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Kariem Lane

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Before Wayne Williams became a suspect, the Georgia State Crime Laboratory located a number of yellowish-green nylon fibers and some violet acetate fibers on the bodies of victims murdered in the Atlanta area. The fibers appeared to have a common source. Shortly after Williams became a suspect, the investigators determined the source of the fibers' manufacture. The next step was to determine how much of that carpeting has been sold in the Atlanta area. Further investigation traced the fiber to a limited amount of carpeting manufactured by West Point Pepperell. To convey the unusual nature of the Williams carpet, investigators developed a numerical probability from that company's data. They determined that the chance of randomly finding a housing unit with this type of carpet was 1 in 7,792. To any experienced forensic fiber examiner, the fiber evidence linking Williams to the murder victims was overwhelming. The prosecution undertook to educate the jury about fiber evidence, using over 40 charts and over 350 photographs. In discussing the significance of an association based on textile fibers, it emphasized that the more uncommon the fibers, the stronger the association. The association becomes even stronger when multiple fiber matches become the basis of the association, which was true in the Williams case. Transferred fibers do not stay with a person long, so that the fibers on a murder victim are most likely from the scene of the crime. Expert witnesses testified that it was highly unlikely that any environment other than that present in Wayne Williams' house and car could have produced the combination of fibers and hairs found on the victims, especially when there were so many varied origins. Additional evidence linked 10 other victims to 28 different fiber types, only 1 of which was common. Nine footnotes and three charts are included.

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Fiber Evidence and the Wayne Williams Trial (Conclusion)

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Before Wayne Williams became a suspect, the Georgia State Crime Laboratory located a number of yellowish-green nylon fibers and some violet acetate fibers on the bodies of victims murdered in the Atlanta area. The fibers appeared to have a common source. Shortly after Williams became a suspect, the investigators determined the source of the fibers' manufacture.

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Kariem Lane

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Kariem Lane

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There's more to evidence collection than merely bagging and tagging bloody clothing and spent bullet casings. Crime scene techs are highly trained, skilled members of police agencies and forensic laboratories who more often than not provide the keys to solving cases.

In the "good old days," many officers, including patrol officers, collected their own evidence (some still do, especially in smaller departments). They plodded into and poked around crime scenes, determining what items they thought might be of some value and then tossed those things into some sort of container-a grocery bag, department envelope, cardboard box, and even the cellophane wrappings from cigarette packs. In those days there wasn't a lot of consideration for sterility, and DNA hadn't yet made its way on the "scene."

When investigators finally discovered plastic sandwich and ziplock bags you'd have thought they'd won the lottery, because packaging evidence had suddenly become a breeze. The problem with those new-fangled containers, though, was that detectives were placing everything in them, not knowing they could be destroying or damaging evidence instead of preserving it. And that brings us to the question of ...

There's a simple rule of thumb for deciding which type of evidence packaging-wet evidence goes in paper containers (wet evidence can degrade if placed inside plastic containers) and dry evidence goes in plastic. Items that could be cross-contaminated must be packaged separately. There's a rule of thumb for other types of evidence, too, and here's a handy list for the proper packaging of those items.

Hair - Double packaging in paper is best. However, if the hair is completely dry, plastic will work in a pinch. Hairs recovered from different locations must be packaged separately and labeled accordingly. Tape all packaging seams.

Fibers - Dry, and tape-lifted, fibers may be placed inside plastic containers.

Rope, twine, and other cordage - Paper or plastic.

Paint chips - Place inside folded paper. Then place the paperfold inside an envelope.

Tools - Paper or cardboard.

Tape - Wear non-powdered gloves when handling tape. Submit samples inside plastic. If the tape is stuck to an item the item must be submitted with the tape still attached. Do not remove the tape!

Glass - Wrap in paper. Smaller pieces may be placed inside appropriate size cartons.

Arson and other fire evidence - Airtight metal containers. Unused paint cans work best.

Dried stains - Wrap stained item in paper or place inside cardboard box. Large items - moisten swab with distilled water, swab the stain, and package in paper or cardboard after drying.

Blood - Allow to air dry and then package in paper.
Evidence drying lockers
DNA - Do NOT use plastic!

And when I mentioned that wet evidence is packaged in paper containers I did NOT mean to pour liquids into paper bags. Instead, items that contain wet evidence (bloody and/or semen-stained clothing, etc.) should be placed into paper containers.

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Evidence Collection: Paper, Plastic, or ... ? - Lee Lofland

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There's more to evidence collection than merely bagging and tagging bloody clothing and spent bullet casings. Crime scene techs are highly trained, skilled members of police agencies and forensic laboratories who more often than not provide the keys to solving cases.

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Kariem Lane

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Home > 3. Evidence Collection > Hair and Fiber

The most common methods used to collect hair and fiber evidence include the following:

Visual collection. On some surfaces, hairs and fibers can be seen with the naked eye. Through use of clean forceps and paper (i.e., trace paper), the sample can be removed from the surface and placed into a clean piece of paper that can be folded and packaged in a paper envelope.

Tape lifting. Trace tapes are available for the collection of trace hair and fiber evidence. The tape is applied to the location of the suspected sample, removed and packaged.

Vacuuming. The area where the suspected samples are located is vacuumed and evidence is caught in a filtered trap attached to the vacuum. These samples are packaged in clean trace paper for submission to the laboratory. Vacuuming is the least desirable collection method because there is a risk of cross-contamination if the equipment is not properly cleaned between each use.

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Home > 3. Evidence Collection > Hair and Fiber The most common methods used to collect hair and fiber evidence include the following: Visual collection. On some surfaces, hairs and fibers can be seen with the naked eye.

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Kariem Lane

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Hairs, Fibers, Crime, and Evidence | Office of Justice Programs

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Kariem Lane

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Analysis of fibers at a crime scene is one of the oldest forensic tools still in use by investigators today. Even though DNA has become the gold standard for forensic evidence, small fibers lifted from clothing, carpets, the trunks of cars, and other sources have tied suspects to crime scenes. Juries often seem convinced, as the presentation of fiber evidence has led to many convictions over the years. Yet, even with DNA, it is still considered one of the best forensic tools around.

Today we'll look at 10 cases where trace fibers were used to convict these captured criminals.
Related: 10 Types Of Evidence That Are Less Airtight Than Thought
10 Roger Payne

One of the earliest cases of a crime being solved thanks to fiber analysis took place in Bromley, England, in 1968. On February 8 of that year, Bernard Josephs came home to find a horrific scene-the lifeless body of his wife, Claire, underneath their bed. Her throat had been slashed so severely the wounds went all the way to her spine.

Roger Payne, a recent acquaintance of Bernard and Claire, was one of many people the police questioned, and they noticed he had scratches on his hands. Payne tried to explain away the scratches, but forensic analysis of his clothing found some very damning evidence. Claire had been wearing a wool dress at the time of her murder, and over 60 cerise wool fibers matching Claire's dress were found on Payne's clothing. This evidence helped secure a quick prosecution and ultimate conviction of Payne. He was sentenced to life in prison in May 1968, just three months after the murder.

9 Bobby Joe Long

Sometimes the incriminating fibers are not found on the suspect but on the victim. Or in the terrifying case of serial killer Bobby Joe Long, multiple victims. Long would troll areas of Tampa, Florida, known for prostitution in his search for victims. Once he lured a woman to his car, he would take her back to his apartment and commit unspeakable acts of torture and rape, eventually killing them via strangulation, bludgeoning, or slitting their throats.

In all, there are ten women known to have been murdered by Long. Incredibly, he let two other victims-Linda Nuttall and Lisa McVey-go free after their attacks. The information McVey provided to police eventually led to Long's arrest. The ten murders were conclusively linked to Long via red carpet fibers from his car. Matching fibers were found on each victim. As punishment for his many crimes, Long was executed by the state of Florida in 2019, with Lisa McVey (now Noland) among the witnesses.

8 Caleb Hughes

Melissa Brannen was five years old when she disappeared on December 3, 1989. Melissa and her mother, Tammy, lived at the Woodside Apartments in Lorton, Virginia, and had attended a Christmas party in the apartment complex that evening. After the party, Tammy and Melissa headed home, but Melissa returned to get some potato chips. She was supposed to come straight home but never made it back.

Caleb Hughes, the groundskeeper for the complex, immediately raised suspicions. This was due to witness reports that he had made inappropriate sexual comments to women at the party and had paid unusual attention to some children who were there, including Melissa. Police seized his Honda Civic sedan and examined the passenger's seat for fiber evidence. Several fiber samples were taken, but the most important were 50 blue fibers linked to the sweater that Melissa was wearing when she vanished.

Hughes was convicted of abduction with intent to defile on March 8, 1991, and sentenced to 50 years in prison. He was released in 2019, having served about 54 percent of his sentence. Unfortunately, Melissa Brannen remains a missing person to this day.

7 Glen Wolsieffer

On August 30, 1986, police were summoned to the home of local dentist Glen Wolsieffer and his wife, Betty. Glen had reported an intruder that he chased off with a gun. While investigating, police found Betty in the master bedroom, dead with strangulation marks around her neck. As the investigation continued, police uncovered a veritable soap opera full of infidelity and betrayal.

Glen had been seeing two other women, earning him the nickname "The Three-Timing Dentist." But that wouldn't be what pointed to Glen as the murderer of his wife; that turned out to be blue fibers under Betty's fingernails that were linked to the denim outfit Glen had worn the night of the murder. In the end, Glen was convicted of Betty's murder and received a sentence of eight to 20 years. He was paroled in 2005, after serving 13 years of that sentence.

6 Robert Buell

Krista Harrison was an 11-year-old girl picking up aluminum cans at a Marshallville, Ohio, park on July 17, 1982, when a man suddenly grabbed her and dragged her into his van. Unfortunately, she would be found dead six days later in a rural area, inside of a car seat box.

Two years later, in 1984, 44-year-old Robert Buell was arrested for a separate crime. Police compared orange carpet fibers that had been found on Harrison's body to the ones in Buell's van and made a match. They also found evidence that Buell had purchased a car seat that matched the box Harrison was found in. Buell was ultimately convicted of Harrison's murder and was executed for the crime in 2002. Buell, for this part, denied having any role in the Harrison case.

His last words, right before his execution, were addressed to Harrison's parents: "Jerry and Shirley, I didn't kill your daughter. The prosecutor knows that...and they left the real killer out there on the streets to kill again and again and again."

5 Craig Peyer

Craig Peyer was a California Highway Patrol officer who targeted women driving along California's interstate highways, abusing his authority to make sexual advances. Unfortunately, this fact would not be brought to light until he was on trial for the murder of one of his victims, Cara Knott. Cara was a 20-year-old woman who disappeared on December 27, 1986, while driving from her boyfriend's home in Escondido to her parents' house in El Cajon.

On December 28, her car was found at a dead end of an I-15 off-ramp, and her body was recovered at the bottom of a nearby ravine. The tell-tale evidence against Peyer included an unusual gold rayon fiber found on Knott's dress that was later matched to a patch Peyer wore on his uniform. Further investigation and more evidence led to Peyer's conviction and a sentence of 25 years to life. He has applied for parole several times but has been repeatedly denied.

4 Melanie McGuire

Melanie McGuire is a former nurse who came to be known as "The Suitcase Killer." The body of her husband, Bill, was found in a suitcase floating in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in 2004. Fibers found on Bill's body matched the sofa that the McGuires had-which had curiously gone missing after Bill did.

There were also greenish-brown fibers that matched a pillow that Bill's sister, Cindy Ligosh, said police also did not recover. Prosecutors theorized that Melanie shot bill through the pillow in an attempt to muffle the noise. Melanie was eventually arrested in 2005, and on July 19, 2007, she was sentenced to life in prison.

3 Donna Perry

Murder has no statute of limitations, as Donna Perry found out when she was arrested in 2012 for the murders of three women-Kathy Brisbois, Yolanda Sapp, and Nickie Lowe. The crimes occurred between February and May 1990 in Spokane, Washington. Incredibly, they found fiber evidence in a 1969 International Scout that Perry had owned in 1990 but had sold years before her arrest.

Fibers from the Scout's carpet matched fibers found on all three slain women. In another great find for investigators, a .22 caliber bullet that matched the ammunition used in the murders was also found in the vehicle. In 2017, Perry was convicted and received three life sentences for her crimes.

2 Steven Pennell

Steven Pennell earned the moniker "The Route 40 Killer" after being convicted of abducting two women from U.S. Route 40 in Delaware and later murdering them. He was also suspected of killing three others. His reign of terror reached its end after the murder of 31-year-old Catherine DiMauro in June 1988.

When her body was found the next morning at a construction site, she was covered in blue carpet fiber that would be later linked to Pennell's van. At his eventual trial, Pennell testified on his own behalf and made off-color jokes about paying his victims for sex in an attempt to explain away physical evidence. Pennell was eventually found guilty in 1990 and executed by lethal injection in 1992.

1 Randy Kraft

Between 1971 and 1983, Randy Kraft murdered an astounding 16 young men, making him one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. Some estimates place his death toll at an astronomical total of 67 people. He was surely emboldened by the number of times he got away with his crimes and may have assumed he'd never get caught.

In the end, it was carpet fibers found on a rug in his garage, matched to several of his victims, that provided the evidence needed to put him behind bars for good. He was convicted in 1989 and, to this day, is still incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison in California.

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10 Criminals Who Were Caught Thanks to Trace Fiber Evidence - Listverse

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Analysis of fibers at a crime scene is one of the oldest forensic tools still in use by investigators today. Even though DNA has become the gold standard for forensic evidence, small fibers lifted from clothing, carpets, the trunks of cars, and other sources have tied suspects to crime scenes.

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Forensic Fiber Examination and Analysis - PubMed

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Fiber evidence suffers from the same misperception as many other types of trace evidence, that it is weak in its significance. Despite this pejorative perception, textiles make excellent evidence because of their presence in our daily lives and the variations they demonstrate. Fibers from the textil…

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Fibers are one of the most ubiquitous forms of trace evidence. Textiles surround us at home, at work, in vehicles, and in our social environments.

Trace material such as fibers are fairly unique to an individual's environment because the choices in clothing, vehicles and home décor are based on personal preferences. Fibers transferred from an individual's personal environment can also be secondarily transferred in a crime. The idea that two people could be wearing the exact clothing on the same day is unusual therefore the idea that foreign fibers on a suspect or victim that share the same characteristics after a discriminating analytical examination is also very unusual.

We use a variety of instruments during fiber examinations, all of which consist of a microscope. Figure 1 is a comparison photograph taken under a microscope of fibers in question and fibers from a known source.

Figure 1

Ropes and cordage may also be submitted to the Laboratory for analysis. These are either composed of synthetic or natural fibers. Thus, the same analytical scheme is used as with a fiber examination. An association between the rope or cordage in question and any known ropes submitted can be determined.

Fibers can be transferred as easily as they can be lost so lack of evidence does not always indicate lack of contact. That is why collection and packaging of fiber evidence is important.

Fiber Plastic Fusions

Fiber-plastic fusion can occur between the clothing of the occupant and interior surfaces of the vehicle which are made of thermoplastics. During an impact, parts of the garments can be rubbed under high pressure against the surface of the vehicle which then causes frictional heat. This, in turn, causes local melting of the thermoplastic material. During this contact, fibers from the garment can be transferred and become embedded into the softened plastic. It is the plastic material that is actually melting and not the fibers.

Collection and Packaging of Fibers and Cordage:

If possible let the laboratory remove fibers

Package question and known items separately

Consult the Trace Collection section for further information

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Fibers are one of the most ubiquitous forms of trace evidence. Textiles surround us at home, at work, in vehicles, and in our social environments. Trace material such as fibers are fairly unique to an individual's environment because the choices in clothing, vehicles and home décor are based on personal preferences.

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Hairs, Fibers, Crime, and Evidence, Part 3, by Deedrick (Forensic Science Communications, July 2000)

July 2000 - Volume 2 - Number 3

Hairs, Fibers, Crime, and Evidence Part 3: Crime and Evidence

Unit Chief
Trace Evidence Unit
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington, DC

Introduction | Crime Scene Search | Evidence Collection | Evidence Handling Procedures
Protocol for Evidence Processing in the FBI Laboratory
Examination Conclusions

The manner in which a crime scene is searched is determined by the type of crime, the location of the scene, details concerning events of the crime, the time of day, the number of people available for the search, and available equipment. Inasmuch as hair and fiber evidence can play a role in most cases involving violent crime, serious consideration should be given to collecting it properly. Once the crime has been committed, little time remains before hair and fiber evidence will be lost or contaminated. The importance of securing the crime scene cannot be overstated.

Crime Scene Search

When physical contact occurs between two individuals, objects, or individuals and objects, there is a likelihood of transfer of hair and fiber evidence. This likelihood is dependent on the nature of the contact, the duration of the contact, and the nature of the contacting surfaces. The direct transfer of hairs from the head of an individual to the clothing of another individual is called a primary transfer. When hairs have already been shed and are transferred to an individual, it is called secondary transfer. Fibers are transferred in a similar manner. When fibers are transferred from the fabric of an individual's clothing to the clothing of another individual, it is called a primary transfer. As these same fibers are transferred to other objects during subsequent contacts, secondary transfers are occurring.

It is important for crime scene investigators to understand the mechanisms of primary and secondary transfer. As trace evidence can be transferred during the commission of a crime, it can also be transferred during the search process. Hairs and fibers can not only be picked up inadvertently by investigators, they can be inadvertently deposited at the crime scene. The following are considerations at the crime scene:

Elimination hair and/or fiber samples may need to be obtained from personnel conducting the search.

Prioritize the order of evidence collection. Collect large items first and then proceed to the trace evidence. USE CAUTION WHEN WALKING THE CRIME SCENE.

Once the trace evidence is collected via vacuuming, taping, or tweezing, take blood samples, remove bullets, dust for fingerprints, and so on.

Processing the crime scene for fingerprints prior to trace evidence collection is not recommended because it can

Inadvertently transfer trace evidence onto the clothing of the technicians,

Move trace evidence, and/or

Contaminate trace evidence with dusting powder.

Evidence Collection

The following are suggestions for collecting evidence from crime scenes such as houses, apartments, and vehicles:

Photograph all evidence prior to removing it.

Remove larger items or debris from carpeting or walk areas prior to other examinations. Consider wearing disposable booties.

Collect large items, such as clothing, and place them in separate paper bags. Keep an accurate evidence log. One person should collect and bag the items while another person labels the bags and records the items in the log.

Do not place all clothing items from a suspect in one paper bag, nor all items from a victim in another bag. Bag each item separately.

Never put suspect items and victim items in contact with one another. The person collecting the suspect's items should not be the same person that collects the victim's items. If this must occur, personnel must change their clothing and collect the evidence at a different time to avoid contamination.

Bedding should be carefully handled to avoid loss of hairs and fibers. Each item should be placed in a separate bag.

Floor surfaces should be vacuumed for possible trace evidence. Some crime scene investigators use tape to secure trace evidence; however, tape is generally difficult to work with at the scene and in the laboratory. Smaller surfaces such as chairs and car seats can be taped or vacuumed.

Ensure that carpet, pet hair, and other standards that might have transferred to a suspect or victim are collected.

Always process for fingerprints after collecting trace evidence.

Collect all possible known fiber samples from a vehicle. These may be obtained from the carpet, door panels, headliner, seats, floor mats, and trunk.

The following suggestions pertain to different types of items recovered at the crime scene:

Hairs found in the hands of the victim usually belong to the victim. Rarely are the hairs similar to the suspect's known hairs; nevertheless, these must be collected and submitted for analysis.

Pubic and head hair combings should always be taken in violent crimes. Foreign hairs as well as fibers can be recovered from these samples. If a hat is recovered at the crime scene and a suspect is identified soon, it may be possible to find fibers similar to those in the hat in the suspect's hair.

Thorough random samples should be taken from the head and pubic regions of a suspect(s) and
victim(s). Twenty-five full-length hairs, pulled and combed from different areas of the head and pubic regions, are generally considered an adequate representation of an individual's hair characteristics.

Doors and windows should be searched for trace evidence if they are possible points of entry or exit.

Evidence Handling Procedures

Once the evidence has been collected, there are several recommendations or considerations when packaging it for transmittal to the laboratory. Clothing items must be packaged in separate sealed paper bags-not plastic. To avoid contamination, clothing items from the suspect should never be handled in the same area in which items from the victim are handled. All damp or blood-soaked items must be air-dried in a room away from air movement and traffic. Drying paper placed under damp clothing items should be submitted separately.

Submit individual hairs and fibers in clean paper or in an envelope with sealed corners. The primary paper or envelope should be placed inside a secondary sealed envelope with all corners taped. Many times individual hairs identified on items of clothing are not removed or secured. These hairs may move or be lost, so it is recommended that they be removed and placed in an envelope (first noting where they were removed).

If a floor surface is vacuumed, the debris should be placed on a white sheet of paper (8 x 11 inches) and folded at the corners. This paper should be placed in a heat-sealed or resealable plastic bag.

Protocol for Evidence Processing
in the FBI Laboratory

When evidence is received in the Trace Evidence Unit, the case is assigned to an examiner. The examiner will read the incoming communication to determine the nature of the offense, the names of the suspects and victims, and the types of requested examinations. It is important to have an understanding of the offense to help determine the course of action in the Laboratory. Contact between family members or friends would be treated differently, as the transfer of trace evidence would be more likely in these cases.

In the Unit, there are three processing rooms designed for debris collection. Debris is collected through a combination of picking, scraping, and sometimes taping. Whereas taping is considered by some laboratories to be a preferred technique, it can be time-consuming and tedious and can present a storage problem for the tape collections. Vacuuming is not recommended for clothing items. The clothing of a victim is processed in a room other than the room in which the suspect's clothing is processed. The collected debris is placed in pillboxes and examined with a stereobinocular microscope. Hairs and fibers are mounted on glass microscope slides for identification and comparison purposes.

Collecting trace evidence using scraping and picking techniques

Collecting trace evidence
with a vacuum

Examination Conclusions

When a questioned hair exhibits the same microscopic characteristics as the known hairs of an individual, the hair could have originated from that individual. If the questioned hair is microscopically dissimilar to the known hair standard, it cannot be associated with the individual. Different people generally have different hair characteristics, but differences in microscopic characteristics can also be the result of time and alteration. Known hair samples should be collected from individuals as soon as possible to the date of the crime. As time passes, microscopic characteristics can change, and the individual may alter the color with dyes.

Stereomicroscopic examination

If a fiber exhibits the same microscopic and optical properties as a known fabric, the fiber could have originated from that fabric. Although it is not possible to say that a fiber originated from a particular fabric, fiber matches are not insignificant. Because of the many different types of fibers and fabrics and the many different ways they can be colored, the likelihood of finding coincidental matches is low. It is possible, however, to positively say that a torn piece of fabric originated from another fabric if the torn edges match.

For more information about trace evidence and the recovery of evidence from crime scenes, see the Hairs and Fibers and Crime Scene Search sections of the Handbook of Forensic Services.
To Hair Evidence To Fiber Evidence

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Hairs, Fibers, Crime, and Evidence, Part 3, by Deedrick (Forensic Science Communications, July 2000)

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Hairs, Fibers, Crime, and Evidence, Part 3, by Deedrick (Forensic Science Communications, July 2000) July 2000 - Volume 2 - Number 3 Hairs, Fibers, Crime, and Evidence Part 3: Crime and Evidence Unit Chief Trace Evidence Unit Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington, DC Introduction | Crime Scene Search | Evidence

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Database Forensics - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

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Kevvie Fowler, in Data Breach Preparation and Response, 2016

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Analysis of fibers at a crime scene is one of the oldest forensic tools still in use by investigators today. Even though DNA has become the gold standard for forensic evidence, small fibers lifted from clothing, carpets, the trunks of cars, and other sources have tied suspects to crime scenes. Juries often seem convinced, as the presentation of fiber evidence has led to many convictions over the years. Yet, even with DNA, it is still considered one of the best forensic tools around.

Today we'll look at 10 cases where trace fibers were used to convict these captured criminals.
Related: 10 Types Of Evidence That Are Less Airtight Than Thought
10 Roger Payne

One of the earliest cases of a crime being solved thanks to fiber analysis took place in Bromley, England, in 1968. On February 8 of that year, Bernard Josephs came home to find a horrific scene-the lifeless body of his wife, Claire, underneath their bed. Her throat had been slashed so severely the wounds went all the way to her spine.

Roger Payne, a recent acquaintance of Bernard and Claire, was one of many people the police questioned, and they noticed he had scratches on his hands. Payne tried to explain away the scratches, but forensic analysis of his clothing found some very damning evidence. Claire had been wearing a wool dress at the time of her murder, and over 60 cerise wool fibers matching Claire's dress were found on Payne's clothing. This evidence helped secure a quick prosecution and ultimate conviction of Payne. He was sentenced to life in prison in May 1968, just three months after the murder.

9 Bobby Joe Long

Sometimes the incriminating fibers are not found on the suspect but on the victim. Or in the terrifying case of serial killer Bobby Joe Long, multiple victims. Long would troll areas of Tampa, Florida, known for prostitution in his search for victims. Once he lured a woman to his car, he would take her back to his apartment and commit unspeakable acts of torture and rape, eventually killing them via strangulation, bludgeoning, or slitting their throats.

In all, there are ten women known to have been murdered by Long. Incredibly, he let two other victims-Linda Nuttall and Lisa McVey-go free after their attacks. The information McVey provided to police eventually led to Long's arrest. The ten murders were conclusively linked to Long via red carpet fibers from his car. Matching fibers were found on each victim. As punishment for his many crimes, Long was executed by the state of Florida in 2019, with Lisa McVey (now Noland) among the witnesses.

8 Caleb Hughes

Melissa Brannen was five years old when she disappeared on December 3, 1989. Melissa and her mother, Tammy, lived at the Woodside Apartments in Lorton, Virginia, and had attended a Christmas party in the apartment complex that evening. After the party, Tammy and Melissa headed home, but Melissa returned to get some potato chips. She was supposed to come straight home but never made it back.

Caleb Hughes, the groundskeeper for the complex, immediately raised suspicions. This was due to witness reports that he had made inappropriate sexual comments to women at the party and had paid unusual attention to some children who were there, including Melissa. Police seized his Honda Civic sedan and examined the passenger's seat for fiber evidence. Several fiber samples were taken, but the most important were 50 blue fibers linked to the sweater that Melissa was wearing when she vanished.

Hughes was convicted of abduction with intent to defile on March 8, 1991, and sentenced to 50 years in prison. He was released in 2019, having served about 54 percent of his sentence. Unfortunately, Melissa Brannen remains a missing person to this day.

7 Glen Wolsieffer

On August 30, 1986, police were summoned to the home of local dentist Glen Wolsieffer and his wife, Betty. Glen had reported an intruder that he chased off with a gun. While investigating, police found Betty in the master bedroom, dead with strangulation marks around her neck. As the investigation continued, police uncovered a veritable soap opera full of infidelity and betrayal.

Glen had been seeing two other women, earning him the nickname "The Three-Timing Dentist." But that wouldn't be what pointed to Glen as the murderer of his wife; that turned out to be blue fibers under Betty's fingernails that were linked to the denim outfit Glen had worn the night of the murder. In the end, Glen was convicted of Betty's murder and received a sentence of eight to 20 years. He was paroled in 2005, after serving 13 years of that sentence.

6 Robert Buell

Krista Harrison was an 11-year-old girl picking up aluminum cans at a Marshallville, Ohio, park on July 17, 1982, when a man suddenly grabbed her and dragged her into his van. Unfortunately, she would be found dead six days later in a rural area, inside of a car seat box.

Two years later, in 1984, 44-year-old Robert Buell was arrested for a separate crime. Police compared orange carpet fibers that had been found on Harrison's body to the ones in Buell's van and made a match. They also found evidence that Buell had purchased a car seat that matched the box Harrison was found in. Buell was ultimately convicted of Harrison's murder and was executed for the crime in 2002. Buell, for this part, denied having any role in the Harrison case.

His last words, right before his execution, were addressed to Harrison's parents: "Jerry and Shirley, I didn't kill your daughter. The prosecutor knows that...and they left the real killer out there on the streets to kill again and again and again."

5 Craig Peyer

Craig Peyer was a California Highway Patrol officer who targeted women driving along California's interstate highways, abusing his authority to make sexual advances. Unfortunately, this fact would not be brought to light until he was on trial for the murder of one of his victims, Cara Knott. Cara was a 20-year-old woman who disappeared on December 27, 1986, while driving from her boyfriend's home in Escondido to her parents' house in El Cajon.

On December 28, her car was found at a dead end of an I-15 off-ramp, and her body was recovered at the bottom of a nearby ravine. The tell-tale evidence against Peyer included an unusual gold rayon fiber found on Knott's dress that was later matched to a patch Peyer wore on his uniform. Further investigation and more evidence led to Peyer's conviction and a sentence of 25 years to life. He has applied for parole several times but has been repeatedly denied.

4 Melanie McGuire

Melanie McGuire is a former nurse who came to be known as "The Suitcase Killer." The body of her husband, Bill, was found in a suitcase floating in the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in 2004. Fibers found on Bill's body matched the sofa that the McGuires had-which had curiously gone missing after Bill did.

There were also greenish-brown fibers that matched a pillow that Bill's sister, Cindy Ligosh, said police also did not recover. Prosecutors theorized that Melanie shot bill through the pillow in an attempt to muffle the noise. Melanie was eventually arrested in 2005, and on July 19, 2007, she was sentenced to life in prison.

3 Donna Perry

Murder has no statute of limitations, as Donna Perry found out when she was arrested in 2012 for the murders of three women-Kathy Brisbois, Yolanda Sapp, and Nickie Lowe. The crimes occurred between February and May 1990 in Spokane, Washington. Incredibly, they found fiber evidence in a 1969 International Scout that Perry had owned in 1990 but had sold years before her arrest.

Fibers from the Scout's carpet matched fibers found on all three slain women. In another great find for investigators, a .22 caliber bullet that matched the ammunition used in the murders was also found in the vehicle. In 2017, Perry was convicted and received three life sentences for her crimes.

2 Steven Pennell

Steven Pennell earned the moniker "The Route 40 Killer" after being convicted of abducting two women from U.S. Route 40 in Delaware and later murdering them. He was also suspected of killing three others. His reign of terror reached its end after the murder of 31-year-old Catherine DiMauro in June 1988.

When her body was found the next morning at a construction site, she was covered in blue carpet fiber that would be later linked to Pennell's van. At his eventual trial, Pennell testified on his own behalf and made off-color jokes about paying his victims for sex in an attempt to explain away physical evidence. Pennell was eventually found guilty in 1990 and executed by lethal injection in 1992.

1 Randy Kraft

Between 1971 and 1983, Randy Kraft murdered an astounding 16 young men, making him one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. Some estimates place his death toll at an astronomical total of 67 people. He was surely emboldened by the number of times he got away with his crimes and may have assumed he'd never get caught.

In the end, it was carpet fibers found on a rug in his garage, matched to several of his victims, that provided the evidence needed to put him behind bars for good. He was convicted in 1989 and, to this day, is still incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison in California.

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10 Criminals Who Were Caught Thanks to Trace Fiber Evidence - Listverse

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Analysis of fibers at a crime scene is one of the oldest forensic tools still in use by investigators today. Even though DNA has become the gold standard for forensic evidence, small fibers lifted from clothing, carpets, the trunks of cars, and other sources have tied suspects to crime scenes.