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 but struggled to find proof without a body. Then, six weeks after his disappearance, they made a shocking discovery – the man’s body was found stuffed in a wheelie bin and dumped in a lake. They soon had two prime suspects, but detectives needed to find a way to place them and the victim at the same place at the same time. They enlisted the help of Paul Hope, a cell site expert, who by analysing their mobile phone network data was able to track their movements on the night of the murder and help prove their guilt. With emotional testimony from Pat’s daughter Morgan, who still misses her beloved father. \n\nTraces of soil are often used to answer the ‘where’ questions in an investigation. Where something happened? Where something went? Where an investigation might lead?\n\nIn our second case, which took place in Scotland, 63-year-old grandfather Tony Parsons was on a charity cycle ride but seemed to vanish into thin air. His disappearance became a major missing person's inquiry, but with no clues as to his whereabouts, his body wasn’t found. When police get a major tip-off three years later, they turn to soil expert Professor Lorna Dawson to help unearth the truth about what really happened to him and lead them to the suspects. With fascinating evidence about the case from crown prosecutor Alex Prentice.
Source: BBC 1
Series 1: 15. 60s Dna And Fibres Around The World
A 50-year-old cold case murder is solved by DNA and the tenacity of an expert witness, and a murder investigation is solved by tracking unusual blue fibres around the world.
13-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 12. Pollen, Chalk And Dna
How expert analysis of nettles and soil helped catch the killer of the Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and how advances in DNA techniques finally solved the m ...
12-06-2025
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 ...
11-06-2025
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 ...
10-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 5. Pollen In A Field And Fibres In A Car Crash
When smouldering human remains are found in a field in Hertfordshire, a policeman’s hunch and a diligent expert witness help catch the killers. \n\nNot every expert witne ...
09-06-2025
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 ...
06-06-2025
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.
05-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 3. Forensic Imaging And Msn Chat
This episode uncovers the forensic imaging expertise behind the eventual capture of Michael Hardacre, the 'Rochdale ripper'.\n\nIn the summer of 2000, a series of attacks in Roc ...
04-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 2. Blood Under Paint And Gait
A skilled expert witness does more than just analyse existing evidence. They guide detectives towards new clues that can turn a case. That is what happened in the case of Lynett ...
03-06-2025
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 ...
02-06-2025
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 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 ...
14-05-2025
BBC 1
Series 2: 8. Late Night Murder And Exhuming Evidence
When a young nurse disappears, a soil analyst helps find her body and solve the crime. A digital imaging expert proves that what was thought to be an accidental death was murder.
29-05-2024
BBC 1
Series 1: 7. Aging Insects And Fake Fairies
In this programme, we discover how the study of insects was crucial in solving the mysterious disappearance of a Warrington teenager. Murderers can go to great lengths to ensure ...
03-08-2022
BBC 1
Series 2: 5. Body In The Woods And Murder At The Post Office
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 forens ...
15-09-2023
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 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 ...
06-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 12. Pollen, Chalk And Dna
How expert analysis of nettles and soil helped catch the killer of the Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and how advances in DNA techniques finally solved the m ...
12-06-2025
BBC 1
Series 1: 10. Pollen, Bones And Dna
Some cases are open and shut. Others present as a complete mystery, and it takes an Expert Witness to uncover the first clues. That’s what happened when human remains were ...
12-08-2022
BBC 1