She rinsed them out at WHF.
I was led to believe that she took the bucket away with her from the kitchen in the boot of her car, with the cold water that they had been soaking in still in the bucket!
In any event, simply rinsing such an item would not remove the clotted blood that must have been all over them. Everybody knows that heavily bloodstained garments such as blood soiled knickers from a ladies monthly cycle need a good soaking, and that a quick rinse would not have served to get rid of any blood evidence that the relatives might well have put to use later on...
I beleive its very significant that Ann Eaton took Sheila's rinsed knickers and the silencer away from the scene on the 10th August 1985. Why would anyone want to keep hold of such a personal garment belonging to a recently deceased lady?
I am also very mindful of what DCS Ainsley reminded her to say prior to her attending the trial to testify if defence counsel suggested to her that the relatives could have easily contaminated the silencer with Sheila's menstrual blood from the knickers she had taken control of from the scene...
Ann Eaton said that you could tell the difference between ordinary blood and menstrual blood because of the smell of the later bloodt type! Ainsley reminded her to make sure that she remembered to say that if the matter should arise!
Now, this I found to be very interesting, because no-one appears to have officially sniffed at the blood in or on the silencer to see whether the blood or not was Sheila's menstrual blood, or her usual venous blood? And Yet Ann Eaton must have sniffed at the silencer when the relatives had it in their possession to see if it was possible to tell from the smell of the blood that was on the siilencer or inside it, whether or not it was Sheila's menstrual blood?
And, here was Ainsley telling her to make sure that if she was asked about the possibility that the relatives had deliberately contaminated the silencer with Sheila's menstrual blood she was to tell them about the difference between both types of blood, which could be determined simply by smelling the blood!
How come the blood experts at the lab' knew nothing about this part of Ann Eatons explanation considering that she was involved in the find and handing over of the silencer - she kept Sheila's unsoaked knickers at her home along with the silencer1 Seems to me that Ann Eaton and the relatives must have been worried that the defence were going to be suggesting to them that they could have deliberately contaminated tghe suilencer with remnants of Sheila's menstraul blood from the knickers, or the bucket the knickers were transported away in from the scene...
None of the Lab' experts tested the blood for its smell, and perhaps that is where they made a mistake?
Perhaps the blood found on and inside the silencer was Sheila's menstraul blood, only in its dried formast - and who is to say that when menstraul blood and veneous blood dry separately that you can't tell the difference between one and the other?
What has always interested me, was the total absence of any PGM blood found in the results taken of the blood from the silencer, and I have always wondered whether this might have been to do with the breakdown of the blood when a female menstrates? Another thing which might require looking into is whether or not the deterioating condition of AK1 blood in a womans menstraul blood could adversley effect the AK2-1 blood enzyme from an unmenstrating female mixed together?
Sheila Caffell - normal Venous Blood
Sheila Caffell - Menstraul Blood (According to Ann Eaton it smells differently to normal blood)..I am not aware that any blood expert excluded any of the blood which has been attributed to any part of the silencer, inside or outside of it from potentially being menstraul Blood.....
(1) - https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/21357/what-is-the-difference-between-regular-blood-a-womans-and-a-virgins-menstrual
(2) - https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/54004/is-there-a-simple-test-that-can-differentiate-menstrual-blood-period-blood-fr
