Why Is Crime Scene Poop a Thing?
Every once in a while I come across a topic so strange I can’t help but to research it. Crime scene poop is one of those things.
The first time I ever heard about criminals pooping at the scene of a crime was on the radio, maybe 10 years ago. A talk radio host talked about having her home broken into and then finding that the person who had done it had defecated in her closet. My curiosity was piqued.
And then, there was the murder of Meredith Kercher in which her killer, Rudy Guede, used the bathroom and didn’t flush. Guede’s DNA was found in the excrement and the toilet paper roll. Guede claimed he heard Kercher scream and got up quickly from the toilet, but in my opinion the evidence points more to somebody who committed a crime and is so nervous that he had to head to the bathroom quickly.
I also read a story about of Ventura County in which a man was arrested based on fecal DNA found at a crime scene in Thousand Oaks. A burglar had left a smoking gun in the toilet, unflushed and ready for the police to test. Years earlier, and also in Ventura County, the 1997 murder of a teenager was also solved thanks to DNA testing of feces left by an intruder. I have learned that many laboratories are not interested in testing fecal matter, but apparently Ventura County is all about it.
