Inside Forensic Science
Each series of Inside Forensic Science explores a crime where forensic science has played a major role. The story is told through the narrator Pennie Stuart and interviews with forensic science, law and police experts. Inside Forensic Science is an Adventurous Audio production for the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee. The podcast was funded by The Leverhulme Trust.
Episodes
Episode 2: Sin Eaters
Content warning: discussions of dead bodies, decomposition, including mentions of insects and dismemberment.Now that the body parts have been recovered, it is the responsibility of forensic scientists to attempt the gruelling task of examin…
Episode 1: The Ravine
Content warning: discussions of dead bodies, decomposition and dismembermentOn a quiet Sunday in September 1935, two women walking outside the small town of Moffat stop at a stone bridge overlooking a ravine through which a small waterfall …
Series 4: A Case of Stolen Identity
In the fourth series of Inside Forensic Science we unravel a case of stolen identity. If a victim’s identity is stripped from them, what can forensic scientists do to reclaim who they were and bring their stories to light?
Series 3, Episode 6: The Verdict
What did our experts and the jury of the day decide? How can people make a decision when experts disagree and who can be an expert in criminal cases? This episode covers all of the details and also answers the question of what happened to S…
Series 3, Episode 5: The Experiments
Content warning: graphic descriptions of injury and death involving a gun and mention of suicide Accident or murder? To determine which is the most likely explanation for Hambrough’s death, experts in both 1893 and the present carry out exp…
Series 3, Episode 4: The Motive
Alfred John Monson is accused of the murder of young Dudley Cecil Hambrough. For over 3 years Monson had acted not only as Hambrough’s tutor and guardian, but as his friend. What motive could there have been for Monson to commit murder? The…
Series 3, Episode 3: The Postmortem and the Gun
Content warning: this episode contains graphic descriptions of the autopsy process.A young man has been shot dead on a hunting trip; his two hunting companions are suspected of murder. With Monson arrested and Scott on the run, attention tu…
Series 3 Bonus: VR and Forensic Science
This is a bonus episode designed to accompany Episode 2 of Series 3. It features an interview between Pennie Stuart and Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science Senior Research Engineer Vincenzo Rinaldi about the application of Virtu…
Series 3, Episode 2: The Scene
The police believe the death of Cecil Hambrough was no accident. His tutor Alfred John Monson is arrested for his murder 20 days after the incident. Scott, the last member of the hunting party has disappeared. Now it is up to the experts to…
Series 3, Episode 1: A Death
The early morning of Thursday 10 August 1893, a party of three men leave to hunt rabbits on the Ardlamont estate in Tighnabruaich—only two return. The youngest, Lieutenant Dudley Cecil Hambrough has died from a bullet to the back of his hea…
Series 3: The Ardlamont Mystery
This third series of Inside Forensic Science delves into our most complicated historical case yet: the Ardlamont Trial. On 10 August 1893 a young man dies from a gunshot to the back of the head while hunting on the Ardlamont Estate. Was th…
Series 2: Episode 6 The Verdict
It's now time to put all the pieces of this puzzle together. Do you believe Madeleine Smith is guilty of poisoning her lover? Only Scotland has a ‘not proven’ verdict. What does this mean for a jury and for those who receive this judgement?…
Series 2: Episode 5 The Poison
Content warning: this episode discusses suicide. There are unanswered questions around the circumstances of Emile's death. What can the forensic toxicology evidence tell us? Was everything carried out at the time that could have been and ho…
Series 2: Episode 4 The Autopsy
Content warning: this episode dicusses suicide Pierre Emile L'angelier is dead. What happened next and how did this lead to Madeleine Smith being accused of murder? Discover the next piece of this mystery and learn about what tales the bod…
Series 2: Episode 3 The Context of Evidence
To understand the case of Madeleine Smith, we must first understand what life was like in the past. How can forensic scientists bring to life what happened previously? Join us in our Facebook group to see further resources and discuss the …
Series 2: Episode 2 The Letters
Madeleine Smith's private letters to her deceased lover were presented as evidence in court of her motive for murder. What can letters and handwriting reveal to forensic scientists? What did the letters in the Madeleine Smith trial tell the…
Series 2: Episode 1 Madeleine Smith on trial
A scandalous case that rocked Victorian Scotland. A middle-class young woman is on trial for the murder of her lover. What was the case of Madeleine Smith all about? In this episode, we provide an overview of the case and the evidence prese…
Inside Forensic Science Season 2: Trailer
The second season of Inside Forensic Science is here. A new historical case is in focus where we ask forensic scientists and experts from the criminal justice system ‘What would you do differently today?’ In this series we take a look at a …
Episode 6: From Case to Court
The evidence has been collected and the analysis completed. What happens next with the only suspect in the case of Miss Jean Milne? Was there enough evidence to prosecute and what do the experts today think of the conclusion? Inside Forensi…
Episode 5: Who committed the crime?
As the case starts to come together we dig deeper into what scientific advancements have allowed us to detect at crime scenes and whether forensic science can place a person at the scene of a crime. This episode takes a closer look at a pos…
Episode 4 Bonus: Fingerprint Evidence
This bonus material for Episode 4 contains further details on the topic of fingerprint evidence. Presented by Caroline Gibb who is a fingerprint expert.For further discussion and resources relating to the podcast please visit our Facebook g…
Episode 4: Dating a death
Now we know the cause of death of Miss Jean Milne we return to the witness reports and the crime scene to determine how forensic science experts and the investigation team work backwards to create a timeline to determine the date of death. …
Episode 3: The Autopsy
Jean’s battered body is removed from the house and taken for autopsy. What can forensic science of 1912 tell us about how this independent wealthy woman from Broughty Ferry was murdered? We return to the crime scene and look in more detail …
Episode 2: Bonus: The British Association Meeting Dundee
This bonus material for Episode 2 contains further details of the British Association meeting that was held in Dundee in 1912 and what the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee is trying to achieve toda…
Episode 2: Who Was The Victim?
Broughty Ferry 1912, a wealthy single woman is found murdered in her hallway. But who was Jean Milne and what do we know about this Tayside town that might help understand more about how she lived and what may have led to her murder? In thi…
Episode 1: The Discovery of a Crime
The battered body lay at the bottom of the staircase in a Broughty Ferry mansion house near Dundee. Over 100 years later the murderer hasn’t been found.In this first episode, Pennie Latin introduces the scene through the words of Sergeant J…
Inside Forensic Science Podcast
Inside Forensic Science tells the story of a crime scene investigation through the eyes of forensic scientists. This first series focuses on a historical unsolved murder case from 1912 and asks forensic scientists ‘what would you do differe…