Evidence in the doorstep shooting of 68-year-old Marianne Wilkinson, in Texas, will today be presented to John Bond, the scientific support manager at Northamptonshire Police.

He will then see if he can retrieve a fingerprint from the murder weapon, using a revolutionary technique.

Dr Bond's breakthrough, which was described by Time magazine as one of the top 50 inventions of the year, allows scientists to find a fingerprint on metal, even when it has been wiped off.

The forensic expert was to meet Det Tony Roten, of the Crimes Against Persons Section, to examine the brass shell casings of the weapon used in the 2007 killing.

Dr Bond, who is also an honorary research fellow at the University of Leicester, said: "We are very pleased to be given the opportunity to assist North Richland Hills Police, Texas, with this investigation.

"I am confident that if any fingerprint deposit has corroded the metal shell casing then our new technique will find it.

"We have been overwhelmed with the interest shown in this technique since the visit earlier in the year from Det Chris King, of Kingsland Police, Georgia. I know that the partial fingerprint we found for Chris has aided his investigation.

"The interest in this work is a real boost for the research team we have now in the chemistry department at the University of Leicester, investigating fingerprint corrosion of metals."

Dr Bond's pioneering technique has been used in the search for Afghan bomb makers by the US Marines and has also retrieved latent prints from bullets fired almost a decade ago.

Det Roten said: "Our team of detectives has been working diligently to identify the killer of Marianne Wilkinson, in December of 2007 in North Richland Hills, Texas.

"This case is very complex and it appears that Mrs Wilkinson was not the intended victim in this homicide. I am very optimistic that Dr Bond will be able to use his technique to find fingerprints on the shell casings of the murder weapon recovered during the investigation.

"This procedure could help us identify the person who loaded the murder weapon."