La Roche University Center for Lifelong Learning | Out Damn Spot! Understanding Blood and Body Fluid Evidence in the Crime Scene

Out Damn Spot! Understanding Blood and Body Fluid Evidence in the Crime Scene

Lifelong Learning | Registration opens 4/28/2026 1:00 PM EDT

Date: 5/26/2026 (one day)

Time: 9:00 AM-9:15 AM EDT on Tue

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Out Damn Spot! Understanding Blood and Body Fluid Evidence in the Crime Scene

Lifelong Learning | Registration opens 4/28/2026 1:00 PM EDT

Program Description

Perhaps the blood on Lady Macbeth’s hands was not imaginary. If only MacDuff and Lennox had the benefit of modern crime scene forensics when they found King Duncan murdered in Macbeth’s castle at Inverness. With presumptive tests to locate nearly invisible amounts of blood; and the application of trigonometry to interpret events behind patterns of blood spatter, the struggle between Macbeth and Duncan might have been reconstructed and a transfer of blood on to Lady Macbeth proven. If only those Shakespearian investigators had had access to The Adventures in Lifelong Learning course titled “Out Damn Spot! Understanding Blood and Body Fluid Evidence in the Crime Scene.”

This course consists of five (5) 1.5-hour classes in which we will explore the history of blood and body fluids analyses in crime scene investigation, the methods used to recognize and collect such evidence from the crime scene, and how laboratories examine body fluids collected from a crime scene. Retired FBI Special Agent and Evidence Response Team member Michael Hochrein will lecture, and present case histories related to each topic. Attendees will also have the opportunity to try presumptive tests used by crime scene investigators and to analyze blood stain patterns. Warning: Images used during the discussion of case histories in this course are extremely graphic.

Body fluids are present at virtually every crime scene. From a pool and spatters of blood in a violent attack to the inadvertent sneeze or sweat deposited by a burglar, the presence of such biological evidence should be expected. Its recognition can be difficult given the trace amounts left behind, transparency, and the quality of drying to a different appearance. Since the thirteenth century the forensic significance of understanding the nature and context of body fluids in crime scene has been documented. Beginning in the mid-1800s precise scientific laboratory tests were developed to identify the presence of blood in samples. And today we see the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to DNA analyses and blood stain pattern examinations. This course will give attendees an appreciation of the historical development of forensic sciences around body fluid evidence and have them step into the shoes of crime scene investigators presented with such evidence.

Instructor

Michael Hochrein

Michael J. Hochrein is an adjunct faculty for the Department of Justice, Law, and Security of La Roche University and a consultant for HD Forensics, Erie, Pennsylvania. He retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2017 after more than 29 years as a Special Agent. In his capacity as a Special Agent, he participated in the investigations of matters ranging from violent crimes, financial and government fraud, as well as child pornography. Former Agent Hochrein was a member of the F.B.I.’s Evidence Response Team (ERT) Program since its initiation in the mid1990s. As a certified police instructor in various topics related to the collection of evidence and management of crime scenes, Mike developed and conducted training for local, state, and federal law enforcement as well as medico-legal practitioners and academic audiences ranging from high school to graduate school. Former Agent Hochrein was a contributor to the F.B.I.’s Evidence Response Team Field Reference Guide. He is also the author or co-author of several peer reviewed articles on topics of forensic archaeology and forensic geotaphonomy. In addition, Mike continues to compile, and update, an extensive bibliography for many aspects of crime scene investigation. He maintains memberships in American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the International Association for Identification, and the International Homicide Investigators Association.