Defrosting Cold Cases

Recap #CrimeChat Feb 16, 2013 Subject: King Richard III A fascinating 90+ minutes with a line-up of great people on Twitter all discussing the finding of Richard’s skeleton, his armour, his reign and fate, and of course … could he have killed his older brother’s children. As requested, some links: my mini-series on the cold [...]

Tags: #crimechat, armour, DNA, Evidence, Forensics, Henry Tudor, minority rulers, Mitochondrial DNA, Princes in the Tower, regicide, Richard III, Richard III Society, the Battle of Bosworth, UK

Recap #crimechat Feb 10, 2013 Subject: Richard III & the Princes in the Tower. We did not even have time to talk about the recent discoveries, the facial reconstruction, where to rebury the King and more. This was THE fastest chat ever. Sorry, Gavin! You have been dethroned but at least that was done by a [...]

Tags: #crimechat, Autopsy, Crime Scene, Edward V, Evidence, Forensics, Henry Tudor, Identification, Richard III, Richard of York, Stacey Bowcott, the Princes in the Tower, UK, Victim

Part 3: King Richard III: Ruthless Ruler? Yes. Regicide? No. It is time to conclude this mini-series on the cold case of the Princes in the Tower and whether their uncle, King Richard III, is justly accused of being their murderer. While I was pondering whether to discuss some more books that I read or, [...]

Tags: Edward IV, Edward V, Elizabeth Woodville, Evidence, Henry Tudor, King Richard III, Princes in the Tower, regicide, Richard of York, succession to the throne, the War of the Roses, UK

Part 2: King Richard III: Ruthless Ruler? Yes. Regicide? No. In part 1, I have tried to explain in very general terms why I do not think that King Richard III is guilty of regicide. There are many open questions left. I cannot answer all of them and will not even try. Again, I am not [...]

Tags: Anne Mowbray, Crime Scene, Edward V, Eleanor Butler, Elizabeth Mowbray, Evidence, King Richard III, Minoresses Convent Aldgate, precontract, regicide, Richard of York, Sir James Tyrell, Sir Thomas More, the Princes in the Tower, the Tower of London, UK

King Richard III: Ruthless Ruler? Yes. Regicide? No. After I posted my take on the historical mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask, Suzie suggested that I look into the case of the Princes in the Tower. King Richard III is in general regarded as their murderer and the play by Shakespeare has done [...]

Tags: A. Weir, Autopsy, Book Reviews, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Croyland Chronicles, Cruelty, DNA, Dr. Lawrence E. Tanner, Edward IV, Edward V, Elizabeth Woodville, Evidence, Faulty Evidence, fibre-optic camera, Forensics, Henry Tudor, Historical Mystery, Identification, J. Tey, Mary of York, Miscarriage of Justice, Missing Person, Plantagenet family, prejudice, Princes in the Tower, Professor William Wright, Queen Elizabeth, regicide, Richard III, Richard III Society, Richard of York, scoliosis, Shakespeare, Sir Robert Brackenbury, Sir Thomas More, the Battle of Bosworth, the Tower of London, the War of the Roses, UK, Witnesses

The case of Eddie Gilfoyle is anything but straightforward or clear cut. His pregnant wife’s estimated time of dead occurred hours before she was found. In that time period, Eddie was at work. Paula was portrait as a happily expecting first time mom while she had a history of a suicide attempt and on no [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Crime Scene, death by hanging, Eddie Gilfoyle, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Paula Gilfoyle, Police, UK, Victim, withheld evidence, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Our guest today was the lovely Natasha Phillips from Researching Reform who gave us insight in the UK Family Law Courts. Natasha explained a lot of the rules and why so very often a child’s voice gets lost in the proceedings. The child may be represented by solicitors or guardians but courts have no duty [...]

Tags: Family Law, Natasha Phillips, UK

All the papers were buzzing since last night about a possible prosecution in the 1985 cold case of UK Police Officer Keith Blakelock. Officer Blakelock and his colleague Pc Coombes was was attacked by 300-strong mob as he tried to protect firefighters who were tackling a supermarket blaze at the height of the riot known as the [...]

Tags: Autopsy, Broadwater Farm Riots, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Finger Printing, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Pc Keith Blakelock, Police, UK, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses

Our guest today was Charlie Fox. Charlie a.k.a. @defencegirl on Twitter blogs over at “the MOD stole my boyfriend.” We spoke about her life as an army partner and how blogging started as a release and therapeutic tool. Later it turned into amusement as well. The blog is full of useful information and is certainly recommended [...]

Tags: Charlie Fox, Christa Miller, the MOD stole my boyfriend, UK

Kim Evans wrote an excellent summary for the Justice Gap about the Criminal Appeal Lawyers Association (CALA) conference from last week. I quote: “At our Justice Gap debate, Francis FitzGibbon QC, of Doughty Street Chambers, kicked off proceedings by asking why should anyone care about the wrongly convicted.” Do we still care or do we put [...]

Tags: Hawley Harvey Crippen, the Justice Gap, UK, Wrongful Convictions