In the late 1800s, the worlds of biology, photography and criminology came together to ask a tantalising question….might the human retina retain the final image a person sees before death…If so, with careful examination of the eyeball, surely this was a sure fire way of solving every murder…because the killers image would be imprinted in the victims eyes…if only investigators discovered the body within 24 hours.

Tonight, we explore one of the most fascinating theories in police work…a notion that gripped optometrist, photographers and detectives alike. I’m Peter Laws and this is The Final Witness: Can a Murder Victims Eyeballs Reveal Their Killer?

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Sources:

• Retinal Optography: Fact or Fiction?
• Optography
• How Forensic Science Once Tried to "See" a Dead Person's Last Sight
• Optopraphy: Preserving a Dead Person's Last Sight
• Dead Men's Eyes: A History of Optography
• How to develop a picture from a corpse's eye

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