Airing tonight: The Preston professor who helped solve decades-long Natalia Doherty murder
University of Lancashire professor Anna Williams will appear on tonight’s episode of UK Forensic Breakthroughs on the True Crime Channel.
A University of Lancashire professor has joined forces with police to solve a decades-old murder - and will appear tonight on national television.
Professor of Forensic Science Anna Williams will be appearing on the True Crime Channel later tonight for an episode of UK Forensic Breakthroughs, where she helps investigate the murder of 50-year-old Natalia Doherty.
Natalia Doherty, who was also known as Natalia Wilkanowska, disappeared in April 2003 after going to visit her ex-husband Gerald Doherty in Luton.
For years, Natalia’s family had assumed she had gone missing as her body was never found.
That was until 12 years later, when human remains were found buried under a pile of rubble and waste at Gerald’s address on Icknield Way.
It was then that Bedfordshire Police enlisted the help of Anna to help examine the remains.
She said that being able to help provide Natalia’s family with answers was “very gratifying”.
She said: “When the police approached me to help, I was more than happy to use my expertise to assist with the case.
“My role was to construct an osteological profile of the remains to help identify the victim. That profile consisted of the biological sex of the remains, the age of death, the height of the victim was and their likely ancestry.
“I also looked for any signs of past diseases, dental anomalies and trauma. I found both healed and unhealed fractures, suggesting that Natalia had suffered repeated bouts of traumatic violence.”
Natalia was found to have injuries “consistent” with falling down the stairs, being hit with a weapon, and being stamped on.
Gerald had murdered Natalia before going on to end his own life in July. In 2017, his brother Joseph admitted to perverting the course of justice and lying to police about her murder.
He was given a three month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Tonight’s episode of UK Forensic Breakthroughs was filmed at the University of Lancashire in May.
In the episode, Anna is joined by her former student Caroline Sims - a forensic osteoarchaeologist - who also assisted the case.
It will air tonight at 10pm on the True Crime Channel, which is available on Freeview Channel 67, Sky Channel 146, Virgin Channel 148 and Freesat Channel 135.