This episode follows two shocking criminal cases in Yorkshire, each involving a woman murdered by her partner, and two expert witnesses with very different disciplines in forensic science who help to deliver justice.\n\nCrime scene investigations are often thought of as being about the DNA left behind in traces of blood, hair or skin cells at the site of an attack, but in the first story, it was the site itself, the natural environment, that provided the biggest clue to detectives. A young woman went missing in Hull, and despite an emotional appeal by her partner, he soon became a chief suspect in the missing woman’s case. But suspecting who the perpetrator of a crime might be is one thing; proving beyond reasonable doubt that the suspect was responsible is another. Police asked for help from Patricia Wiltshire, a forensic ecologist. The partner of the missing woman initially claimed he had killed her by mistake but couldn't remember where he had buried her body. Patricia was given access to his car and footwear, and was able to use her botany skills to pinpoint where the body of the missing woman was and help prove it was murder.\n \nAnd in Melsonby, analysis of blood spatter found at a crime scene revealed the truth behind a husband’s lies. A woman was found dead in the home she shared with her husband above a post office. Her husband claimed that she had been held hostage, but this didn’t fit the time frame. The police asked Jo Millington, an expert in blood spatter analysis, for help. Jo showed that the direction of blood at the crime scene meant there may never have been a break in, and the husband was convicted of murder.
Source: BBC 1
Series 4: 5. Catching A Cold Case Killer
Now more than ever, forensic science is opening up the possibility of catching criminals for crimes that have remained unsolved for years. In this episode, a case that had lain ...
29-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 4. Cracking The Killer's Code
Our first case concerns a young man, Dolton Powell, fatally stabbed by an armed gang after a party. A group of suspects are arrested and questioned, but they remain tight-lipped ...
28-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 3. The Wheelie Bin Killer
In our first case, father of four, Pat McCormick, goes missing in Comber, Northern Ireland, leaving his family desperate for answers. Police suspected he’d come to harm bu ...
24-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 2. The Body In The Suitcase
An expert witness uses scanning technology developed for the manufacturing industry to find vital evidence that convicts a killer. \n\nIn a Birmingham canal, a truly shocking di ...
23-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 1. The Murder Of Sarah Payne: Fields Of Evidence
True crime documentary series that reveals how expert witnesses helped solve some of the UK's most complex major crime cases. \n\nThis programme travels to Sussex to investiga ...
22-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 15. Grave Secret And Lockdown Tragedy
Evidence unearthed by a forensic archaeologist helps to catch the killer of a young woman from Wiltshire. And a case of harrowing neglect suffered by a Welsh teenager is reveale ...
14-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 14. Fragments Of Truth And Wall Of Evidence
A forensically trained dentist’s expertise helps police to connect a man to the disappearance of his wife. And the diligent analysis of a soil expert helps to bring convic ...
13-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 13. Facing Justice And Language Of Terror
When a decomposed body is washed up on a Dutch beach, a UK facial reconstruction expert helps uncover the identity. And a forensic linguistic specialist leads an international h ...
12-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 12. Red Light Killer And A Rural Rampage
Detectives hunting the killer of a young woman from Bolton require the help of a fibre and DNA specialist to arrest their suspect. And police seek the help of a body fluids expe ...
11-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 11. Death On The Nile And Cell To Cell
When a British woman is found dead in an Egyptian hotel room, a UK toxicologist uncovers a sinister murder plot. And police turn to a cell communications analyst to solve the vi ...
10-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 1. Soil And Insects
This episode travels to Edinburgh to look at the fascinating story behind one of Scotland’s longest-running investigations, the World’s End murders, a double murder ...
18-07-2022
BBC 1
Series 4: 3. The Wheelie Bin Killer
In our first case, father of four, Pat McCormick, goes missing in Comber, Northern Ireland, leaving his family desperate for answers. Police suspected he’d come to harm bu ...
24-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 13. Unearthing The Truth
In 1984 in Hull, the body of schoolboy Christopher Laverack is found floating in a canal after being reported missing. He was sexually assaulted, beaten to death and wrapped in ...
19-11-2024
BBC 1
Series 4: 4. Cracking The Killer's Code
Our first case concerns a young man, Dolton Powell, fatally stabbed by an armed gang after a party. A group of suspects are arrested and questioned, but they remain tight-lipped ...
28-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 13. Insects And Bones
Insects establish an accurate time of death, helping to prove a husband killed his wife, and analysis of burnt remains in Leeds uncovers another husband’s cold murder of h ...
10-11-2021
BBC 1
Series 3: 2. A Watery Grave And The Dangerous Date
When the body of a farmer is found in a lake, a bioarchaeologist helps police reveal how he got there. Meanwhile, when a man is accused of intentionally spreading the HIV virus, ...
23-07-2024
BBC 1
Series 1: 8. Soil On A Spade And Stones In A Shoe
Soil on a spade helps catch the killer of a young woman from Swindon, who for years evaded justice and a stone stuck in the sole of a shoe helps solve a murder in Manchester.
04-08-2022
BBC 1
Series 3: 13. Facing Justice And Language Of Terror
When a decomposed body is washed up on a Dutch beach, a UK facial reconstruction expert helps uncover the identity. And a forensic linguistic specialist leads an international h ...
12-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 4: 5. Catching A Cold Case Killer
Now more than ever, forensic science is opening up the possibility of catching criminals for crimes that have remained unsolved for years. In this episode, a case that had lain ...
29-04-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: 7. Body In The Bog And Bomb In The Boot
An expert witness uses soil analysis to find the body of a missing woman feared murdered, and a cell site expert uses his tracking skills to catch a killer in Northern Ireland.
28-05-2024
BBC 1