The “Phantom of Heilbronn” was an unknown female serial killer, whose DNA was found at numerous crime scenes across Austria, France and Germany from 1993 to 2009. It was eventually realised that the DNA belonged to a woman working in a factory, making the cotton swabs that were used to collect evidence.
Ha,I think I remember seeing a CSI episode based on this story but never realised it was based on a true story. At the time I thought the plot was a tad implausible but that shows what I know!
The “Phantom of Heilbronn” was an unknown female serial killer, whose DNA was found at numerous crime scenes across Austria, France and Germany from 1993 to 2009. It was eventually realised that the DNA belonged to a woman working in a factory, making the cotton swabs that were used to collect evidence.
Thanks! This is an okay article that adds more exposition, and it looks like this incident spawned a new protocol for avoiding swab contamination.
Ha,I think I remember seeing a CSI episode based on this story but never realised it was based on a true story. At the time I thought the plot was a tad implausible but that shows what I know!