 Research revealed that after their work on the case, Littlejohn and Smith had removed parts of the bodies from police custody to use as scientific specimens, as described in Smith's autobiography, 
according to Chris Paton in The Scotsman.In January 2008, the University agreed to return the remains, if the claimant could establish her relationship and the other relatives all agreed.In 1935, Smith was one of the forensic experts involved in the identification of the bodies of the victims of Buck Ruxton, using a novel technique of forensic anthropology to superimpose a photograph over the X-ray of a victim's skull.