Caroline,whatever the crime scene,which it was,a MURDER scene in anyone's eyes, and should never have been dismissed as a murder/suicide. EP should have followed the rules of cordoning off the property and regardless whether they thought it was a murder/suicide should STILL have treated it as murder--------------and they didn't. That was EP's FIRST mistake. The rest that followed was abysmal.
Jeremy was allegedly on bail,but still had his passport ?
As for the DNA testing,there was heaps of it before it was incinerated 11 years later.Why didn't anyone bother when he was arrested ? Don't tell me that it couldn't have been done because bodies are exhumed years later for such testing.
Heaps of DNA is not likely. DNA that would be extremely useful would not be found anyway. The victims didn't scratch the attacker and thus get the attacker's DNA under their nails. The attacker didn't get cut and bleed thus the killers blood based DNA would not be found. No semen based DNA would be found either.
DNA evidence would not be particularly useful in a case like this with the exception of the blood on/in the weapon/moderator or victim blood found on the perp/perp's clothing
Sheila's clothing and body didn't have any signs of spatter from the other victims so there was no blood to test for DNA so as to suggest she was present when anyone else was shot. If they had found signs of such spatter they would have type tested it which would have prevented it from being saved for DNA testing down the road anyway.
They didn't immediately seize Jeremy's clothing he was wearing or to immediately search his house for clothing that might have had blood stains. Even if they did immediately seize and tested any clothing found it would have left nothing to DNA test later.
Jeremy's jacket had been washed. It had red drops that they could not determine what they were. If those drops came back as DNA of the victims it would be evident it was spatter and he would have been damning. But they didn't have DNA testing at the time and expended the samples by testing them to try to figure to what they were. Even if they didn't test it and save it though the fact they were washed and further passage of time means they probably would not have gotten a DNA profile even if they were blood spatter.
DNA in general is not a problem for Jeremy because he interacted with the victims so his DNA had the ability to get around the house and on the victims as theirs had the ability to get on him. The defining feature is that the spots resembled spatter and getting tiny drops of DNA of the victims all over his jacket would not be likely to happen any other way. If they just found one bit of DNA of a victim on Jeremy's clothing that is worthless it needs to be spatter to have any significance for the murders.
DNA evidence is much more significant when strangers are involved because such strangers have no valid excuses for their DNA being found period.
If they didn't destroy the bedding then there might have been evidence to prove some of Nevill's blood got on the bedding. That's the main significance in the destruction of the bedding.