2. 2
History
Fourteen-year-old Marion
Crofts was last seen cycling
from her home in Fleet,
Hampshire to band practice
when she was attacked as
she passed some bushes
close to a canal towpath in
Aldershot in 1981. She had
been raped, beaten and
strangled.
3. 3
Investigation
A laboratory microscope slide - containing samples collected by the
Forensic Science Service (FSS) from the teenager's body after her murder -
lay deliberately untouched for 20 years. Scientists knew that they risked
losing the evidence for good unless they waited until DNA profiling
techniques became more advanced.
In 1999, the FSS developed the super-sensitive DNA Low Copy Number
(DNA LCN) technology. Using this technique, they were able to find a full
DNA profile of Marion’s suspected killer from some of her clothing. This
profile was then loaded onto the National DNA Database.
4. 4
August 2001, a match was found when Tony Jasinskyj was
arrested for another crime and his DNA sample was routinely
loaded onto the Database.
Scientists then returned to the archived laboratory microscope
slide to see if they could obtain a DNA profile from the 20-
year-old sample that might match the suspect's and further
strengthen the case against him. A full profile was obtained that
matched with the one from Marion's clothing and the suspect
himself, providing strong evidence for the police.
5. 5
At the time of the murder Jasinskyj was a cook at the local army
barracks and he, like 1,500 other soldiers, had been asked to fill out a
questionnaire about Marion's death. On it he denies ever having been
near the place where she was killed and claims he was at work at the
time. When he was questioned about how his bodily fluids ended up at
the crime scene, he said they had been planted there.
Conclusion
Tony Jasinskyj was found guilty of the teenager's rape and murder and
jailed for life in May 2002
