Forensic specialist Jim Fraser is the Research Professor in Forensic Science at the University of Strathclyde and a commissioner on the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. He has over four decades experience as an expert witness, case reviewer, consultant, policy adviser and researcher.
Professor Jim Fraser
During his career Professor Fraser worked on many murder cases, but only a few left a permanent impression. Cases embedded themselves in Fraser's memory for one of the following reasons: they involve serial killers, child victims, miscarriages of justice, poor investigations, or police misconduct - or they remain unresolved or contentious. In this book, Fraser shares memories of some of his most memorable cases.
- Robert Black was a Scottish serial killer and pedophile who was suspected of abducting and killing at least 11 children in the 1980s. In 1990, Black was convicted of killing 4 girls.
Robert Black
Black was a loner who spent much time on the road. His crimes were spread over six years and occurred across the UK, involving six police forces and two jurisdictions: Scotland and England. Each police force and forensic lab had its own procedures, and there were rivalries that impeded the search for the killer. Professor Fraser writes about the police investigations, the 200,000 people interviewed, the 60,000 statements taken, and the hundreds of items forensically examined.
Once Black was a serious suspect, Fraser and his colleagues were tasked with finding trace evidence from the victims on Black's possessions.....and hair or fibers from Black on the dead children's clothing. This search took YEARS, but nothing conclusive was found, and the trial had to proceed without trace evidence.
Example of trace evidence
Luckily there was enough circumstantial evidence - Black being seen near various crime scenes - to get him convicted.
*****
- The Yorkshire Ripper, Peter William Sutcliffe, was an English serial killer. In 1981, he was found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others.
Peter William Sutcliffe
Professor Fraser observes that the Yorkshire Ripper case was one of the most notorious in UK police history because it was ineptly investigated. Sutcliffe was interviewed by the police NINE TIMES before he was arrested, his car was seen near crime scenes, and when he denied even having a vehicle, no one bothered to check.
Before Sutcliffe was identified as the killer, forensic researchers were asked to look for fibers from the murderer's clothing on the victims. However, this was a lost cause. Fraser points out that no one knew what the murderer was wearing, or what color or type of fibers were involved, or whether the Ripper wore the same clothes for each of the crimes. Thus the search was time-consuming, expensive, and futile.
In the end, the Yorkshire Ripper case spawned recommendations to improve police investigations.
*****
In 1996, Michael Stone attacked Lin Russell, and her daughters, 6-year-old Megan and 9-year-old Josie, with a hammer. Lin and Megan were killed, and Josie was badly injured but survived.
Michael Stone
Lin and Megan Russell
When the Russells' bodies were discovered on a country lane, Professor Fraser was called to the crime scene. He describes what he saw and thought. The police - wanting to DO SOMETHING - collected a good deal of material from around the bodies (a lot of it trash) for forensic analysis, but this yielded no evidence. Two months later local residents found a hammer in a hedge near the crime scene....a hedge allegedly searched by the cops.
Examination of the crime scene in the Russell Case
A year after the murders, a BBC Crimewatch program appealed for witnesses and information, and a psychiatrist said the e-fit (composite drawing) resembled a patient he'd treated called Michael Stone. Stone was arrested and charged with the murders of Lin and Megan Russell.
The prosecution case was largely circumstantial: Stone resembled the e-fit of a man seen near the murder scene; he had a history of violence; he was a drug user; he was familiar with the area where the crime was committed; a witness saw Stone with blood on his clothing; and after his arrest Stone told jail-mates he did it.
It took two trials, but Stone was eventually convicted. Fraser describes the investigation and Stone's trials in detail, and observes "Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the case, and the one that baffles many people, including me, was that no forensic evidence was found to incriminate Stone. Did someone miss evidence at the scene? Did I miss something at the scene? Was something lost in the lab? Or was there nothing to be lost?"
*****
- Stephen Downing: In 1974, at the age of 17, Stephen Downing was convicted of killing a woman named Wendy Sewell. Then in 2001, the Court of Appeal ordered Downing's release on bail pending appeal.
Stephen Downing
In September, 1973 Wendy Sewell was walking in a cemetery during her lunch break when she was attacked.
Wendy Sewell
Downing, who's described as having a low IQ, worked in the cemetery as a gardener. When questioned by the police, Downing - who was splattered with blood - confessed to the crime. Downing later revoked his confession, but was found guilty.
When Downing was released on bail 27 years later - because his confession was coerced and the blood spatter evidence was questionable - Professor Fraser was called to reappraise the case. The forensic expert was asked to carry out an extensive review, order any further testing that was required, and re-examine the bloodstains.
The police were disturbed because if Downing was innocent, their past judgments and actions might come under scrutiny, and individual and organizational reputations might be at stake.
Fraser discusses his review of the Sewell case, including his opinion about the sloppy police work. Because of investigative mistakes Downing was exonerated, but he may have been guilty.
*****
- Damilola Taylor: In 2000, 10-year-old Damilola Taylor was walking home from a London library when he received a gash to his thigh. The cut severed an artery and Damilola died within a couple of hours.
Damilola Taylor
Four youths were arrested and put on trial in 2002, but there were no convictions.
Afterwards, three new suspects - Rickey Preddie, Danny Preddie, and Hassan Jihad - were arrested, and a second trial was scheduled for 2006. Professor Fraser was asked to review the case before the new trial.
Rickey Preddie
Danny Preddie
Fraser describes the police investigations and the forensic work - especially fiber analysis - in detail. He concludes that problems with the Taylor case were due to sloppy work by the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) and the cops' use of old entrenched practices rather than new modern ones.
Nevertheless, Ricky and Danny Preddie were convicted of murdering Damilola, and Hassan Jihad was found not guilty.
*****
Rachel Nickell was found dead on Wimbledon Common in 1992, with her two-year-old son trying to get her up.
Rachel Nickell
Rachel was partially undressed and had been stabbed 49 times. There was no forensic evidence and a profiler was brought in. The profiler speculated that the killer was single, between 20 and 30, lived close to the common, had poor social skills, had a deviant sexual fantasy life, used pornography, and suffered from a sexual dysfunction.
There were other assaults on women around that time, and police speculated they were committed by the same perp.
In August, 1992 the authorities released an e-fit compiled from descriptions given by women who were attacked. A caller said the picture resembled his neighbor Robert Napper.
Robert Napper
Napper was interviewed by the police and told to come to the station to provide a DNA sample. Napper didn't appear and the cops didn't follow up. Napper came under suspicion on at least two subsequent occasions, but wasn't arrested. In fact the police were concentrating on another suspect for the Nickell killing, who proved to be innocent.
When Samantha Bisset and her 4-year-old daughter were killed in 1993, a fingerprint at the crime scene pointed to Robert Napper. Napper was arrested and convicted of killing the Bissets, and eventually pleaded guilty to killing Rachel Nickell.
Samantha Bisset and her daughter
Professor Fraser devotes many chapters to the Nickell case, and once again talks about poor practices of the Metropolitan Police as well as contamination of evidence before/during forensic analysis.
*****
Gareth Williams, a GCHQ cryptologist, was found dead inside a large holdall in his London flat. Williams appeared to have suffocated, but decomposition made it impossible to determine the cause of death.
Gareth Williams was found dead in a red holdall
The holdall was padlocked on the outside, and the biggest problem with the case was determining if Williams locked himself in the holdall (which would have been VERY difficult) or whether someone else locked him in.
Williams' death was shocking for a number of reasons, including the fact that he failed to show up for two meetings and GCHQ (an intelligence agency that employs spies) took TWO WEEKS to follow up and find his body. Investigators found wigs and expensive women's clothing in Williams' apartment, and there were suggestions he was a cross-dresser and indulged in sex games.
Wig found in Williams flat
People associated with Williams were questioned, but GCHQ was EXTREMELY secretive and obstructive. A year into the investigation the case was still unresolved, in part because the security services interfered with/stymied police inquiries.
Professor Fraser and another expert were asked to review the case, and Fraser thoroughly describes the crime scene, the Coroner's inquest, Williams' history, and the police investigation. The intelligence agencies were more cooperative once the forensic specialists were on board, but the case was never resolved, and Fraser speculates about the reasons.
*****
In chapters about the above cases Fraser sometimes mentions other similar investigations, so the reader gets a broad overview of the UK justice system. One thing is clear: the quick and easy forensic work seen on TV shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - which exposes the killer in a day or two - is far from realistic.
Forensic investigators on the TV show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
At least CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has a whole lab full of investigators. TV shows like Bones, NCIS, and Lucifer each have one forensic expert who's a genius about everything. 😄
Forensic expert on the TV show Bones
Forensic Expert on the TV show NCIS
Forensic expert on the TV show Lucifer
I'd recommend the book to readers interested in true crime and forensics.
Rating: 4 stars
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