Jenna Baldwin

Paint traces found on stones from a teenager’s grave provided crucial evidence in the trial of a girl’s stepfather charged with her murder.

Jenna Baldwin, aged 15, disappeared from her home near Pontypool, Gwent, in September 2002. Her stepfather Mike Baldwin, 36, initially claimed the teenager had left home. Several mobile text and voice mail messages together with jewellery from Jenna were sent to relatives with a reassurance that the youngster was unharmed but was not returning home.

Following his arrest, Baldwin then claimed the teenager had died after falling down the stairs during an argument at the family home. He said he had then set out in his car to take her to hospital but the youngster died during the journey and Baldwin had buried the girl’s body in moorland.

The forensic examination of the grave provided key evidence. The police investigation had indicated that Baldwin had bought a green painted ‘Bulldog’ brand shovel from a local hardware store the day after Jenna’s disappearance. Baldwin denied using such a shovel to bury the body, claiming he had carried out the burial with his bare hands and an old, rusty shovel. He told police he had initially attempted to dig at another location near the final grave, but had abandoned the site because the ground was full of stones and plant roots.

Forensic Science Service scientists examined soil from the first gravesite and found green paint smears on stones and a partially cut tree root. These matched the paint on a Bulldog shovel of the type purchased by Baldwin at the local store. Soil recovered from the final grave was then washed through giant sieves to recover any stones. One small stone was identified with visible green smears that were also found to be of the same paint type as the shovel. The prosecution argued that the findings contradicted Baldwin’s version of events.

Before Baldwin’s arrest, police had made a media appeal to Jenna to send a personal item to her mother, to dispel fears that the teenager had been harmed. An envelope containing a ring, which had been given to Jenna, was sent to her mother. Examination of the envelope flap, using FSS SGMplus™, provided a DNA profile that matched Baldwin. The area underneath the stamp produced a partial DNA profile which could have come from Jenna’s younger sister indicating that the stamp or envelope had probably come from the family home.

During this period a series of text messages and phone calls were sent to relatives all purporting to be from Jenna saying she was well and had left home. While Baldwin was in custody, police were alerted that he had swallowed an item. A small piece of plastic was recovered and after being examined by the lab was identified as a fragment of a mobile SIM card. Baldwin later admitted making the bogus calls.

At the scene a bloodstain in the carpet in the hallway of the family home produced a DNA profile which matched Jenna. A large number of items from the home were also examined in an attempt to identify a red haired girl. Baldwin claimed the redhead had visited his stepdaughter at home five days after her disappearance, but no traces of red hair were discovered. He later admitted to fabricating this story.

Following a trial at Cardiff Crown court Mike Baldwin was jailed for life in July 2003 for Jenna’s murder.