University’s true crime podcast returns for third instalment

A SCOTS university’s true crime podcast is set to return as they seek to investigate a 100-year-old Scottish “murder”.

Inside Forensic Science features researchers from the University of Dundee’s Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS) as well experts from medicine, science and law.

The third instalment of Inside Forensic science will examine a curious death which took place on the Ardlamont estate in Argyll on August 10 1893, during a private shooting party.

Lieutenant Hambrough, his tutor – the main suspect – and a stranger went hunting in the woods of the estate, each carrying long, double-barrelled shotguns.

Moments later a shot was heard by servants. The aristocrat, Windsor Dudley Cecil Hambrough was dead.

Hambrough’s tutor, Alfred John Monson, later went on trial accused of murder.

In the podcast, narrated by Pennie Stuart, presenter of BBC science series Brainwaves, experts from LRCFS and senior officers from Scottish Police Authority Forensic Services scrutinise the evidence presented to the court at the time.

Other professionals, such as doctors, forensic pathologist, gamekeepers and legal professionals also discuss the evidence.

In the first episode GP Miles Mack OBE, describes his shock at the some of the archaic practices that the doctor who examined the body implemented

Historical documents detailing his statement to the court during the trial reveal the doctor examined the wound with his finger and found a hole in the skull, confirming a shot wound.

He certified death then went upstairs to have dinner with the family and guests, including the main suspect, Monson.

Miles said: “The idea that the doctor was called to the case was startling because I wouldn’t be called to a firearms incident now.

“My sympathy is with the doctor being put in the position of being asked for a medical certificate cause of death, reflecting on how sometimes there is still discretion about how we present that.

“Earlier in my career we might have been asked to confirm life extinct, which is different from doing medical certificate cause of death, and so I was called to some gruesome deaths, mostly in cars, but now ambulance services are able to declare life extinct so I wouldn’t be called at all.”

Forensic scientists from SPA Forensic Services also discuss current working practices, giving a rare insight into how murder investigations are carried out in Scotland.

Monson’s defence was that Hambrough had awkwardly shot himself in the back of the head, with his own shotgun, by accident.

Ahead of the trial, Monson’s investigators tested this defence by carrying out shooting experiments at varying distances to examine the difference in bullet entry points.

In the podcast, some experiments were carried out under controlled conditions by a gamekeeper to explore how the entry wound might have presented differently.

Professor Niamh Nic Daeid, director of LRCFS, said: “We are delighted to work with the Adventurous Audio team and all of the specialists and practitioners who gave us the benefit of their experience and knowledge to review this case.

“The aim of the six-episode podcast is not to reopen the case but to explore the complexities of forensic science, demonstrate the challenge that the jury may have in understanding scientific evidence.”

The latest series, along with previous episodes exploring difference cases, can be found on the University’s website and on?all podcast providers including Spotify,?Podbean, and?Google podcasts.