Professor David Wilson and guests discuss crimes of passion, the phenomenon that murder is committed when someone loses control or is consumed by a mental disorder and often takes the life of someone they know or even love.

Investigative journalist Fiona Walker goes back to 1960s Aberdeen to recount the case of a passionate love triangle with fatal consequences that shocked the city. After Harry Burnett killed his lover’s husband in a jealous rage with a shotgun at point-blank range and then kidnapped his victim’s wife, he stood trial for murder. He became the last man to be hanged in Scotland, but many believed he suffered from diminished responsibility and should never have received a death sentence.

Fiona reveals more about Harry Burnett’s personal history of attempted suicide and mental disorders and the way in which the psychologist’s report about him was dismissed in court. David argues that Harry should never have stood trial for murder and that he was not responsible for his actions.

David is then joined by tartan noir novelist Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of the critically acclaimed His Bloody Project, written in the form of a prison memoir and other documents relating to the case of a young Highlander accused of an horrific triple murder in 19th-century Scotland - and even featuring the report of a real-life Victorian criminologist. Burnet discusses how he wants the reader to make up their own mind about the killer’s sanity.

David travels to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis to re-examine the shocking and brutal murder of 16-year-old Liam Aitchison in 2011. It was the first murder to take place on the island in over 40 years, and the investigation revealed that Liam had been killed by two of his friends. David assesses the nature of the attack and the impact it had on the local community, especially given that the murderers have never admitted their guilt.

Back in the studio, David is joined by one of the Police Scotland detectives who investigated Liam’s murder. He discusses the deep shame felt by the island community and the lengths the locals went to help detectives. As the detective reveals more detail about the case and the two young men found guilty of Liam’s murder, David is able to present a theory about the dark motives that may have provoked the crime.

David’s master interview guest is forensic psychologist Professor Lindsay Thomson, head of Scotland’s state hospital at Carstairs. They discuss the nature of mental disorders that can lead someone to kill and the lack of understanding we still have of such disorders, in particular schizophrenia. Lindsay explains how difficult it is to fake such symptoms and to maintain that facade under 24-hour surveillance and assessment. Show less