A brutal and bizarre murder is committed on an allotments in north London. A crime scene rich with forensic clues. Forensics: Catching a Killer s2e7: Murder at the Allotments, Sky Crime 2023
On a rainy night in February 2017 … the search had bought them to a place Lea [Adri-Soejoko] loved: Colindale allotments.
The key that locked Lea’s body in the shed belonged to Rahim Mohammadi. ibid.
Suzanne Greenhill: A young woman is found dead in her flat … violence that shocked investigators. Forensics: Catching a Killer: Murder in Silence s2e8, Sky Crime 2023
‘Forensic examination of Suzanne revealed a number of fibres found on her body.’ ibid. forensics lady
1989: Timothy Robson stood trial for the murder of Suzanne Greenhill at Cardiff Crown Court, but all went to plan. ibid.
The new science of DNA profiling would reveal once and for all Robson’s guilt. ibid.
An horrific discovery on a picturesque beach. A finding that shocked police and the community of this small seaside town. And a brazen killer caught on CCTV. Forensics: Catching a Killer s2e9: Murder in Silence, Sky Crime 2023
Inside a supermarket carrier bag wrapped in a bin liner was a human head. ibid.
Jolanta Bledaite as a 35-year-old Lithuanian woman who had moved to Scotland for work in 2006. ibid.
Shocking evidence that Jolanta may have been tortured before she was killed. ibid.
One of the people there was a man, 19-year-old Aleksandras Skirda … hanging round with another man, 40-year-old Vitas Plytnykas. ibid.
A tight-knit community of friendly neighbours discover why their friend has been missing. Forensics: Catching the Killer s2e10: The Murder in the Tower Block, Sky Crime 2023
1999: Police in Scotland have been called to the home of 46 year old Elaine Collie on the Edinburgh housing estate of Muirhouse. Elaine’s neighbours had found her dead. ibid.
Police needed to understand just who was John or Jock Reid, and what was his connected to Elaine. ibid.
Items recovered during Reid’s arrest would provide further evidence against him. ibid.
A young woman goes missing and a mother’s instinct fears the worst. A community comes together to find her. But one man quickly arouses police suspicions. And a mountain of forensic evidence is found. Forensics: Catching the Killer s2e11: The Murder with No Body, Sky Crime 2023
22-year-old insurance clerk Helen [McCourt] never arrived at her home in Billinge, Merseyside. ibid.
This licensee and landlord of the local pub was Ian Simms. ibid.
Birmingham: The local residents in the block of maisonettes first noticed a strong unpleasant smell coming from the utilities cupboard owned by the council. Forensics: Catching the Killer s2e12: The Body Under the Stairs, Sky Crime 2023
Nova Welsh: she had not been seen for a few weeks. ibid.
With so much known about the state of Nova’s marriage, Bell quickly became the focus of the police investigation. Bell was arrested and taken in for questioning. ibid.
Crucial forensic evidence would finally come to light. ibid.
A notorious murder on Wimbledon Common went undetected for more than a decade. How did groundbreaking forensics track down a serial rapist and killer who showed his victims no mercy. Cold Case Forensics: The Murder of Rachel Nickell, ITV 2023
The body of 23-year-old Rachel Nickell was viciously attacked and sexually assaulted while walking with her two-year-old son and pet dog. ibid.
So what had gone wrong, and could it have caused the police to miss the real killer? ibid.
For the first time two DNA profiles started to show up. ibid.
This groundbreaking work was to become known as DNA enhancement. And it was to be a gamechanger. ibid.
A murder where the traces of the killer went undiscovered for over a decade … One of Britain’s most controversial cases. Cold Case Forensics: Lynette White ***** ITV 2023
The investigation into Lynette White’s murder was to be tainted of accusations of racism and corruption. Witnesses were bullied by police and a false confession led to one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history. A suspect in blood-stained clothes was seen near the flat was white; but all the men the police arrested were black. They were to become known by campaigners as the Cardiff 5. ibid.
The racist murderers of a teenager have remained free for well over a decade. Could forensic science finally find the clues to bring the killers to justice? Cold Case Forensics: Murder of Stephen Lawrence, ITV 2023
Stephen Lawrence’s murder was a despicable crime that shocked the nation. But the investigation which followed was to cause more pain for the family and bring more shame on Britain’s largest police force. Stephen’s suspected killers remained free. ibid.
Angela and her team now had to explore the idea that there had been greater contact between the attackers and Stephen than first assumed. ibid.
‘An enormous amount of work was done on this particular case.’ ibid. Angela
November 2007, Perugia, Italy: Police discover the body of a beautiful young woman brutally murdered. The murdered woman is an English exchange student: Meredith Kercher. Police and prosecutors immediately suspect her flatmate and boyfriend. The Murder of Meredith Kercher, Channel 5 2023
A third suspect admits to being at the scene of the crime … 20-year-old Rudy Guede, an unemployed drifter, joins the carnival atmosphere. ibid.
Eight years, multiple guilty verdicts, numerous appeals, a case that set countries against each other. The most controversial murder trial of the modern age. ibid.
Her throat cut, Meredith suffocated on her own blood. ibid.
Forensics find Amanda’s DNA on the handle of the knife, and on the blade a microscopic trace of Meredith’s DNA. The Prosecution think they’ve nailed Meredith’s killers. ibid.
Rudy is arrested in Germany travelling under the false name of Kenneth Wade. And he has five cuts on his right hand. ibid.
The forensic evidence against Guede is overwhelming. ibid.
Defence lawyers claims the crucial samples on the knife and the bra clasp were contaminated. ibid.
‘There were two pieces of evidence that concerned me.’ ibid. Professor Greg Hampikian, US forensic expert
Three and a half years after the murder the Independence Review finds fundamental problems with two key pieces of DNA evidence. ibid.
‘It’s a comedy … They’re not clean gloves. They’re visually dirty.’ ibid. Hampikian
In the two months before Meredith’s murder there were five break-ins that seemed to bear the hallmarks of Rudy Geude. ibid.
The abandoned car belonged to a 26 year old secretary: Shani Warren. Saturday 18th April 1987: The body of a woman is recovered from Taplow Lake. It would remain a mystery for 35 years. Dark Water: The Murder of Shani Warren, captions, Channel 5 2023
Her hands were tied behind her back with a red jump lead. The only footprints the police found were made by stilettos. Shani was wearing stilettos. A black jump lead was tied as a noose. A blue cloth was tied around Shani’s mouth. ibid.
Mystery Of The Lady In The Lake. ibid. newspaper headline
Police discovered striking similarities between a number of attacks on women in different parts of the country. ibid.
DNA and fingerprint evidence implicated Barwell in 11 serious offences. No forensic link was made between Barwell and Shani Warren, and he was not charged with any crime against her. ibid.
By 2020, new forensic techniques had been developed which could be used to reinvestigate serious cold cases. ibid.
‘It was in fact Donald Robertson.’ ibid. rozzer
We get flooded with letters from all over the country … We are the court of last resort … We can only take on about 1% of the cases. The Innocence Files I: The Evidence: Indeed and Without Doubt, Netflix 2020
Because of these unreliable methods, innocent people are going to prison. ibid.
The crime scene was less than a hundred yards from her residence. She was about ten feet out there [pond]. She actually was found partially clothed … ibid. rozzer
Some of the wounds on Courtney Smith’s body were made from bite marks. ibid. forensics guy
Bite-mark evidence was new at the time. ibid.
I said I was in the club that night. ibid. Levon Brooks, suspect
I just held my head down in disbelief … I didn’t do this. ibid.
Christine Jackson: They said that the little girl had bite marks exactly the same as in my case. ibid.
I knew they got me wrong. They got this all wrong. I didn’t commit no crime like this. ibid. Kennedy Brewer
This is so outrageous. You’ve got to be kidding me. ibid. expert dentologist