What is a wipe blood pattern?

A wipe blood pattern is identified by the disturbance of a blood stain that occurs when a moving object comes into contact with wet blood, effectively smearing it in a specific direction. This type of pattern can provide critical information about the motion and the force applied by the object involved, which can serve important roles in reconstructing crime scenes.

In detail, when a person or object moves through or touches a bloodstained area while the blood is still wet, it leaves a characteristic pattern that appears smeared or distorted, helping forensic experts to ascertain details such as the direction of movement and possibly the object used to create the pattern. This makes wipe patterns quite distinct from other blood patterns like spatter or those absorbed by cloth. By studying these characteristics, forensic investigators can build a narrative of events that occurred at the crime scene.

The other choices do not accurately define a wipe pattern, as they refer to different interactions between blood and objects. For example, blood from a moving source describes a different phenomena related to the source of blood rather than the effect of interaction. Blotted blood refers to a method of cleaning or absorbing blood rather than creating a distinct smear pattern. Blood splatter from an impact relates to how blood can disseminate due to a violent collision,