The phrase "caught red-handed", or to use the fancy Latin legal expression, in flagrante delicto, is of course used to mean that the subject was caught practically in the act of, or just after committing a crime or misdemeanour.
As with most expressions, there are any number of explanations for this phrase, but the real explanation is pretty straightforward:
Quite simply, being "caught red-handed" means being caught with blood on your hands and originally took the form "taken red-hand". There's a bit more about this here, but essentially it means that if for some reason you decide to commit murder, not washing your hands afterwards is one of the very most stupid things you can do.
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