Leading criminologist Professor David Wilson and guests reinvestigate Scotland’s most notorious miscarriages of justice, looking for the reasons they occur.
In this episode, David and guests explore how a murderer’s attempts to dispose of their victim’s body often results in them being caught.
Investigative journalist Fiona Walker presents a short film about a 1920s murder case in which young woman Susan Newell was caught trying to hide the body of a 10-year-old boy. She blamed her husband for the murder, but a sensational trial saw him walk free and Susan’s eight-year-old daughter testify against her mother. She became the last woman to be hanged in Scotland.
Fiona joins David in the studio and reveals more detail about the Newell case, casting possible doubt on the conviction. They discuss attitudes to women accused of murder in the 1920s and the social phenomenon of ‘doubly deviant’ - how if a woman, the giver of life, kills then she must be truly evil. Newell never admitted her guilt but would have been spared the death penalty if she had
David is also joined by Scottish crime fiction author and co-founder of the Bloody Scotland Book Festival, Lin Anderson. Lin discusses the inspiration for her latest novel, the time she spent studying forensics at Glasgow University and how it occurred to her that someone with enough forensic knowledge could potentially commit the perfect murder.
In a short film, David examines the horrific 2015 case in which killer Alexander Pacteau brutally murdered a young student in Glasgow. His attempts to dispose of his victim’s body showed a chilling disregard for his victim. David takes us through the police investigation into the murder and how detectives used CCTV footage to home in on Pacteau as a suspect – but ultimately it was his efforts to get rid of the evidence that built up the case against him and led to his conviction.
In the studio, David speaks with the detective sergeant who first interviewed Pacteau. He offers chilling insight into the killer’s personality and cold-blooded attempts to distance himself from his crime. He also reveals that the police investigation uncovered evidence that Pacteau had been planning the ‘perfect murder’ for some time.
David’s master interview guest is with the extraordinary Professor Dame Sue Black, one of the world’s most respected forensic anthropologists. Giving a master class in her craft, Sue also offers a deeply personal insight into her life and work, from lighthearted memories of her first body dissection to her incredibly emotional war crimes experiences in the former Yugoslavia. Show less