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in 1996
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two young boys fishing in an ohio lake
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found what looked like a human skull
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[Music]
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all of its teeth were missing
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and markings on the skull told a tale of
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unspeakable violence
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police had no idea who this person was
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or how long the skull had been in the
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water
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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me
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[Music]
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hamilton ohio is an industrial city of
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about 62 000 people in the southwestern
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part of the state
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it's an area blessed with natural beauty
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residents enjoyed the many rivers
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streams and lakes that dot the landscape
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on august 7 1996
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12 year old tim lyons and his friend tj
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dijon headed to linden lake for an
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afternoon of fishing
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but instead of a bluegill or catfish
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the boys reeled in what looked like a
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skull
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it's hard to believe that you find
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somebody's head down there that you're
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just
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fishing and mind your own business and
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you reel in somebody's head they're just
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unbelievable
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the boys left the skull on the bank
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uncertain of what to do
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i know my mom and dad they didn't
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believe me they thought i was just
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goofing off
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like a whole day passed before we even
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we went back down there and it was still
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there
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this time
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the boys contacted the police
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first cop down there was
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pretty much a prick he came down there
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and we were showing him and everything
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he threw a rocket and said yeah it's
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real now you guys have opened up a big
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investigation just kept going on and on
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and like we did something wrong
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20 minutes later the whole police force
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was down there
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and they had
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boats and everything people scooped it
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down there searching for
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other clues and
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it was crazy went
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nuts from there
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the police scuba divers could not find
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any other body parts in the lake and the
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search of the immediate area was also
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fruitless
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the local coroner examined the skull and
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determined that the individual hadn't
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been in the lake long perhaps only a few
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weeks because there was still some soft
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tissue clinging to it
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but investigators were faced with a
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mystery
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you know when we have a skull
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turn up what does that tell you
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it doesn't really tell you a whole lot
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it could be that somebody robbed a grave
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out in the country and then got rid of
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parts of the body
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it could be a homeless person who
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passed away and part of the remains got
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dragged
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you know an animal a varmint dragged
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part of the remains someplace so it
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doesn't really tell you that there's a
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homicide or foul play
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who was this person
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how did he or she die
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and where was the rest of the body
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to assist in the identification the
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coroner sent the skull to the college of
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mount saint joseph outside cincinnati to
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dr beth murray one of only 63
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board-certified forensic anthropologists
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in the united states
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this case was one of the most
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challenging
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fascinating
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personally rewarding but also
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at the same time personally terrifying
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cases that i think i've worked
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dr murray noticed a deep indentation on
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the top of the skull
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which suggested the killer used a
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machete or a cleaver on the top of the
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victim's head
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and dr murray found other cuts and
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scratches all over the skull
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and they were signs of trying to get the
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flesh off of the skull
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and it gave me chills to realize that
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someone had sat with this skull in their
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hands and defleshed it this skull had a
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nose cavity indicative of a caucasian
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a battery of nearly two dozen
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measurements fed into a computer program
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confirmed this was the skull of a woman
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dr murray estimated that the victim was
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under 35 years of age
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the sutures of the skull the
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lines where the individual skull bones
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knit together
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those were still very open and they
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typically will tend to close with age
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evidence suggested
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someone had used many different types of
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tools in an extraordinary effort to
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conceal the woman's identity
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a series of jagged parallel marks
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indicated a serrated knife the size of a
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kitchen steak knife had been dragged
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along the sides of the skull
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cut marks on the cheekbones indicated
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the jaw had been forcefully removed with
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a small single edged blade like a pocket
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knife and there were several puncture
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wounds in the eye sockets an indication
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that the killer removed the victim's
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eyes
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the teeth were also missing
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in the upper jaw
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was a broken tooth root
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which told dr murray that the teeth had
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been deliberately pulled
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and when you held the skull at just the
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right angle you could see that the
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weapon that was used was a needle nose
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pliers you could actually see marks in
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the bone where the pliers had been
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inserted and the teeth snapped out
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dr murray hesitated to tell homicide
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investigators about her suspicions
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and i thought
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they're not going to believe me
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they're not going to believe that this
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is true
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and so i took the skull to two other
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experts before i made that phone call
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because i had never seen anything like
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this before in my life
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it would be the most difficult murder
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investigation local officials had ever
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encountered
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although investigators knew the skull
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found in linden lake was that of a
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caucasian woman under the age of 35 they
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knew nothing else
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marks found on the skull indicated that
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the flesh had been removed as had her
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teeth in an attempt to hide the woman's
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identity
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i've seen a lot of
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criminals try to hide their crime and
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conceal their activity
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it's almost expected
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but i've never seen anybody go to
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this length
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of activity
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to conceal a crime
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hamilton police discovered that only
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four individuals had recently been
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reported missing one was 21 year old
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tina mott
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reported missing just two months before
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the skull was found in the lake
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tina mott was the single mother of an 18
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month old son johnny she had been living
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here on a quiet residential street in an
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upstairs apartment with her 24 year old
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boyfriend tim bradford
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tinamott was originally from new york
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she met her boyfriend tim while she was
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selling magazines door to door they
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settled in tim's home town of hamilton
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where tina worked as a clerk at a local
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store tim was a framer at this art shop
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he was he was in his mid-20s so he
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pretty much enjoyed doing the things
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that people in their mid-20s like to do
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go out hang out with friends
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go to concerts things like that
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when questioned by police
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tim said the tina had gone back to new
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york to visit her family and left the
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baby behind
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police soon discovered that tina mott
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never reached new york
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tina was reported missing not by her
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family but by tim's mother
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elizabeth bradford
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so at first she didn't really think
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anything about it but then when she
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started calling new york to see if she
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was up there and she wasn't
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she knew she wasn't
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away on her own will because she knew
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she wouldn't leave the baby alone
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elizabeth bradford also told police she
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was afraid of her son and his temper
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armed with a warrant
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police searched the storage locker
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bradford rented shortly after tina
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disappeared
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inside
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they found this set of 19 kitchen knives
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with small medium and large serrated
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blades police also found a book on how
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to kill
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with your bare hands
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and a notebook on satanic rituals
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tim bradford's mother told police her
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son practiced devil worship
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also suspicious was tim bradford's
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behavior during tina's disappearance
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an atm security camera captured pictures
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showing tim bradford withdrawing money
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from tinamot's bank account after she
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disappeared
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investigators also learned that tim
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bradford occasionally used drugs
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we know from some statements that tina
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supposedly had told people she worked
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with that she was afraid of tim because
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of his drug usage now i'm speculating
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here but i think what that means is is
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that when he's using drugs
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his violent temper is a little bit more
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flammable you know that he erupts a
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little bit quicker has a shorter fuse
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and maybe that's why she's afraid of him
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next
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police searched the couple's apartment
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inside they conducted a luminol test
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a chemical is sprayed on a surface it
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can reveal blood that has been cleaned
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up with water and detergents
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on the living room carpet
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investigators found an area believed to
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be human blood
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they also found blood on the bathroom
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floor in the crevice between the floor
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and the tub
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and also
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near the toilet
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police suspected the linden lake skull
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was that of tinamot
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but they needed scientific proof to be
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certain
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when a human skull was recovered from
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linden lake in ohio investigators needed
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to find some forensic technique to make
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a conclusive identification
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the most effective means of
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identification
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is by analyzing the teeth of the victim
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and comparing those to known dental
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x-rays since no two sets of teeth are
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exactly alike
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but in this case
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the lower jaw of the skull was missing
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and the upper teeth had all been pulled
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another method of identification is
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called skull photograph superimposition
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an anthropologist takes a photograph of
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the skull
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then
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superimposes it over a photograph of the
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missing person in hopes of matching the
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facial characteristics
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other techniques attempt to put a face
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on the skull by using facial
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reconstruction and forensic sculpture
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[Music]
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forensic
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have had only a 70
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success rate with these techniques
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because features like the eyelids the
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mouth lips and ears are not necessarily
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indicated by the shape of the skull
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it's a technique usually used when all
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other means of identification have
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failed
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but in the case of the linden lake skull
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scientists got a genetic break
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they discovered that the killer removed
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all but two of the wisdom teeth which
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had been embedded in the gum which the
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killer may not have seen
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when the perpetrator pulled the teeth
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he didn't realize that those molars were
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up underneath the gum line so those were
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protected and preserved
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dr murray extracted tooth pulp from the
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wisdom teeth and sent it for dna testing
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along with a blood sample from tina's 18
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month old son
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but scientists could not obtain a usable
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dna profile from the tooth pulp it's
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possible that the reason is that the
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teeth were still unformed and when teeth
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are still forming their roots are open
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open cavities it was also possible the
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tiny single cell microorganisms in the
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lake called diatoms damaged or altered
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the cells in the tooth pulp
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as a last resort
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dr murray tried to extract dna from the
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skull itself with a surgical drill
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she carefully removed six bone samples
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from the thickest part of the skull with
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sterile techniques the middle section of
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that core that i took out had never
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touched anything but that sterile drill
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the skull bone fragments were sent for
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mitochondrial dna testing which is used
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in cases where the biological sample is
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either degraded or small in quantity
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and the mitochondrial dna is unique
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because it is passed through the
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maternal bloodline you receive it only
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from your mother so any maternal
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relative you have can be tested against
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the sample
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mitochondria are found in the cell
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cytoplasm outside the nucleus
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each cell contains hundreds of
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mitochondria
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[Music]
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scientists have isolated two regions of
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the mitochondrial dna where differences
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within the human population appear and
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they will look for exact matches between
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the mitochondrial dna and the sample
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they have and the maternal blood
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relative that they have
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the mitochondrial dna from the skull was
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the same as the mitochondrial dna from
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18 month old johnny mott which meant
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the skull was that of his mother tina
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and one of the long knives found in the
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storage shed rented by tina's live-in
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boyfriend tested positive for human
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protein
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with this news
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police brought tim bradford in for
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questioning once more
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i asked him if he knew how to hunt yes
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did you know how to
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to dissect an animal and skin it
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prepared for food yes how to dispose of
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the
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internals
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of an animal yes he learned that all
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through his childhood and upbringing
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finally
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tim bradford told police a story of
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almost unspeakable violence and horror
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it was the story
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of tina mott's last moments alive
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when dna testing concluded that the
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linden lake skull was out of tinamot
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police confronted her live-in boyfriend
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tim bradford with the forensic evidence
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against him
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after several hours bradford confessed
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[Music]
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bradford led investigators to a nature
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preserve less than a mile from where the
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couple lived
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and in the deep brush
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were tina's bones
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scattered throughout the area
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after 14 months
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animals had gotten to the remains and
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only about half of tina's body was
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recovered
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every bone found had been cut either by
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a hacksaw or a knife
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tim said that on the night of the murder
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he and tina were playing a game of
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monopoly
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bradford admitted using drugs that night
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at some point the couple got into an
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argument tempers flared and tim admitted
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hitting tina bloodying her nose
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tina went to the bathroom to clean up
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and bradford said he started to put away
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the fishing gear he had used earlier in
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the day
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bradford said tina came running out of
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the bathroom to continue the argument
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bradford said he had a fish fillet knife
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in his hand
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and in the ensuing scuffle tim admitted
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that he slipped tina's throat
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bradford said he left the apartment
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and when he returned
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tina's lifeless body was in the bathtub
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how she got there was a mystery to him
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bradford said he worked through the
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night to dismember the body
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he flushed her internal organs
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down the toilet it's unbelievable that a
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human
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can do this to another human that he
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loved and fathered a child with
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i cannot grasp that
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bradford admitted using each of the 19
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kitchen knives in the process
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and bradford confirmed using needle nose
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pliers to remove the teeth in an effort
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to prevent a dental identification of
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the remains
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cut into the flesh to begin with is hard
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enough then to cut the head off hold it
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in my arms or my hands
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and pull the teeth out
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it's unbelievable
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bradford carried the bones from the
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apartment in his backpack and in a trash
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bag to a deserted field
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where he dumped them
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later he said
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he went to linden lake
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and threw the skull into the water
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if that skull never appeared
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this case would have never been solved
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it would have never proceeded as a
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homicide i'd just gone down as a missing
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person
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and been in missing persons forever
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townspeople were stunned by the news
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bradford's former boss couldn't believe
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she had worked side by side with a
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cold-blooded killer
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he did
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he did want out of that relationship
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with tina
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and unfortunately he picked a very
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permanent way out of that relationship
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and
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he's also out of his son's
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life as well
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which is a real shame
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tim bradford had no explanation for why
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he killed tina other than to say he
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loved her and was sorry
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tim bradford was convicted of voluntary
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manslaughter and of abuse of a corpse
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he was sentenced to 12 to 25 years in
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prison
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tim bradford acknowledged his guilt in
00:19:50
this exclusive letter he wrote to the
00:19:52
producers of this program
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bradford says quote
00:19:58
i have committed an atrocity in the eyes
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of god and of man and for that i accept
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full responsibility
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my actions belie my true feelings for
00:20:09
tina
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i truly loved her with every fiber of my
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being
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end quote
00:20:16
bradford claims the pain of his own
00:20:19
actions go well beyond those imposed by
00:20:21
his prison sentence
00:20:23
quote
00:20:25
the nightmares i have had since that
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night
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the dreams i have where i wake up with
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tina's name on my lips those will stay
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with me forever
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and they should
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it is a burden i must carry in my heart
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until the end of my days in this case mr
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brantford the way he treated the corpse
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of the person that he supposedly loved
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tells you that they're almost that
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there's almost two parts to this person
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one where he really loves this woman and
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can't deal with the fact of losing her
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and wants to talk about what he did to
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her because he feels guilty about it but
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another side of him that could detach
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himself from all emotion to lean over a
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bathtub and de-flesh
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the body of somebody that you love it's
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just humanly impossible
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if he could do this to somebody that he
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loves what could he do to somebody that
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he doesn't even know or doesn't care
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about
00:21:22
i just hope
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that
00:21:25
through
00:21:26
law enforcement officers and young
00:21:28
detectives maybe seeing this case be
00:21:31
aired that they realize don't give up
00:21:34
you know when you get these little clues
00:21:36
and when you have gut
00:21:38
instincts telling you something's not
00:21:39
right keep on pushing the envelope a
00:21:42
little bit keep on going after the
00:21:44
evidence because that's what happened in
00:21:46
this case and it resulted in us walking
00:21:48
through a field and maybe we got our
00:21:50
shoes all muddy and got a little dirtied
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and everything but
00:21:53
we found the last of her remains and
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were able to put a final conclusion to
00:21:57
this case and i'm very proud
00:21:59
to be a part of that quite frankly
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[Music]
00:22:12
[Music]
00:22:34
you
