Experts explain reality of solving murders… and it’s light years away from TV crime dramas 

If a pathologist in a crime drama says a murder victim died at 2 p.m. on Saturday, they may be the killer.

That suggests a forensic expert who is ready to debunk some of the myths common in crime novels and shows.

Fingerprints are rarely used in court, suspicious photographs are unreliable and line-ups at police stations simply don’t happen anymore, according to Professor Dame Sue Black.

The forensic anthropologist will be joined by experts to explain the reality of solving murders during this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.

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Dame Sue, 61, says a major flaw in television is that experts confidently pronounce the time someone died, which perhaps only the killer could know accurately.

If someone died that day, it is possible to give an estimate of the time of death based on the rate at which a person’s body heat changes from the usual human temperature of 37°C (98.6°F) to that of the environment in which he dies. .

But Dame Sue, who helped identify victims of the conflict in Kosovo and the 2004 tsunami, said: “Once temperature is no longer available to judge time of death, experts rely on swelling, discoloration of the skin and the onset of rigor mortis”. .

Decomposition may depend on whether a buried body is near the surface, where the temperature is higher… or if human remains are near bushes, which animals use for cover.

“It’s just not possible to say someone died at 2:25, as sometimes happens in police dramas.”

The Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures, Secrets Of Forensic Science With Dame Sue Black, will be broadcast on BBC4 and iPlayer on 26, 27 and 28 December at 8pm