Good evening, Mystic-Guru. A member of my PhD supervisory team is doing a PhD by publication. You typically need to have at least 5 papers published at my uni, and you still have to go through many of the procedures that you encounter through the usual route of a PhD - so unfortunately you don't eschew the philosophical elements. I've got the guidelines for my uni concerning what you need to do to obtain a PhD by publication. If you like, I would be very happy to send it to you.
By the way, you line of work sounds fascinating - real CSI stuff.