Body of Proof

An Audible Original

By: Darrell Brown, Sophie Ellis

Narrated by: Darrell Brown, Sophie Ellis

A woman disappears on her way to work. A man is convicted of her murder.

But this case is different. Though the police believe they have the right man, key components of the prosecution case are missing. There is no body of the victim, no witnesses to the crime, no confession and no physical evidence: no DNA, CCTV or murder weapon.

Journalists and TV producers Darrell Brown and Sophie Ellis examine the extraordinary case of Suzanne Pilley, a woman who vanished whilst on her way to work in Edinburgh in 2010. The pair has spent two years investigating the case and speaking exclusively to David Gilroy - the man who was found guilty of killing Suzanne and disposing of her body. He is currently serving a life sentence in a Scottish jail.

But Gilroy says he is innocent: victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Darrell and Sophie are not so sure. They explore Gilroy’s claims that the investigation and trial were mishandled, that key pieces of evidence were not presented in court and witnesses were not contacted.

The pair uncover startling information, not heard in court, that might have changed the minds of the jury. And they shine a light on aspects of the Scottish criminal justice system that might be keeping an innocent man behind bars.

A What’s the Story Films production for Audible.

©2019 Audible, Ltd (P)2019 Audible, Ltd

Compelling and well done

The overall story leaves so many questions about judicial systems all over the world. Amazing how this man is convicted without any forensic evidence except he is unlikeable and was having an affair.

First Audible Original I've tried and liked.

Author decided to revisit a murder conviction where there was absolutely no conclusive forensic evidence presented whatsoever. At the trial, the prosecution relied solely on implication via circumstantial evidence. Difficult to see how this meets the Reasonable Doubt level required?

I hadn't realized until now that unlike the rest of the Western world, Scotland requires a simple majority for a criminal conviction! Also uniquely, they have a third verdict of Not Proven, which seemed a total no-brainer in this case to me, but I suppose some jurors just did not want to see the defendant walk away on what they saw as a technicality.

My take away from this was that he was quite ill-served by his defense team. When the author's challenged the defendant regarding the prosecution's allegations of events, he sounded plausible enough to me in his refutations.

There were one or two places where I kind of wish they'd got on with it, finding those somewhat digressions, but overall I'm really glad that I listened.

A documentary of crime

A documentary style of writing.

At times the narrator's heavy accent for different characters was hard to understand.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Body of Proof

This is a detail study of a case where a man is sentenced to prison yet there is no body, no witness, no physical evidence anywhere ... yet he is sentenced to prison. I find a book extremely interesting and how Faith sometimes is involved in pending evidence on “maybe” someone innocent.

Great

I really liked this book and would recommend it . I hope and pray for justice for all involved. The justice system is scarey for innocent people.

Misleading title!

While the narration was good all the way around, I have a problem within the story itself in which the title is misleading because the body was never found. Also, what is the point in telling a story that doesn't really have an ending? This is unfinished and it would have been better to have given us a closing and then leave us wondering how lives continue.

Entertaining once it gets going

Like the podcast "Serial", this is set up as investigative crime journalism by people who are in no way impartial and are only partially qualified for the task. If taken as entertainment, Body of Proof is pretty good after the first few chapters.

The audio quality is extremely hit or miss which can be frustrating. And the first few chapters, which are supposed to hook you in, are really quite dull. As the story goes on, it's easy to listen to just one more episode and continue until you're done. Along the way, many interesting questions are asked, even if the answers we get are extraordinarily one-sided.

I got this as a free audible original so I'm pleased enough with my experience. I'd recommend it to others if you can get it for free. Otherwise, skip it.

Riveting look at the modern justice system

Two journalists present a multi-chapter documentary which attempts to provide an unbiased assessment of a possible miscarriage of justice. A woman goes missing, last seen in broad daylight on a busy street in a major city—no body or forensic evidence of a murder is ever discovered. Her coworker, a married man with whom she had previously had a relationship, is convicted of her murder and sent to prison entirely based on circumstantial evidence. He still contends his innocence 9 years later as these journalists investigate possible flaws with the investigation, his legal defense strategy, and justice system as a whole. It’s an uncomfortable story told well and without bias, letting you draw your own conclusion at the end.

wish there was a better outcome

I lived it! I do wish there was updates or a better outcome for the ending

interesting and sad

the overall story was very good. It was just sad and learned that there are innocent people possibly still in jail due to the way the system works in Scotland. I kept going between guilty and not guilty and still am unsure of what I would have said if I had been a jury member if all of the additional facts were released.