Case Study- Linda Peacock Case

LINDA PEACOCK CASE

Background

A 15-year-old young girl, Linda Peacock went missing from her home in the Scottish town of Biggar, south-west of Edinburgh city on August 6, 1967. At the night of her disappearance, at around 10 PM, a girl of similar description was witnessed standing by the cemetery gates, talking to a young man. After 20 minutes of this incidence, another witness reported hearing a scream of a girl. The next day, early morning, Linda’s body was found inside the churchyard. She was badly beaten and strangled to death with a rope.

The case

Linda’s body was brought in for forensic examination. After the examination, it was revealed that the killer had not raped her, although her clothes were undone and there was a very prominent oval bruise on her right breast. Detailed and closed inspection of the oval bruise showcased that it was actually a bite mark. It was carefully photographed. Some unusual features of the bite mark were determined and it was decided by the investigators to call in forensic dentistry expert Dr. Warren Harvey. Dr. Harvey confirmed that the unusual feature was indeed, unique. The teeth impression had two pits which are caused by a disorder known as hypocalcination. This might be sought helpful for the positive identification of the killer.

Evidences found

The investigation was held under a large population almost the entire town of Biggar. A total of more than 3,000 people were checked but no success was achieved. The town has a Juvenile detention center consisting of 29 inmates who were the only one left unchecked. Dr. Harvey decided that this small group is enough to make dental comparisons viable.

The unique feature of the bite mark was one unusually jagged tooth. The inmates were asked to provide their bite impressions for comparison purposes. Out of the 29 inmates, five of them had resemblance to the bite mark on Linda’s body and were close enough to cause suspicion.

One particular boy, a 17-year-old named Gordon Hay was one of the five suspected ones. He had been arrested and was serving time in the center for breaking into a factory. He had also told his other inmates, the night before Linda’s disappearance, that he met Linda at the local fair and that he wanted to be intimate with her.

On the night Linda vanished, Gordon was found missing from the detention center. Later at night, when he returned to the detention center, he was seen out of breath, disheveled, and covered in mud.

Outcome

Dr. Harvey took a more precise impression of the teeth and the bite mark of Gordon and did a thorough examination. He noticed evidences of sharp-edged pits in the tips of the upper and lower right canine teeth. It was the result of a rare condition called hypocalcination. This was highly unusual.

In Gordon’s case, the pit in the upper tooth was lower than that in the lower canine. When this was combined with the site of the pits, it made a perfect match with the bite mark. It was almost conclusive as fingerprint evidence.

To back up the diagnosis made by Dr. Harvey, he examined the teeth of 342 young soldiers of similar age to Gordon, and found only 2 with pitted teeth, 1 with a pit and hypocalcination. None had 2 pits and hypocalcination except Gordon.

Verdict

The defense lawyers tried to discredit the dental evidence. They claimed the evidence to be unscientific. But fortunately, they lost the argument and Gordon Hay was found guilty for the charges of murder by strangulation.

He was the first person in the UK to be convicted by forensic dentistry.

Author:- Srishti Dutta