Pathologists

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Francis Camps
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Professor David Evans
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Dr Frederick Griffiths
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Dr Denis Hocking
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Dr Gerald Roche Lynch
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Dr Harold Miller
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Dr John Thompson
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Professor Keith Simpson
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Sir Bernard Spilsbury
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Sir Sydney Smith
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Donald Teare
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Professor Alan Usher
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Francis Edward Camps

Francis Camps - Larger than life - Love him or loathe him, you could not ignore Francis Camps.  He was an eccentric pathologist whose long running feud with his famous contemporary Keith Simpson indicated a difficult personality.  But that did not stop him from being a great forensic investigator.

Birth :  27 June 1905
Death :  8 July 1972
 
Notable Trials
 
1 : Christie - Mass murderer of Notting Hill
2 : Brian Donald Hume - Torso in the Essex Marshes
3 : Sergeant Frederick Emmett-Dunne
4 : Timothy John Evans
5 : Dr John Bodkin Adams
6 : Edwina Taylor's death

Professor David Evans

Michael Barber died on 27 June. A post-mortem was carried out by Professor David Evans and he was informed that tests had disproved the paraquat poisoning theory. Major organs were preserved and, although both pathologists suspected paraquat poisoning, judgement was reserved until histology slides became available.

Dr Frederick Griffiths

Twenty nine year old Stephanie Baird’s body was lying on the floor parallel to the bed.  Her head had been cut off at the base of the neck and placed on the bed.  Doctor Frederick Griffiths, a home office pathologist was later able to confirm that cause of death had been strangulation.  She had a fractured skull and a number of small puncture wounds on her body consistent with being stabbed with a pair of scissors.   The body was naked and  had suffered further mutilations.  She had been murdered by Patrick Byrne two days before Christmas  on 23 December 1959.
 
 

Dr Denis Hocking

35,000 dead bodies have lain before the eminent  pathologist Dr Denis Hocking during his 65 year career. Many were the victims of bizarre, tragic and sometimes  inexplicable cases of suicide, accidental death and murder.  As a forensic scientist, detective and expert  witness, Dr Hockings conclusions had to satisfy judges  and juries.  His evidence, in many cases a mere particle, would convict suspects and determine their fates.

Dr Gerald Roche Lynch

Birth : 1889
Death : 1957

Notable Trials
 
1 Ethel Lillie Major

Ethel Lillie Major was hanged on the 19 December 1934 at Hull Prison for the murder of her husband. On 23rd May Arthur came home from work feeling unwell. He retired to bed and a doctor was called. When he arrived Dr Smith found Arthur sweating, convulsive and unable to talk. Ethel told the doctor that she had given her husband some corned beef and that he had been liable to fits for a couple of years. The doctor concluded that Arthur was suffering from a mild form of epilepsy and prescribed a sedative. The next day Ethel went to the doctor and told him that her spouse had died. Ethel started making plans for the funeral.  The next day the police received a note suggesting he had died from poison. The police quickly obtained a coroner's order postponing the funeral. Parts of Arthur's body were sent to Dr Roche Lynch of St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. The Home Office pathologist determined that Arthur had died from strychnine poisoning.

Dr Harold Miller

When Terence Armstrong who was just six months old died a post mortem was carried out on the baby to discern the cause of death.  The pathologist who was Dr Harold Miller could find nothing to explain the sudden death except something that looked like the red skin of a berry in the child’s throat and some more in the stomach.  He began to wonder if the child had somehow eaten some berries that were poisonous.   An analysis of the stomach contents told a different story.  There was no trace of any berries but it did reveal the presence of Eosin which is a red dye used to colour capsules, in particular Seconal.   Terence Armstrong  had been poisoned.
 

 Professor Keith Cedric Simpson

 
Professor Keith Cedric Simpson was a British forensic scientist who was head of department at Guy's hospital in London from 1962 -1972.  His evidence sent John Haigh (the acid bath murderer) and Neville Heath to the gallows.  In 1965 he identified the first battered baby murder in England.
 
Birth :  20 July 1907
Death : 21 July 1985
 
Notable Trials
 
1 : Neville Heath
2 : James Hanratty
3 : Acid Bath Haigh
4 : Christie and Evans
5 : The Kray Brothers
6 : Radford and Armstrong
7:  Harry Dobkin
 

 Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury

Sir Bernard Spilsbury was the foremost forensic pathologist of his era and set the standard for subsequent forensic investigators.  Carrying out a Post Mortem is a  highly skilled procedure used to establish the cause of death. When someone dies it is not always apparent how they died, if this is the case then an examination of the body must by law take place. An external examination will first of all take place and then the body will be opened up for further testing. The organs are sometimes removed and tests performed on them. this procedure is also known as an autopsy and sometimes even by the name Necropsy. Sir Bernard Spilsbury would carry out over seven hundred Post Mortems in a single year.
 
Birth :  January 1877
Death : 17 December 1947
 
Notable Trials
 
1 : The Crippen Case
 2 : The Brides in the Bath
 3 : Herbert Rowse Armstrong
 4 : The Brighton Trunk Case
 5 : The Mahon Case
 6 : Miss Wren Case
 7: William Henry Podmore
 8: Sidney Harry Fox
 9: Max Kassell Case
 10: Vivian Messiter Case

Sir Sydney Smith

A Real Life Sherlock Holmes - Sydney Smith was Professor of Forensic Medicine at Edinburgh.  A great pathologist he was also one of the earliest forensic ballistics experts.
 

Birth : 4 August 1883
Death : 8 May 1969
 
Notable Trials
 
1 : The Hopetown Quarry Murder
2 : The Ruxton Case
3 : The Case of Sidney Fox
4 : The Sydney Shark Arm Case
5 : The Case of Annie Hearn
6 : The Strangling of Chrissie Gall
 

Donald Teare

The Third Musketeer - In the 1940's Donald Teare was one of the up-and-coming trio of forensic pathologists that the press dubbed 'The Three Musketeers'.  Although due to his quieter nature he may not be as well known as his counterparts Keith Simpson and Francis Camps, he was involved in many prominent cases during his career.

Birth: 1 July 1911
Death 17 January 1979

Notable Trials

1 James Camb
2 Russian Robert
3 John Straffen
4 Brian Donald Hume
5 Gunther Podola
6 Daniel Raven
7 Timothy Evans
8 Hulten & Jones

Professor Alan Usher

Investigator and Innovator - In a career spanning more than 30 years, Professor Alan Usher has been one of the country's most distinguished pathologists.  His crowning achievement was the establishment of the standard bearing Medico-Legal Centre of the University of Sheffield.
 
 

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For more information contact:
Gregg Manning