14 Mar 2026

The Dead Speak: My life in forensics

From Saturday Morning, 10:35 am on 14 March 2026
Thomas Coyle smiles at the camera. He wears a brown blazer and a white t-shirt.

Forensic Expert Thomas Coyle (MNZM). Photo: Allen & Unwin

Thomas Coyle MNZM is one of New Zealand's most seasoned forensic experts. In his memoir The Dead Speak: My Life in Forensics, he pulls back the police tape on a career spanning more than three decades, charting the evolution of forensic science, and exploring how the tiniest detail can expose a suspect, prove a motive, or confirm an identity.
 
With experience of over 20,000 crime scenes and disaster victim identification for the New Zealand police, Thomas has spent a lifetime making the dead speak. He joins Susie.