Two grisly murder cases, years apart, appear to have little in common at first glance. A California family found brutally murdered in 2003 and two dismembered bodies discovered in Scotland in 1935. Upon closer investigation, they share the same silent witness: insects. Examine these two landmark cases where forensic entomology helped convict a killer. Detectives in Edinburgh utilize maggots to determine time of death of the victim, and the Bakersfield case hinges on the discovery of red-shanked grasshoppers caught in a suspect's car radiator grill.

• Denny Heide