Читать книгу Methodologies and Challenges in Forensic Linguistic Casework - Группа авторов - Страница 29

TG wrote a formal expert witness report, explaining the method and crediting JG with his role in the analysis. The opinion was expressed in terms that the later disputed material was consistent with the previous emails of Jamie Starbuck and inconsistent in style with the previous emails sent by Debbie Starbuck. In the first instance, this report was used as part of an application for an international arrest warrant. However, in response to increasingly forceful inquiries from the Nottinghamshire Police, Jamie Starbuck returned home to England voluntarily. He was arrested at Customs and later confessed to murdering Debbie before leaving the country. The timeline he indicated matched with the conclusion of our authorship analysis.

Our evidence was never tested in court, illustrating how investigative forensic analysis does not always, or even often, result in evidence (see Grieve & Woodfield, 2020). Jamie was convicted of murder on the basis of his confession and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 30 years in prison. Debbie’s body has never been found. The court heard evidence that Jamie dismembered and burned her body to hide the evidence of murder. He has not cooperated with police in disclosing the location of any remains.