The case of Colin Pitchfork is the first murder case to result in a criminal conviction based on DNA genetic fingerprinting (profiling evidence). Colin Pitchfork (b. 1960) was a British murderer, convicted of both rape and murder. In addition to DNA fingerprinting evidence being used against him, he was also the first person to be caught as a result of mass DNA screening.

Two girls had been raped and murdered by Pitchfork. The first instance occurred in Narborough, Leicestershire, in November 1983. The second incidence occurred in Enderby, also in Leicestershire, in July 1986. Pitchfork was arrested on September 19, 1987, and sentenced to life imprisonment on January 22, 1988, after admitting that he had committed the two murders.

Police originally found Pitchfork after it was discovered that he used a friend to lie to authorities. The friend was also used to substitute his blood as Pitchfork's for DNA testing.

Robert Melias (b. 1967) from the United Kingdom was the first person in the world to be convicted of a rape crime using DNA evidence. In 1987, he was charged and convicted of raping a 43-year-old woman crippled by polio. His blood sample trapped him.

Timothy Wilson Spencer (March 1962 – April 1994) was a serial killer who committed 3 rapes and murders in Richmond, Virginia and one in Arlington, Virginia in the fall of 1987.

Richard Buckland (b. 1969) became the first criminal suspect cleared using DNA profiling in 1986.

More Info: aboutforensics.co.uk