Editing Colin Pitchfork

{{Short description|English child-murderer and rapist (born 1960)}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Colin Pitchfork
| image_name        = Colin Pitchfork.jpg
| image_alt         = Pitchfork booking photograph
| image_caption     = Pitchfork after his arrest in September 1987
| birth_name        = Colin Pitchfork
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1960|3|23|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Littlethorpe, Leicestershire|Littlethorpe]], [[Leicestershire]], UK
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| known_for         = First person convicted using DNA evidence
| alias             = David Thorpe<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fiorillo |first1=Chiara |title=Child killer Colin Pitchfork 'using new name' but must confess crimes to new girlfriend |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/child-killer-colin-pitchfork-using-24896708 |access-date=10 October 2024 |work=[[Daily Mirror]] |date=2 September 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241010082540/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/child-killer-colin-pitchfork-using-24896708 |archive-date=10 October 2024 |quote=The 61-year-old, who raped and killed two schoolgirls in the 1980s, is said to have been calling himself David Thorpe behind bars in HMP Leyhill.}}</ref>
| charge            = 
| conviction_penalty = [[Life imprisonment]]
| conviction_status = Recalled to prison
| beginyear         = 1979
| endyear           = 1986
| victims           = {{hlist|4+ (sexual assault)|2 (murder)}}
| occupation        = Baker
| alma_mater        = 
| religion          = 
| spouse            = 
| children          = 2
| conviction        = Murder, rape, sexual assault, perverting the course of justice (22 Jan 1988)<ref name="2023PBPH1" />
}}
'''Colin Pitchfork''' (born 23 March 1960) is an English child-murderer and child-rapist. He was the first person convicted of [[rape in English law|rape]] and [[murder in English law|murder]] using [[DNA profiling]] after he [[murder]]ed two girls in neighbouring [[Leicestershire]] villages: Lynda Mann in [[Narborough, Leicestershire|Narborough]] in November 1983 and Dawn Ashworth in [[Enderby, Leicestershire|Enderby]] in July 1986. He was arrested on 19 September 1987 and [[sentence (law)|sentenced]] to [[life imprisonment]] on 22 January 1988 after pleading guilty to both murders. The sentencing judge gave him a 30-year minimum term (reduced to 28 years on appeal).<ref name="2023PBPH1">{{cite report |last=Corby |first=Caroline |date=2 March 2023 |title= Application for a Public Hearing in the case of Mr Colin Pitchfork |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/640726f38fa8f527f7342fd7/Application_for_a_Public_Hearing_in_the_case_of_Pitchfork___2023__PBPH_1_.pdf  |publisher=[[Parole Board for England and Wales]] |location=3rd Floor, 10 South Colonnade, London |pages= 8 |access-date= March 14, 2024}}</ref> 

He was granted [[parole]] in June 2021 and released on licence on 1 September that year. On 19 November the same year, he was recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions. Pitchfork was granted parole a second time in June 2023, but after intervention from the [[Lord Chancellor]] [[Alex Chalk]], the Parole Board reviewed its decision and decided not to release him.

==Life==
Pitchfork lived at 6 Brascote Lane in [[Newbold Verdon]], attending school in [[Market Bosworth]] and [[Bosworth Academy|Bosworth College]] in [[Desford]]. He was in the 1st Newbold Verdon Scout Group, gaining the [[the Scout Association#Award scheme|Chief Scout's Award]] in September 1976.<ref>''Leicester Mercury'' Friday 10 September 1976, page 8</ref> He was one of four scouts chosen in Leicestershire to go to the [[14th World Scout Jamboree]] in Norway in August 1975, amongst 1,600 scouts from the UK.<ref>''Hinckley Times'' Friday 25 July 1975, page 6</ref> Molly Pitchfork, his mother, was the Group Scout Leader.<ref>''Hinckley Times'' Friday 8 April 1983, page 8</ref><ref>''Hinckley Times'' Friday 31 August 1984, page 17</ref>

He married a [[social worker]] in 1981 and moved to the Leicestershire village of [[Littlethorpe, Leicestershire|Littlethorpe]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/crime/colin-pitchfork-child-killer-colin-pitchfork-to-be-released-from-prison-who-is-colin-pitchfork-how-old-is-he-now-3264248|title=Everything you need to know about child murderer Colin Pitchfork and his release from prison on parole|website=www.scotsman.com|date=13 July 2021 }}</ref>{{R|Wambaugh 1995}} Before his marriage, Pitchfork had been convicted of [[indecent exposure]] and had been referred for therapy to the [[Carlton Hayes Hospital]], [[Narborough, Leicestershire|Narborough]].<ref name ="evan"/>

Pitchfork had obtained work in Hampshire's Bakery in Leicester, in 1976, as an [[apprentice]]. He continued to work there until his arrest for the murders. He became particularly skilled as a sculptor of [[cake decoration]]s and had hoped, eventually, to start his own cake decorating business. According to his supervisor, he was "a good worker and time-keeper, but he was moody... and he couldn't leave women employees alone. He was always chatting them up."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eoyK2Ycj30C&q=colin+pitchfork+wife+%22social+worker%22&pg=PT103|title=The Blooding|last=Wambaugh|first=Joseph|date=2011-11-29|publisher=Open Road Media|isbn=9781453234235|language=en}}</ref>

== Crimes ==
In October 1977, he was fined £30 by Market Bosworth magistrates for exposing himself to a schoolgirl, pleading guilty, when aged 17.<ref>''Leicester Mercury'' Wednesday 19 October 1977, page 21</ref>

In 1979, Pitchfork forced a 16-year-old girl into a field and [[sexually assault]]ed her.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2021-07-13 |title=Murderer who raped and killed two schoolgirls to be released after government loses legal challenge |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/colin-pitchfork-release-prison-murder-b1883137.html |access-date=2023-06-17 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref name="auto" />

On 14 February 1980, when aged 20, he exposed himself to two teenage girls in [[Earl Shilton]], and was given a year's probation by [[Hinckley]] magistrates.<ref>''Leicester Mercury'' Friday 11 April 1980, page 13</ref><ref>''Hinckley Times'' Friday 18 April 1980, page 5</ref>

On 21 November 1983, 15-year-old Lynda Mann took a shortcut on her way home from [[babysitting]] instead of taking her normal route home.<ref name=":5" /> She did not return and her parents and neighbours spent the night searching for her. The next morning, she was found raped and strangled on a deserted footpath known locally as the Black Pad. Using [[forensic science]] techniques available at the time, police linked a [[semen]] sample taken from her body to a person with [[Blood type|type A blood]] and an [[enzyme]] profile that matched only 10% of males. With no other leads or [[evidence]], the case was left open.{{R|Wambaugh 1995}}

In October 1985, Pitchfork sexually assaulted another 16-year-old girl, threatening her with a screwdriver and with a knife at her throat.<ref name=":8" /><ref name="auto" /> 

Liz Knight was picked up by Pitchfork on a Saturday in June 1986 and driven for 40 minutes from [[Wigston]] towards [[Great Glen, Leicestershire|Great Glen]]. When she grabbed the steering wheel, Pitchfork's demeanour suddenly changed, and he decided to drive to her house, and not attack. Pitchfork put his hand on her knee, saying: "I haven't hurt you yet." Pitchfork dropped Knight at her house, asking, "How about a goodnight kiss?" which she refused. Pitchfork said, "I bet you would never accept a lift from a stranger again."<ref>''Leicester Mercury'' Saturday 23 January 1988, page 10</ref>

On 31 July 1986, 15-year-old Dawn Ashworth left her home to visit a friend's house.<ref name=":5" /> Her parents expected her to return at 9:30 pm; when she failed to do so they called police to report her missing. Two days later, her body was found in a wooded area near a footpath called Ten Pound Lane.<ref name=":5" /> She had been beaten, savagely raped, and strangled. The ''[[modus operandi]]'' matched that of the first attack, and semen samples revealed the same [[blood type]].<ref name=":5" /> Both girls had attended [[Brockington College|Brockington High School]].<ref>''Leicester Mercury'' Saturday 22 November 1986, page 10</ref> Dawn's mother worked at [[Next plc]] in Enderby; [[George Davies (retailer)|George Davies]] offered a £10,000 reward.

An initial suspect was Richard Buckland, a local 17-year-old with [[Intellectual disability|learning difficulties]] who, while innocent of both murders, revealed knowledge of Ashworth's body and [[false confession|admitted]] to the Ashworth crime under questioning, denying the first murder.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Graff |first=Vincent |date=6 April 2015 |title=Code of a Killer: the true story of the first case solved by DNA |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-04-06/code-of-a-killer-the-true-story-of-the-first-case-solved-by-dna-profiling |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408213437/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-04-06/code-of-a-killer-the-true-story-of-the-first-case-solved-by-dna-profiling |archive-date=8 April 2015 |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=www.radiotimes.com}}</ref>

===Arrest and conviction===
In early 1987, police asked every local male between the ages of 16 and 34 to voluntarily give blood samples for DNA testing. By the end of January, a thousand men had been tested. Men who declined to give blood samples found themselves under scrutiny by police.<ref name="evan" />

[[File:The Clarendon - geograph.org.uk - 5301673.jpg|thumb|right|The pub where Ian Kelly admitted, on Saturday 1 August 1987, that he had taken the test]]
According to 1988 news reports, one of Pitchfork's colleagues at the bakery, 23-year-old Ian Kelly, who lived outside the area under investigation, was overheard in a pub discussing how he had provided a blood sample on Pitchfork's behalf, by using a fake passport to masquerade as Pitchfork. He had agreed to do this in exchange for £200, and took the test on 29 January 1987.<ref>''Leicester Mercury'' Friday 22 January 1988, page 1</ref> The conversation, during the lunchtime of Saturday, 1 August 1987, was overheard by other bakery colleagues, and 28-year-old Jackie Foggin ({{nee|Tyson}}), of [[Fleckney]], reported it to the police.<ref>''Leicester Mercury'' Monday 16 May 1988, page 24</ref> This vital tip-off was later credited with enabling Pitchfork to be caught. Pitchfork had told Kelly that he wanted to avoid being harassed by police because of his prior convictions for indecent exposure. <ref name="evan">{{cite book | last = Evans | first = Colin | title = The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | location = London | year = 1998 | isbn = 978-0471283690 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/casebookofforens00coli/page/62 62] | url = https://archive.org/details/casebookofforens00coli/page/62 }}</ref> Kelly was arrested at 31 Stuart Street in Leicester on Friday, 18 September.

On Saturday, 19 September 1987, Pitchfork was arrested<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/pitchfork/story-29568073-detail/story.html|title=Memories of Colin Pitchfork's second murder - 30 years on|date=2016-07-31|newspaper=Leicester Mercury|language=en|access-date=2017-02-04}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> at 32 Haybarn Close, in [[Littlethorpe, Leicestershire|Littlethorpe]], by Detective Inspector Mick Thomas. Pitchfork's wife tried to attack him, when he told her that he had killed two girls.<ref>''Leicester Mercury'' Saturday 23 January 1988, page 10</ref>

During questioning, Pitchfork admitted to [[Indecent exposure|exposing himself]] to more than 1,000 women, a compulsion that began in his early teens. He later progressed to [[sexual assault]] and then to strangling his victims. Pitchfork said this was in order to protect his identity. Investigators rejected this, viewing the motivation for the strangulations as "perverted sadism".<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2009/963.html|title=Pitchfork, R v [2009] EWCA Crim 963 (14 May 2009)}}</ref> During his interviews with the police he admitted his crimes, but lied about the level and nature of the violence he had inflicted on his victims.{{R|Wambaugh 1995}} 

At his trial at [[Leicester Crown Court]], Pitchfork pleaded guilty to the two rapes and murders, in addition to sexual assault of two other girls, and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.<ref name="2023PBPH1"/><ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Hoyland |first=Paul |date=23 January 1988 |title=Genetic test traps girls' killer |pages=1 |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian/33455288/ |access-date=16 June 2023}}</ref> In January 1988 he was sentenced to [[life imprisonment]] for the two murders and 10 years for raping the victims; he was also sentenced to three years for each count of sexual assault and three years for perverting the course of justice, with all sentences to run concurrently.<ref name="2023PBPH1"/><ref name=":7" /> A [[psychiatric]] report prepared for the court described Pitchfork as possessing a [[psychopathic personality disorder]] accompanied with a serious psychosexual [[pathology]].<ref name="auto" /> The [[Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales|Lord Chief Justice]] at the time of his sentencing said: "From the point of view of the safety of the public I doubt if he should ever be released."<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-32487464|title='DNA' child killer Colin Pitchfork gets parole review|last=Shaw|first=Danny|date=2015-04-27|newspaper=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-02-04}}</ref> The [[Secretary of State (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State]] set a [[Life imprisonment in England and Wales|minimum term]] of 30 years; in 2009, Pitchfork's minimum term sentence was reduced on appeal to 28 years.<ref>[http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/2009/963.html Pitchfork, R v] [2009] EWCA Crim 963</ref>

==Parole reviews==
On 22 April 2016, the [[Parole Board for England and Wales]] heard Pitchfork's case for early release on parole.<ref name=":4" /> Pitchfork's [[advocate]]s presented evidence of his improved character, noting that Pitchfork had furthered his education to [[academic degree|degree]] level and had become expert at the transcription of printed music into [[braille]], for the benefit of [[blindness|blind]] people.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=2016-04-29 |title=No parole for Colin Pitchfork: First killer caught by DNA |language=en-GB |newspaper=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-36168459 |access-date=2017-02-04}}</ref> The families of victims Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth opposed his release on parole.<ref name=":4" />

On 29 April 2016, the board announced that Pitchfork's application for release on licence had been refused, but recommended that he be moved to an [[open prison]].<ref name=":3" /> In June 2016, [[Michael Gove]], then [[Secretary of State for Justice|Justice Secretary]], agreed with the board's recommendation,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-36481817|title=Colin Pitchfork: First killer caught by DNA "should move to open prison"|date=2016-06-08|newspaper=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-02-04}}</ref> and at some point prior to 8 January 2017, Pitchfork was moved to an undisclosed open prison.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-38547168|title=Colin Pitchfork: Fears after child killer moved to open prison|date=2017-01-08|newspaper=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-02-04}}</ref>

In November 2017, Pitchfork was seen walking around [[Bristol]], so it was assumed that he had been moved to [[HM Prison Leyhill]] in [[Gloucestershire]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Natasha |title=Child killer allowed to go shopping on his own in Bristol city centre |url=https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/child-killer-colin-pitchfork-allowed-766966 |access-date=23 March 2021 |work=[[Bristol Post]] |publisher=[[Local World]] |date=13 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113171542/https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/child-killer-colin-pitchfork-allowed-766966 |archive-date=13 November 2017 |location=[[Bristol]] |language=en}}</ref>

On 3 May 2018, Pitchfork was refused release on licence. The Parole Board said Pitchfork would be eligible for a further review within two years. Lynda's mother said the board had "listened to us before the murderer". In 2017, it emerged Pitchfork would be released from open prison on unsupervised days out.<ref>{{cite news |title=Colin Pitchfork: Double child killer denied parole |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-43993232 |accessdate=3 October 2018|work=BBC News}}</ref>

===2021: release and recall===
On 7 June 2021, Pitchfork was granted release on conditional licence. The Secretary of State for Justice, [[Robert Buckland]], applied for a review of the decision under the terms of the Parole Board Reconsideration Mechanism, introduced in 2019, and Pitchfork remained in custody pending the outcome.<ref>{{cite news |title=Colin Pitchfork: Double schoolgirl murderer can be released |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-57384393 |accessdate=7 June 2021|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/colin-pitchfork-released-prison-double-child-murderer-parole-board-government-challenge-1101061|title=Double child murderer Colin Pitchfork to be released from prison despite Government challenge|date=13 July 2021|website=inews.co.uk}}</ref> On 13 July 2021, it was reported that the review had been refused and that Pitchfork would therefore be released.<ref name="Release">{{Cite news |date=13 July 2021 |title=Colin Pitchfork: Double child killer's release confirmed |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-57737050 |access-date=30 August 2021}}</ref> He was released on 1 September 2021.<ref>{{cite news |date=1 September 2021| title=Double child killer Colin Pitchfork has been released from prison |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/09/01/double-child-killer-colin-pitchfork-has-released-prison/ |access-date=1 September 2021}}</ref>

In November 2021, Pitchfork was recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions by "approaching young women" while on walks from his [[bail hostel]].<ref name="BBC 59377431">{{cite news |title=Colin Pitchfork recalled to jail after approaching young women |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-59377431 |access-date=22 November 2021 |work=BBC News |date=22 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=19 November 2021| title=Colin Pitchfork: Double child killer arrested and recalled to prison after 'breaching licence conditions' |work=Sky News |url=https://news.sky.com/story/colin-pitchfork-double-child-killer-arrested-and-recalled-to-prison-after-breaching-licence-conditions-12472797 |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> His second victim's mother, Barbara Ashworth, told [[BBC News]] that she was pleased "he's been put away and women and girls are safe and protected from him now".<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-11-19|title=Double child killer Colin Pitchfork sent back to prison|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-59354638|access-date=2021-11-19}}</ref> There are complaints that the Parole Board was insufficiently cautious in allowing Pitchfork's release. Justice Secretary [[Dominic Raab]] promised a Parole Board review. David Baker, a former police detective who helped capture Pitchfork, believes Pitchfork could deceive the Parole Board and pretend it was safe to release him. Baker maintains Pitchfork is a [[psychopath]] and it will never be safe to release him.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-59394475 Colin Pitchfork: Justice Secretary Dominic Raab pledges parole review] ''[[BBC]]''</ref>

===2023: consideration for release===
The Parole Board's hearing to consider releasing Pitchfork again was postponed to 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Richardson |first=Hannah |date=2022-12-08 |title=Child-killer Colin Pitchfork's parole hearing delayed again |url=https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/child-killer-colin-pitchforks-parole-7904200 |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=LeicestershireLive |language=en}}</ref> His potential release was opposed by [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] [[Alberto Costa (British politician)|Alberto Costa]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-61192451 Colin Pitchfork: Parole hearing for double child killer and rapist] ''[[BBC]]''</ref>

In June 2023 it was announced that Pitchfork would again be released under parole.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-15 |title=Colin Pitchfork: Double child killer and rapist to be released |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-65479515 |access-date=2023-06-15}}</ref> The decision was widely criticised.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-15 |title=Colin Pitchfork: Double child killer and rapist to be released |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-65479515 |access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref> In July 2023, the Lord Chancellor intervened and ordered that the board reconsider their decision after a huge public outcry, particularly since Pitchfork breached his licence conditions within weeks of his initial release.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-07-27 |title=Who is Colin Pitchfork? |url=https://news.sky.com/story/who-is-colin-pitchfork-the-double-child-murderer-waiting-to-see-if-hell-be-released-from-prison-12914724 |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=SkyNews |language=en}}</ref> Pitchfork's new parole hearing took place on 2 and 3 October 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-66817247|title=Colin Pitchfork: Date set for double child killer's parole hearing|website=BBC News|date=15 September 2023|first=Greig|last=Watson}}</ref> In December 2023, parole was denied, meaning that Pitchfork would remain in prison.{{where|date=March 2025}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/child-killer-colin-pitchfork-denied-prison-release-parole-board-b1125404.html|website=Evening Standard|title=Double child killer denied prison release|date=7 December 2023|first=Callum|last=Parke}}</ref>

===2024 review===
Pitchfork challenged the Parole Board's decision on procedural grounds, and in February 2024 the Board agreed to schedule another hearing before a different panel to consider his potential release.<ref> {{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/colin-pitchfork-parole-prison-release-b2494805.html|title=Double child rapist and murderer Colin Pitchfork to have fresh parole hearing|date=12 February 2024|newspaper=The Independent|first=Rick|last=Booth}}</ref> On 16 May 2024, the Parole Board Chair, Caroline Corby, reversed an earlier decision that Pitchfork's parole hearing should be held behind closed doors; the next hearing was broadcast due to public interest. There will be a preliminary hearing behind closed doors to address "practical matters".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66461c91bd01f5ed32793d54/Application_for_a_Public_Hearing_in_the_case_of_C_Pitchfork_2024_PBPH_10__16_May_2024_.pdf|title=Application for a Public Hearing in the case of Mr Colin Pitchfork|newspaper=the Parole Board|date= May 16, 2024|access-date=August 17, 2024}}</ref>

==Artwork==
In April 2009, a sculpture that Pitchfork had created in prison and which was exhibited at the [[Royal Festival Hall]], ''Bringing the Music to Life'', depicted an orchestra and choir. The sculpture was exhibited as part of a venture by the [[Koestler Trust]], having been purchased by the Festival Hall for £600. Following outrage in the media and from victim-advocate groups, it was removed from display.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7992941.stm |title=Anger over child killer's artwork |date=2009-04-09 |accessdate=2009-04-09 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Pitchfork’s crimes were originally chronicled in the 1989 book ''The Blooding'' by Joseph Wambaugh.<ref name="Wambaugh 1995">{{cite book |last1=Wambaugh |first1=Joseph |title=The Blooding: The Dramatic True Story of the First Murder Case Solved by Genetic "Fingerprinting" |date=1 March 1995 |publisher=Bantam |isbn=978-0-553-76330-0 |language=English}}</ref> 

Pitchfork's crimes were aired on the American true crime series ''[[Forensic Files]]'' in October 1996.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

The killings featured in a 2002 episode of ''[[Real Crime]]'' "Cracking the Killer's Code".  Pitchfork was played by [[John Duttine]].{{cn|date=May 2024}}

In 2014, [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] commissioned a two-part television drama, ''[[Code of a Killer]]'', based on Pitchfork's crimes and the creation of DNA profiling. It starred [[John Simm]] as researcher [[Alec Jeffreys]] and [[David Threlfall]] as David Baker, the lead police detective.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marlow |first1=Lee |title=Code of a Killer: ITV film crew shoot in Leicester for two part drama on how DNA profiling snared double-child killer |url=http://leicestermercury.co.uk/Code-Killer-ITV-fiolm-crew-shoot-Leicester-drama/story-23837626-detail/story.html |access-date=23 March 2021 |work=[[Leicester Mercury]] |publisher=[[Local World]] |date=31 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101233605/http://leicestermercury.co.uk/Code-Killer-ITV-fiolm-crew-shoot-Leicester-drama/story-23837626-detail/story.html |archive-date=1 November 2014 |location=[[Leicester]]}}</ref> Pitchfork was played by [[Nathan Wright (actor)|Nathan Wright]]. The drama was the first broadcast in two 90-minute episodes, on 6 and 13 April 2015. It was subsequently reformatted as three episodes and released on DVD.

Pitchfork's crimes are also the focus of an episode of the Sky series ''How I Caught the Killer''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sky.com/watch/title/series/9d9f4a65-878c-4a43-a8c0-f8661a67163a/how-i-caught-the-killer/episodes/season-1/episode-5|title=How I Caught The Killer|website=Sky}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Beenham murders]] – led to one of the first voluntary mass blood tests in UK criminal history in 1966, and led to a similar outcome as in the Pitchfork case when the killer originally avoided the test before eventually being caught
*[[Murder of June Anne Devaney]] – led to the first mass fingerprinting initiative in British history in 1948
*[[Kirk Bloodsworth]] – the first American sentenced to [[capital punishment|death]] to be exonerated post-conviction by [[DNA]] testing
*[[Patrick Mackay]] – a British serial killer who confessed to have murdered up to 13 people, who has been considered for release since 1995
*[[Allan Grimson]] – British double murderer believed to have murdered up to 22 people, whose release is imminent
*[[John Cannan]] – murderer and suspected killer of [[Suzy Lamplugh]], eligible for parole in 2022

UK cold cases where the offender's DNA is now known:
*[[Murder of Deborah Linsley]]
*[[Murders of Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon]]
*[[Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo]]
*[[Murder of Lindsay Rimer]]
*[[Murders of Kate Bushell and Lyn Bryant|Murder of Lyn Bryant]] 
*[[Murder of Janet Brown]]
*[[Murder of Linda Cook]] 
*[[Murder of Melanie Hall]]
*[[Batman rapist]], subject to Britain's longest-running serial rape investigation

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Cited works and further reading==
* {{cite book| last1 = Cawthorne| first1 = Nigel| last2 = Tibballs| first2 = Jeffrey| year = 1994| title = Killers| publisher = Boxtree| pages = [https://archive.org/details/killerscontractk0000cawt/page/338 338–341]| isbn = 978-0-7522-0850-3| url = https://archive.org/details/killerscontractk0000cawt/page/338}}
* {{Cite book|last=Evans|first=Colin|title=The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes|year=1996|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Inc.|location=New York|isbn=978-0-471-07650-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/casebookofforens00coli}}
*{{cite book| last = Wambaugh| first = Joseph| title = The Blooding: True Story of the Narborough Village Murders| year = 1990| publisher = Bantam Books| isbn = 978-0-553-76330-0 }}

{{Portal bar|Crime|England}}
{{Murders in the United Kingdom in the 1980s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitchfork, Colin}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1983 in England]]
[[Category:1983 murders in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1986 in England]]
[[Category:1986 murders in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:20th-century English criminals]]
[[Category:Blaby]]
[[Category:British people convicted of sexual assault]]
[[Category:Child murder in England]]
[[Category:Criminals from Leicestershire]]
[[Category:English murderers of children]]
[[Category:English male criminals]]
[[Category:English people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:English people convicted of rape]]
[[Category:English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by England and Wales]]
[[Category:People from Hinckley and Bosworth (district)]]
[[Category:People with antisocial personality disorder]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales]]
[[Category:Rape in the 1980s]]