiting the home but a couple of days later it was gone. Eventually, this freestanding freezer broke down, which police believe, is the reason he had to dump Leanne’s body and get rid of the
freezer.
This man had no remorse in what he did. Why? Who exactly was this man and why did he kill an innocent 16-year-old? John Taylor was a 44-year-old divorced man. He lived in Bramley, the town Leanne disappeared from. He was a dog breeder and sold pet food. He would also let children visit his home so they can see and play with his dogs. He was known as the kind “Pet Man” for owning so many animals. However, John Taylor was not the man he appeared to be. Throughout his life, he always mistreated animals, including the dogs he bred. In Taylor’s garden, police discovered the skeletons of four dogs, one of which had its skull completely crushed. This was the dog that could not be used against Taylor as evidence that Leanne had been in his house. In order for the dog not to be identified, Taylor shot the dog right in the head, causing multiple skull fractures. Taylor was also a poacher. One of his companions said Taylor would take great pleasure in torturing a rabbit, killing it and mutating it. Although it was strange, no one could have believed the true horror John Taylor was capable of.
Taylor was arrested on October 16, 2001, for the murder of 16-year-old Leanne Tiernan.
At first, Taylor admitted kidnapping Leanne but denied ever killing her. He said she had fallen and hit her head. He was the type to only confess when he had his back against the wall. As evidence kept coming up, he slowly started to confess to more actions he had committed. He confessed to police that he had been looking for a girl to be his victim the night Leanne went missing. After blindfolding her and wrapping her in his coat, his marched her on a twenty-two-minute walk to his house. He placed her on an old church pew in his kitchen and confessed that he had planned to rape her. There is evidence that he may have engaged in some sexual activity with Leanne Tiernan but nothing could be proved. Because there was no evidence for any sexual activity, he denied ever raping her.
Taylor’s trial was held in Leeds Crown Court. On the day of his trial, John Taylor changed his plea from only kidnapping her to guilty of murdering her as well. Taylor was sentences to two life sentences with a 30-year minimum. He was sent to the maximum-security Wakefield Prison along with other heinous criminals: Harold Shipman and Ian
Huntley.
The West Yorkshire Police were certain that this could not be his first crime. The way the murder was pre-planned, and the way he hid and disposed the body gave them the belief that he had killed before. They mainly focused on four other cases. Eight years before Leanne’s murder, the body of prostitute Yvonne Fitt was found just 100 yards away from Leanne’s body. Her body was found in a shallow grave just like Leanne’s was. Lindsay Jo Rimer, 13, disappeared in 1994. The body of Deborah Alison Wood, 20, was found in 1996 and Rebecca Hall, 19, was dumped in an alley in 2001. Although no evidence was found connecting these cases with Taylor, he was charged for other crimes. In October 1988, John Taylor attacked a 32-year-old woman near Houghley Gill. She was forced to commit sexual acts on him and then continued to rape her. In March 1989, taylor broke into a home and forced a 21-year-old woman to do the same acts and raped her as well. On April 3, 2003, John Taylor pleaded guilty to the two rapes and was then sentenced to two additional life sentences. He was to be in life imprisonment without parole.
Leanne Tiernan’s family will forever be heartbroken for the loss of their girl. Leanne’s funeral was held September 28, 2001. Over 100 people packed in the small church where Leanne had been baptized. There were even people standing outside. This family felt the love and support from their friend and family. Although Taylor was going to spend the rest of his life in prison, their agony still continues. What he did to Leanne Tiernan still remains a mystery.