Cadaver dogs used in Suzanne Pilley murder probe

candyfloss wrote: Gilroy found guilty - It's those pesky dogs again................

[snipped]

Work colleagues spotted him looking "agitated", "shaking" and "in shock" on the morning she disappeared.

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The court heard that a dog specially trained to look for bodies found three areas of interest in the garage of the building where Ms Pilley and Gilroy had both worked. Despite the search, there was no forensic evidence found linking Gilroy or Ms Pilley to the garage or basement of the Thistle Street building.
The dog also showed interest in the boot of Gilroy's silver car, which was said to have had a smell of cleaning fluid or air freshener.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/david-gilroy-guilty-of-suzanne-pilley-murder.1331810187

tigger wrote:..... by speaking to Gilroy as a witness, they were able to extract evidence from him, which the Crown used to secure a conviction against him. unquote

Glad to see this didn't work. Being made arguidos in Portugal is presumably to avoid such accusations. However, how were the police going to find out what happened to Pilley without questioning her boyfriend?

With the Tia case, he same argument could apply. Looks like the British justice system is acquiring some teeth.

No body, cadaver scent in the boot and a conviction. Plus an appeal turned down.

tigger wrote:No body, cadaver scent in the boot and a conviction. Plus an appeal turned down.

1 The case with a legal significance may not yet have been fully appreciated, is that of Jeanette Zapata. in Dane Country, USA. In 1976 she served her husband Eugene Zapata with divorce papers. She went missing shortly afterwards. 29 years later dogs alerted in the basement of the family home, and in several other places where the family had lived over the intervening time. At trial his lawyer persuaded the judge that the dog’s finding could not be admitted, since the places in which they had alerted indicated that he had carried the body round to everywhere he had lived, and it was suggested that this was preposterous The jury failed to reach a verdict. Before his retrial however, he confessed, and crucially confirmed that he had in fact transported the body round before disposing of it. The dogs had been absolutely accurate. No body has been found.

2 The recent case of Bianca Jones, a 2 year old girl murdered by her father D’Andre Lane in Detroit USA, with the added details of an alleged abduction, was an occasion when Mr Martin Grime, a British retired police officer, was working for the FBI. His evidence of the alerts by his dog was admitted to show that Bianca was dead whilst in the back of the car, and not taken by armed men as was being alleged. Lane was convicted, though no body has ever been found.

3 The trial of Adrian Prout, in 2010, for the murder of Kate Prout, his wife, in the UK, was notable again for a verdict of guilty, despite no body having been found. Dogs had indicted the presence of a body in the house, but nothing had been found. Some time after his conviction Prout confessed, and indicted the location of the body, confirming that the dogs had been absolutely accurate in their findings.


4 In the murder of Susan Pilley in Edinburgh, by her colleague David Gilroy, in 2010, the court heard that the dogs had alerted in the office basement garage and in two areas of the boot of Gilroy’s car, even though this had been cleaned recently with fluid or air freshener. The defence failed to convince the jury that the absence of physical evidence entitled his client to acquittal. No body has been found. He was convicted.

5 Cori Baker from Oklahoma was murdered by her sister’s boyfriend Marquis Bulloch, in 2007. He changed his story several times whilst being investigated, and the dogs, partly funded by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, were brought into search a large area after a skull had been found. They alerted in several places. No other physical evidence was discovered. He was convicted

6 The case of Guadeloupe Montano from Kane County, USA, is still pending. It is alleged that she was murdered by her husband Aurelio Montano in 1990. It may be the first time that the dog’s alerts have been used as evidence in that State. They indicate that the body lay in one position and was then moved to another. The trial is due in December 2012. No body has been found.

7 The case of Amir Jennings, allegedly killed by her mother Zinah Jennings in 2011, involves a mother who reported her son missing. Dogs have searched the house and the car, and the trial for lying to the police about what happened is pending. No body has been found.

8 The trial of Albert Fine, the partner of Catherine Hoholski, from Lorain USA, is also pending. In this case the body was found within 60 seconds of the dog being deployed, and it was then used to identify other locations relevant to the prosecution case.

9 The alleged abduction of Isabel Mercedes Celis has been called into question by the findings of two dogs, one a cadaver dog, in the family home. The findings were said to be “significant”, the house is being treated as a crime scene and the matter is still under investigation. No body has been found.

10 The disappearance of 6 year old Etan Patz in New York 33 years ago, has already shown the almost unbelievable feats of which cadaver dogs are capable. In this case pads of absorbent material were left for a time on the concrete floor of the basement and then presented to the dogs for testing. As a result the concrete floor was then ripped up. The handler Englebert said. "We as human beings never lose our scent. If [a body] had been there for a while, that scent would still be there," she said, indicating that even if investigators do not find remains in the basement, it is possible human remains may have once been there before being moved.” The investigation has also used ground penetrating radar. The trial of Pedro Hernandez, who has admitted kidnapping and murder, is pending.

11 The parents of Lisa Irwin, from Kansas City, also allege that she must have been abducted in the middle of the night. The mother told Police she did not search, “because she was afraid of what she might find”. Disturbed earth was found behind the house, and the dog alerted in the parent’s bedroom. As a result a full search warrant was granted, and the police say they want to talk to the parents Jeremy Irwin and Deborah Bradley, one to one.

12 The cold case of 14 year old Melanie Melanson, from Massachusetts USA, who disappeared 20 years ago, has been given fresh impetus through the findings of a cadaver dog which alerted in an area targeted following a tip off to Police.

13 Another mother, Shakara Dickens, of Memphis USA, reported in 2010 that she had given up her daughter Lauryn Dickens for adoption, but the various stories turned out to be false. A dog identified cadaver odour in the house and in the boot of the car, and despite defence arguments, she was found guilty of Murder. No body has been found.

14 The infamous case of Caylee Anthony, whose mother Casey Anthony was accused of murdering her in Orlando USA, in 2011, was also notable in that the evidence of the cadaver dog handler was admitted, even though the body was found later at a different location. The dog alerted in the boot of the car, and it was alleged that the mother had then dumped the body. The evidence was highly detailed, with full description of the system of ‘final trained alert’ by the dog showing an exact position, distinguished from a more general interest. In the event Anthony was not found guilty of the murder, but was convicted of several lesser offences. There are moves to have the case reopened at Federal level.

15 In the UK, the case of Kirsi Gifford-Hull, in Winchester in 2005, is of interest since although the body was discovered by a man walking a dog, and the offender Mike Gifford-Hull had made a public appeal at a press conference for his wife to return, cadaver dogs had already alerted some weeks earlier in the house and in his car during the initial search for a “missing person”. After the trial he told officers that when he saw the dogs alerting in the car he had contemplated making a full admission. He was convicted. After the trial Judge Guy Boney QC ”. . .added that the police inquiry was so superior it could be matched with that of any other police force in the world.”

4 In the murder of Susan Pilley in Edinburgh, by her colleague David Gilroy, in 2010, the court heard that the dogs had alerted in the office basement garage and in two areas of the boot of Gilroy’s car, even though this had been cleaned recently with fluid or air freshener. The defence failed to convince the jury that the absence of physical evidence entitled his client to acquittal. No body has been found. He was convicted.

flaxyard wrote:. . Immediately dismissed by team McCann who scour the USA for case evidence against this form of forensics.

PeterMac wrote:

flaxyard wrote:. . Immediately dismissed by team McCann who scour the USA for case evidence against this form of forensics.

And it was the first case I quote, and Zapata one, which they used to try to discredit the dogs. Mrs put it in her book.
But it has spectacularly backfired as the case continued after she wrote it, and he confessed to the crime and confirmed the dog's findings.

ShuBob wrote:
PM, it's worse than that. The case had already backfired as Zapata had confessed years BEFORE Kate published her book. Why she included that particular case in the book is a mystery. It's behaviour like this which make me think she may have mental health issues

State of Wisconsin v. Zapata, 2006 CF 1996 – defendant supplemental memorandum

Suzanne Pilley murder: Police suspect badly decomposed body found in Edinburgh woods may be missing bookkepper
8 Jun 2013
THE body, which has not yet been identified, was a found in a nature reserve just over a mile from David Gilroy's home.
A BODY found in a shallow grave is believed to be missing murder victim Suzanne Pilley.
A dog walker discovered the badly decomposed corpse on a nature reserve on Thursday evening. Suzanne, 38, has not been seen in more than three years.
David Gilroy was found guilty of her murder last April.
The body was found just over a mile from his home. Gilroy is serving at least 18 years of a life sentence for killing the Edinburgh bookkeeper.
The discovery could end three years of agony for Suzanne’s parents Robert and Sylvia.
When Gilroy was jailed last year, the couple said: “We will never be able to rest completely until we know where our daughter is.”
Yesterday, police had sealed off a wide area around the site where the body was found in Corstorphine, Edinburgh, as forensic officers carried out detailed examinations.
It’s believed a dog’s burrowing uncovered the body.

In the murder of Susan Pilley in Edinburgh, by her colleague David Gilroy, in 2010, the court heard that the dogs had alerted in the office basement garage and in two areas of the boot of Gilroy’s car, even though this had been cleaned recently with fluid or air freshener. The defence failed to convince the jury that the absence of physical evidence entitled his client to acquittal. No body has been found. He was convicted.