S3 Ep4: Handwriting and the Yorkshire Ripper Hoax
In October 1975, Peter Sutcliffe committed his first murder. Over the next five years he went on to become one of the UK’s worst serial killers. One of the main reasons the police took so long to find him was because they were sent off in the wrong direction by a series of hoax letters and a tape purporting to be from the killer.
Nicknamed Weirside Jack, the perpetrator was never identified at the time. It wasn’t until 25 years later that Chris Davies – a forensic document examiner – got his hands on the letters. Chris joins Lynda and Cass to discuss how Weirside Jack was finally brought to justice.
Christopher Davies started work in the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory in 1981 where he was trained in questioned document examination. He continued to work in London when the Metropolitan Police Laboratory became part of the Forensic Science Service in 1996. He became one of the senior document examiners responsible for dealing with serious crime, including counterterrorism, cases. In 2010 he left the London Laboratory when the Questioned Documents Section there was closed and continues to work as an independent consultant.
Lynda's new novel Vanished is out on March 31st 2022 in hardback, ebook and audiobook.
Discover more at: www.lyndalaplante.com/listening-to-the-dead/
Credits
This podcast was made by Bonnier Books UK
Host & Director: Jon Watt
Producer: Laura Makela
Sound Engineer: Chris Attaway
Theme music: Game Over by Magic in the Other
End music: Sweeney by Mike Relm
Listening to the Dead - Forensics uncovered
If you want to know what criminal investigation is like in real life, then get ready for a podcast that puts YOU at the crime scene.
This series will look at the latest developments, the famous cases and how the forensic scientists are meeting the challenge laid down by a criminal who is forensically aware.
Lynda La Plante has always been fascinated by criminality and the people that solve crime. Her books are celebrated for their authentic depictions of crime scenes and police procedures – something she achieves through meticulous research with her colleague, CSI Cass Sutherland.
Over six episodes, Lynda and Cass will investigate six branches of forensics: discussing their own experiences, talking with experts, hearing how real life crime scenes are worked, exploring the latest innovations and demonstrating how CSI fact is even more thrilling than CSI fiction.
Episodes will reveal how plant regrowth can be used to track a killer’s path months after a crime was committed; how a fly on the wall can be more than an observer; why the ‘sibling defence’ can unravel DNA evidence; and why a dog’s nose can sniff out cases of arson that the scientists miss.
A murderer is 20% more likely to be convicted if forensic evidence can be presented in court by the prosecution. Yet fingerprints are currently recovered from only 40% of crime scenes, and DNA at a mere 10%. Now more than ever, forensic scientists are under pressure to improve their success rate – their challenge is to advance their crafts and uncover the hidden clues that are left at every crime scene.
Join author Lynda La Plante and former detective Cass Sutherland for a series that reveals the real secrets of CSI.
- No. of episodes: 25
- Latest episode: 2024-03-18
- True Crime Science
Where can you listen?
