In 1994, six-year-old Rikki Neave was found dead in woodland near the Peterborough estate where he lived. He’d been strangled and left naked in the open. Police enlisted the help of soil expert Professor Tony Brown, who analysed the mud found on the victim’s shoes and provided the investigation with a crucial time for when the murder took place. \n \nDetectives focused their attentions on the boy’s abusive mother, and although the expert witness’s evidence suggested the suspect could not have committed the crime, she went on trial for his murder. Having been found not guilty, 20 years later the boy’s mother called for a reinvestigation, and this time the soil science was paramount in helping police identify the killer. With interviews from lead officer Paul Fullwood and emotional testimony from Rikki’s sister Rochelle, who vividly recalls the day her brother disappeared and the terrible aftermath of his murder. \n\nIn the second case in this episode, we explore the world of illegal ivory trading. In December 2019, UK Border Force intercepted packages which had been sold online, sent from London containing suspicious animal products. Dr Lucy Webster specialises in animal DNA analysis and established that the products were made of ivory from a specific living species and were therefore illegal, unlike mammoth ivory. The trader was caught and convicted.
Source: 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 3: 10. A Grave Error And Souvenir Of A Killer
When a teenager’s body is located in a shallow grave, a soil specialist is called on to unearth evidence to convict the killer. And as a murder investigation on Merseyside ...
07-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 9. Threads Of Evidence And Bad Chemistry
A fibre specialist from the UK brings closure to Australia’s longest-running murder investigation. And a forensic pharmacologist uses her expertise to ensure a murder char ...
06-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 8. Patterns Of Behaviour And Time Flies
A blood residue specialist leads police to the killers of an East Sussex waiter, brutally bludgeoned in his flat. And a forensic entomologist uncovers a case of extreme neglect ...
05-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 7. Hidden Blood And Traces Of A Killer
Police turn to an expert witness to help them link a drug gang to the death of a Vietnamese man in Wales. And experts in DNA and fibre analysis provide the evidence needed to co ...
04-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 3: 6. Face Of A Killer And Proof In The Pollen
When a young man is stabbed to death, a facial recognition expert helps Merseyside Police catch the killer. And a specialist palynologist’s help is needed by detectives in ...
03-02-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 6. Dna, Fibres And Bones
In this episode, we reveal how the tenacity of a team of forensic scientists helped finally catch the killer of two children in Brighton. Also, when bones were discovered on moo ...
03-08-2022
BBC 1
Series 1: 4. Fibre Trails And Diamonds
With so many forensic techniques available, detectives and expert witnesses can sometimes disagree on how best to search for evidence. In 2006, a team investigating three notori ...
26-07-2022
BBC 1
Series 2: 11. Sole Of A Killer And Stolen Treasure
Police turn to a footprint analyst and a pollen expert to help solve a murder in Manchester, and a soil expert unearths the evidence needed to arrest a gang of treasure thieves.
03-06-2024
BBC 1
Series 2: 12. Murder In The Car Park And Cold Call Fraud
Blood spatter analysis helps identify the killer of a body found in a suitcase, and an expert helps in a serious case of financial fraud that cost some victims their life savings.
04-06-2024
BBC 1
Series 1 (extended Versions): 7. Suspicious Texts, Dna And Soil Secrets
Text message analysis reveals a shocking crime, and DNA on old evidence catches a killer. Soil science and the first murder case solved using DNA evidence are also explored.
13-12-2022
BBC 1
Series 2: 2. Mystery Of The Playground Shooter And Signature Of A Killer
A young schoolboy is mysteriously shot in the head while playing in the school yard, but who fired the gun and from where? Philip Boyce, a forensic ballistics expert, is called ...
12-09-2023
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 ...
29-10-2024
BBC 1
Series 1: 11. Text Messages And Dna
Analysis of text messages reveal a husband’s plot to cover up his wife’s murder, and traces of DNA on decades-old evidence help bring justice to the family of a murd ...
08-11-2021
BBC 1
Series 1: 9. Cerium And Cctv
We reveal how the power of forensic science not only found a killer, but also freed an innocent man. Forensic evidence is a powerful tool. So powerful, that if it’s misint ...
05-08-2022
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