Leech From 2001 Crime Scene Nabs Crook

One could populate a small menagerie with the creatures that have played a role in ferreting out crime and bringing ne’er-do-wells to justice. There’s the rat, of course. And we mustn’t forget the stool pigeon. The dirty dog has turned on a few bad guys as well.

But in what is reportedly a law enforcement and criminal law first, a leech — perhaps hoping to restore its damaged reputation as a money grubbing couch surfer — is at the center of helping to crack a long unsolved assault case on the Australian island state of Tasmania.

As reported by ABC (Australia), during a robbery and assault in 2001 in Tasmania, one Peter Cannon happened to have been bitten by a leach during the crime. In an act reflecting the notion that everything at a crime scene should be treated as relevant and significant, police found the leech, extracted the blood, and kept the analytical results on file.

Picked up last year on drug charges, Cannon was found to provide a perfect DNA match for the sample retrieved from the leech found at the 2001 crime scene. This week, in court, he entered a guilty plea for the eight-year-old violent crime.

As quoted by ABC, Tasmanian Forensic Science Service official Pam Scott observed that this case, and how it unfolded, certainly represents a forensics first.

"It's a new area really at the crime scene side of things where investigators can be aware of potential evidence that might be worth collecting. In terms of doing the DNA profiling it's exactly the same technique that we have been doing for a long time on all sorts of items. But it's at that crime scene examination stage and what is collected that might give some new ideas and ways of going forward."

Photo courtesy of OakleyOriginals, via flickr