Patricia Wiltshire on Private Passions with Michael Berkeley 31st May 2020

Michael Berkeley’s guest is the forensic ecologist Professor Patricia Wiltshire, a solver of puzzles who has carved out a whole new discipline within forensic science. Patricia solves crimes with her microscope by meticulous examination of tiny particles such as pollen and spores left at crime scenes or found on the clothing of criminals or on their victims. She says: ‘Nature will invariably give up her secrets to those of us who know where to look.’

Patricia tells Michael how the course of her life was changed by a phone call from the police asking her to assist on a murder case. She was able to match the pollen left by the shoes of the murderers in their car to the plants where they had dumped the body of their victim, and thus secured their conviction.

Since then she has worked on nearly 300 cases including the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham; the Millie Dowler and Sarah Payne cases; and the Ipswich prostitute murders.

Patricia chooses music by Chopin that she played when she was learning the piano in her 40s, and music by Hasselmans, which expresses her regret at never having learned to play the harp.

We hear Russian ballet music, and a Mozart aria sung by her favourite singer Cecilia Bartoli. Patricia talks movingly about how her grief at the death of her infant daughter allows her to deal with the most distressing aspects of her job.

She describes the happiness she finally found with her second husband at the age of 63 and chooses exuberant flamenco music to celebrate their relationship.

Producer: Jane Greenwood

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 3