IRE Radio Podcast | Staining The System

Blood delivers oxygen to our tissues. It fights off infections. It courses through our veins. But can it help us catch a murderer? A little-known arm of forensic science, known as bloodstain pattern analysis, believes it can. On this week’s episode, Pamela Colloff, a senior reporter at ProPublica and writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine, takes us through her investigation into the case of Joe Bryan, a high school principal serving 99 years in prison for the murder of his wife. His conviction was based largely on expert testimony surrounding bloodstain patterns prosecutors argued placed Joe at the scene of the crime.

You can find the podcast on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play.

RESOURCES

Looking for links to the stories and resources we discussed on this week's podcast? We've collected them for you.

• Read Part 1 and Part 2 of Pamela’s investigation, “Blood Will Tell.
• Check out the new developments in Joe’s case.
• Explore the history of bloodstain pattern analysis in the criminal justice system.
• Members only: Download the tipsheet “Conducting interviews with inmates in federal prison” by Amy Brittain.
• Members only: Download the tipsheet “The National Registry of Exonerations” by Maurice Possley.
• Members only: Listen to Cheryl W. Thompson’s presentation on “The art of the interview
• Want to learn more about investigating prisons and the criminal justice system? Listen to our podcast episodes “Three Strikes,” “Profiting from Prisoners” and “Life and Death in Lowell.”

MUSIC

House of Grendel (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 3.0

FasterFasterBrighter (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Slow Driver (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Castillo (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Eleven (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Gaddy (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Plaster Combo (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Lowbrow (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Lacquer Groove (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

CREDITS

Tessa Weinberg reported this episode. IRE Editorial Director Sarah Hutchins edits the podcast. We are recorded in the studios of KBIA at the University of Missouri.