Foodunnit?
A forensic look at food and its crime-solving powers.
We start with one of the most challenging cases London\u2019s murder squad has ever faced. The BBC\u2019s Emily Thomas meets the Metropolitan Police\u2019s former head of homicide investigations, Andy Baker, by the banks of the Thames, to hear how a murder victim\u2019s stomach contents can help detectives.
We meet some hungry criminals \u2013 a bank robber with a burger and a thief with his hand in the biscuit tin. Former crime scene investigator Dennis Gentles, from Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, explains new research to identify fingerprints on food, and David Foran, director of Michigan State University\u2019s forensic science programme, tells us how a half-finished meal left at a crime scene can be a rich source of DNA. But why would a criminal stop for a snack? We speak to criminologist Richard Wright from Georgia State University.
Plus, we find out how food industry technology is being used by detectives. Sheriff Todd Bonner from Wasatch County in Utah tells us how a case that haunted him for 18 years was eventually solved by a vacuum designed for use on food. Finally, the Food Chain\u2019s own Simon Tulett, explores the mystery of the disappearing sausage stew.
Please note - a couple of the cases we describe are of a graphic nature and might be upsetting for some, particularly younger listeners.
(Photo: Apple and outstretched hand. Credit: Getty Creative).