The Expert Witness : Examinations of Murder and Suicide by a Forensic Toxicologist

Drugs and poisons from a variety of sources have been used illegally for centuries and most conjure up an unfortunate, enduring fascination. People appear to be both attracted by them and at the same time repelled by them.

Sitting Bull, (c. 1831-1890) a famous Native American Indian Sioux chief once said Do not let the poisons of the world pull you from your path. Curiously, the opposite was true for William Allender. His path has led him to many poisons (and drug) cases and the need to help various authorities to prosecute the villains who chose to use them intheir nefarious and evil deeds.

As a forensic toxicologist, William Allender 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 ben 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. As for may other cases, a number stand out due to the unusual circumstances, one involving a drug-affected young man who was killed on Sydney Harbour Bridge, (A Case of MDMA Madness), another where a body was disposed of into a wheelie bin (The Body in the Wheelie Bin Murder), a carer who poisoned her elderly partner with morphine (The Black Widow) and the sad case ofDianne Brimble who went on a well-deserved cruise, only to wind up dead from a drug over-dose (Death on the High Seas..), to name but a few.

This book contains a selection of case stories (where some names have been changed for legal reasons) taken from the many William Allender has been involved in over the years.