The Expert Witness: A Second Dose

Poisons and drugs from a variety of sources have been used in an illegal way for centuries, and have an unfortunate, enduring fascination. Forensic medical scientist and toxicologist Dr William J. Allender has regularly been called upon to testify about the role poisons and drugs have played in a death, lending his expertise to solving some of Australia's most publicised crimes over more than three decades. Here, he is back with a second book of fascinating insights into the science and procedure of forensic investigations, as well as the people behind the headlines. As the stories unfold and the investigation proceeds there are many questions to answer: Did the victim overdose? What was the poison or drug used? Was it murder, an accident or suicide? How was it taken and how much? Would that dosage be enough to take a life? A number of cases stand out due to the unusual or macabre circumstances: the mysterious deaths of a brilliant scientist and a nurse by a riverside (Misty River Mystery: The Bogle-Chandler Case); the horrific murder of a man by his butcher lover (The Aberdeen Butcher: The Horrific Crimes of Katherine Knight); a young woman found murdered in a shallow bush grave with a dead dog for a 'pillow' (A Dog and a Dame in a Ditch: Who Murdered Maureen McLaughlin?); a morphine poisoning of an aged veteran by his supposed carer (The Black Widow: A 'Morphine Mistress'), just to name a few.

As a forensic toxicologist, Dr Allender (or 'Dr Bill') has been called to give expert witness evidence in a number of very high profile cases involving drug overdoses and poisons (including pesticides), in which those substances have been used in suicides and murder. He has also given evidence in coronial matters that have become so emotional that the court has had to be adjourned for members of the family to compose themselves.