Eight esteemed pathologists and forensic experts have cast serious doubt on the Crown's case that an ex-polo-playing landowner murdered a vagrant with a suffocation technique made famous by 19th-century body-snatchers.
Many of the experts say, in written reports seen by the Daily Mail, that the most likely cause of Mr Hardie's death was the mixture of alcohol and prescription drugs found in the dead man's body, and suggest the most appropriate cause of death is 'unascertained'. EXCLUSIVEREAD MORE: Has this ex-polo playing soldier from a wealthy family spent 35 years in prison for a murder that never happened? Clive Freeman was convicted of killing a vagrant by 'Burking' - the method used by the bodysnatchers Burke and Hare Advertisement It was accepted by the jury, which found him guilty of murder and arson.
In a report dated January 20, 1999, forensic pathologist Dr Peter Acland said 'any pathologist would be hard put to give a definite cause of death in this case and, whilst he would be perhaps unwise to rule out foul play, I think he would have considered the natural or alcohol-related potential causes of death more likely'.
Five years ago, forensic pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar wrote that 'there is no evidence in isolation or in combination that allows a cause of death to be put forward, in particular there is no evidence that allows a diagnosis of suffocation, crush asphyxia, Burking or similar'. He also worked on the Harold Shipman case, the murder of Jill Dando and the management of British fatalities following the 9/11 terror attacks in the US.