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How pictures may help put Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell on death row
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Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell.
With the body count standing at 11, Cleveland police are going to have quite a case on their hands when it comes to finding out exactly what transpired at sex offender turned murderer Anthony Sowell's house, both the one at which he currently lived and potentially at past residences. If the Imperial Ave. findings were not enough, East Cleveland police are now looking to see whether Sowell can be linked to a series of murders there in the late 80s. While common sense tells us that there is no question of Sowell's guilt, police still need to prove their case against him in court. Fortunately, chemicals coupled with cameras can help them in this endeavor.
One powerful crime fighting tool police use is called luminol, which is a chemical that glows in the presence of blood. Luminol is made of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen. It even works if the blood has been cleaned off the surface. This powerful property can help police find out exactly just what transpired at a crime scene that has been cleaned up. The luminol works because it reacts with iron. Conveniently, iron is found in hemoglobin, which is a substance in blood.
To use luminol, the crime scene investigator simply sprays it in the area he/she wishes to examine. Next, the lights are turned off, and if any blood, even trace amounts, was ever present, the luminol will glow blue. The effect only lasts for around 30 seconds, but this is time enough to take a long exposure photograph in the dark to record the findings. If Cleveland police decide to use luminol in the Sowell house, the results could be quite interesting.
There is a down side, however. Luminol can react with many other substances, both body fluid or not. In the case of Anthony Sowell, if the Cleveland P.D. Decides to use luminol and winds up with a glowing house, one can be pretty sure that it is blood, not something else that is setting the room alight.
While not perfect (nothing is), luminol can be very useful to police when investigating crime scenes. This is one of the times that something seen on crime drama TV shows is actually something real police use to solve cases.
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