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[Music]
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on memorial day weekend in 1984
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someone placed a body in a cardboard box
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and slid it down an embankment
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the cause of death was homicide but
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investigators had no idea when the
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murder occurred
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but science uncovered an important
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detail of the victims last night alive
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would it be enough to identify the
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killer
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[Music]
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so
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[Music]
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on a sunday morning a fisherman enjoying
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the juniata river in central
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pennsylvania saw a large cardboard box
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at the river's edge
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[Music]
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inside was a garbage bag
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he pulled back a piece of plastic a
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little bit and discovered that it was
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the part uh of a person
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didn't know male female
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the torso was later identified as female
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the rest was a mystery
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there was no indicator as to how she met
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her death
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above the box on the side of the hill
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the underbrush had been tamped down
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indicating the box had slid down the
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embankment from the road above
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the box had been slid down after the dew
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had settled and been wiped off by the
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passage of the box
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and that was important to developing a
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timeline in this in this case
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investigators noticed
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a grease stained puncture hole in the
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box
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and in the grease were small pieces of
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styrofoam
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whoever pulled that out of the trunk
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when they were lifting it out caught the
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box on the latch that's what i believe
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it was from
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someone had gone to great lengths to
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conceal the victim's identity by
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removing the head arms and legs
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to do this the killer needed time
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and privacy
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the
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part that didn't make sense to me about
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that was
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if someone could make
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a person's head arms and legs disappear
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from that day until this day they could
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easily make the rest of the body
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disappear so there was some reason for
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the body to
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be discovered
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the body had three large moles and a
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scar on the abdomen
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blue jeans and a belt with the zodiac
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buckle were the only other keys to the
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victim's identity
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at the autopsy the pathologist found
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evidence of insect activity which was
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sent to a forensic entomologist for
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analysis
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an entomologist is an expert in the
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study of insects
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he identified the eggs as those of the
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blue bottle fly and the black blowfly
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both common in many areas of the united
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states
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the weather conditions around the time
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the body was discovered and the stage of
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the egg and larvae development allowed
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the entomologist to provide a rough
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estimate of the time of death
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it was roughly two days
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prior to our finding the torso
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this meant that the victim died sometime
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late friday night or early saturday
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morning
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the autopsy was not able to identify the
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cause of death
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the pathologist found semen present
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during the autopsy but there was no
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evidence of rape and there was no way to
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identify the man since this was before
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dna testing
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police knew that in order to identify
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possible suspects they first had to
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identify the victim
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we said from the very beginning if we if
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we find out who she is we'll find out
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who who killed her
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missing persons reports were checked but
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no one fit the description of the torso
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seven months later she was buried still
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unidentified in an unmarked grave and
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soon forgotten
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one year later a telephone call
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changed that
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one year after jane doe the unidentified
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murder victim was buried in a pauper's
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grave in pennsylvania police received
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what at first was a routine telephone
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call
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a woman told police that her
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ex-sister-in-law edna posey had been
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missing for a year
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she was able to provide police with a
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detailed physical description
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she started explaining how
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retina would say oh i can't wear a
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bikini because of my molds
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this sounded strikingly similar to the
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birthmarks found on the body their jane
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doe of a year earlier
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the caller also said edna posey always
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wore a belt with a zodiac buckle
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edna posey was a 31 year old single
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mother of an 11 year old boy randy
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and she was no stranger to the seedy
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side of life in the nearby city of
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harrisburg
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she was would generally be perceived as
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a [ __ ] unstable relationships
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term problems with alcohol
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and
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not having a stable home environment for
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randy among other things
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edna
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was not your
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i shouldn't say nicest person but was uh
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sort of wild
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edna's wild streak usually involved men
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and alcohol
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she would meet men in bars quickly move
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in with them and just as quickly move
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out only to repeat the same pattern
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again and again
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and she would sometimes disappear for
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months at a time without saying a word
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to
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anyone edna was able to admit that her
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life was out of control and had asked
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donald ruby her son randy's boy scout
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leader if randy could move in with him
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donald ruby had a boy scout group that
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was comprised largely of of boys who had
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problems in their lives most of them
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were in families with
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with mothers only
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the boys had been into trouble and
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donald took this group of boys and
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formed his own troop with it
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randy moved in with donald ruby and his
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wife and lived with them as if he were
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their own son
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42 year old ruby worked as a machinist
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and had no children of his own
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while many applauded him for his efforts
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with troubled youngsters some
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questioned his motives
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well
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it's in the eye of the beholder he did
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some things that that i would winced at
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myself such as the kissing on the lips
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and so forth i i i was never that way
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even with my own children
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edna moved 150 miles away to virginia
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where she took a job as a dental
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technician while trying to get her life
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back on track
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this is edna's co-worker who asked not
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to be identified for fear of her safety
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she was saving her money and sometimes
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in that particular time period she met a
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young soldier in the army band in
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virginia and they became quite closed
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and was going to move in together
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and bring randy down
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to be with them
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and police believe that donald ruby was
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threatened by the loss of randy
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the evidence was that she intended to
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take randy back with her
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we believed and argued that donald did
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not want to give up randy as his
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son
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did this mean that donald ruby had a
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motive to kill edna posey
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ruby told police that edna posey had
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come to their home to visit randy on
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friday night and planned to stay for the
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entire memorial day weekend
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the next day ruby and his wife said they
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took edna shopping and dropped her off
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downtown yeah actually just go to the
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corner
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we'll see you back here like 5 5 30
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right okay
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when they returned later to pick her up
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edna never showed up
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given the lifestyle that edna lived for
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decades you could sell it very easily
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that she just decided to disappear off
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the face of the earth
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but edna's son randy told police a
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slightly different story
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he said he last saw his mother on friday
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night when she kissed him good night i
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love you
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see you tomorrow
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a short time later
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he said he heard a loud noise coming
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from the bedroom where his mother was
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sleeping
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i think he described it as if somebody
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fallen out of bed
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he said when he woke up the next day
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his mother was gone
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if the forensic entomologist was correct
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in his estimate of the time of edna's
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death
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the noise randy heard on friday night
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may have been his mother's murder
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when police searched donald ruby's trunk
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they found the same type of grease that
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was found on the box holding edna
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posey's torso
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and they discovered
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the hole in the box was the same size
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and shape as the trunk latch in ruby's
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car
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prosecutors now believed that donald
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ruby murdered edna posey on friday
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evening
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when donald ruby was charged with the
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murder of edna posey
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police heard some unsettling news about
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his life with edna's son
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randy we had testimony
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that when they would come home from
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camping trips he would physically
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touch
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randy's private parts allegedly to
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feel for ticks
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so yes there was some direct evidence of
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pedophilia
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he was looking for ticks
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but he would examine
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the around the crotch and
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the rear end
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a little bit more than
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that a parent probably would
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would explore
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prosecutors said that was evidence of
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pedophilia
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that ruby had a sexual fixation with
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randy and killed edna to keep her from
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regaining custody of her son
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they said that the grease and styrofoam
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evidence on the box containing edna's
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body though circumstantial tied ruby to
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the crime
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three years after edna posey's
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disappearance
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donald ruby was convicted of her murder
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and sentenced to life in prison
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edna's family and friends believed that
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a cold-blooded killer had gotten justice
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how could you do this
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how could you do this to another person
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i mean it wasn't a like he just shot her
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and you know there was no pain and jesus
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died it was the cruel cruel way that he
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killed her and uh it was just almost
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unbelievable to me that you could do
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that to another human being
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from behind bars donald ruby maintained
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his innocence he said edna had countless
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low-life lovers and any one of them
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could have committed the crime
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his lawyers petitioned the court for a
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retrial
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they claimed there was no proof donald
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ruby was a pedophile and that his rights
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were violated when jurors heard that
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testimony
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ruby's defense attorneys also decided to
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have the forensic evidence
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re-examined
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so they called dr neal haskell one of
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the country's premier forensic
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entomologists
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dr haskell analyzed the eggs and larvae
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from edna posey's body
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flies lay eggs which develop into larvae
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and then into flies
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but in reading the medical examiner's
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report
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dr haskell noticed an inconsistency
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at the autopsy the medical examiner said
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he found eggs
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but not larvae
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and he noticed something else
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at the original autopsy the eggs were
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scraped from the body and placed in a
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petri dish
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the scrapings also contained bits of
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flesh and blood
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this meant that the eggs had three
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additional days to feed on the flesh and
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develop before they were analyzed
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i'm trying to avoid saying the copper is
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screwed up trying to be professional and
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diplomatic
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dr haskell analyzed some of the eggs
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found on edna posey's body
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after three years they were so dry
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they were almost dust
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[Music]
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they were then placed in a saline
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solution to rehydrate them
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dr haskell believes these eggs were on
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edna posey's body for only a short time
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meaning that edna posey was killed
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sometime late saturday night or early
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sunday morning not friday night as the
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original entomologist estimated
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scientific entomological evidence that
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was presented in this case
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uh
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clearly showed that
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the time when the death of this
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individual had taken place
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had to be much shorter than what the
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prosecution was alleging
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the meteorological evidence also pointed
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to early sunday morning
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when the fisherman found the body on
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sunday morning he said there was no due
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or condensation along the path the box
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traveled down the embankment
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and another factor supporting this time
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frame was the autopsy report
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the medical examiner said there was
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motile or moving sperm in edna's body at
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the autopsy
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sperm remains motile in a deceased
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person for only 24 hours after death
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donald ruby had an alibi for all day
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saturday and saturday night
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after six years in prison
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donald ruby was granted a new trial
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and ruby's new defense team had a
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surprise piece of evidence
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new dna testing of the semen found
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during edna posey's autopsy uncovered
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a tantalizing clue
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about her last night alive
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eight years after edna posey's death
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forensic scientists analyzed the semen
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recovered during her autopsy
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this time using new dna technology which
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wasn't available at donald ruby's first
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trial
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in a shocking development
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dna testing revealed
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there was semen from three different men
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and donald ruby's dna
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was not among them
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the autopsy notes revealed that the
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semen contained multiple sperm at the
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time of the autopsy
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sperm remained motile in a dead person
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for only 24 hours
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we had
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at least three people
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by the evidence
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who were with her
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and had sex with her
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less than 24 hours
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before her body was discovered we were
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able to exploit that in the trial by
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planting the suggestion that that edna
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true to form had
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gotten on the wild side when she was
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dropped off in middletown
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by don
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at donald ruby's second trial
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his defense was the same as the first
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trial
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that he and his wife dropped edna off on
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saturday morning to go shopping
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but this time
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new forensic evidence helped bolster his
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story
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his attorneys implied that one or more
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of the unidentified men who had sex with
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her on saturday night may have been the
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killer
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oh that was clearly defense insinuation
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the defense clearly insinuated
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that somebody that edna was picked up by
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might have committed this
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murder the other new piece of forensic
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evidence was dr haskell's testimony with
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his view
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that the original time of death was
00:18:49
inaccurate
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he testified that improper preservation
00:18:54
of the entomological evidence caused an
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inaccurate estimation of the time of
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death
00:19:01
he told the jury that edna posey died
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late saturday night or early sunday
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morning not on friday night as
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originally claimed
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further helping ruby's case was edna's
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son randy
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at the original trial randy said he
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heard a loud thump from his mother's
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bedroom late on friday night
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but eight years later randy now 21 years
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old recalled nothing about that
00:19:32
randy clearly did not remember hearing a
00:19:35
thump
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we asked him about it he said he had no
00:19:38
independent recollection of it
00:19:40
and thus we did not have the thump in
00:19:42
the night to use his testimony
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the defense also claimed that the hole
00:19:49
in the carton carrying edna's body could
00:19:51
have been made by thousands of vehicles
00:19:54
with the same type of hood latch and
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grease as was in ruby's car
00:20:00
after a nine-day trial and six hours of
00:20:03
deliberation
00:20:04
the jury found donald ruby not guilty
00:20:08
a verdict which baffled edna's friends
00:20:11
and family
00:20:13
just a total state of shock they could
00:20:15
not believe this they'd proven a case
00:20:17
and then to have it thrown out like that
00:20:19
and a murderer walking the streets i
00:20:22
think it was a concern to a lot of
00:20:23
people in the air especially people who
00:20:25
had testified against him
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just some ducks along the highway that
00:20:31
like i said you learn to appreciate
00:20:32
things better when you lose them you
00:20:34
don't have them for a while
00:20:36
you learn through experience never try
00:20:39
to figure out a jury
00:20:41
never
00:20:42
never try to figure out a jury
00:20:45
and
00:20:46
i don't know what the jury thought but
00:20:49
they made their decision and
00:20:51
i'll live with it
00:20:54
and the case while officially closed
00:20:57
remains open in the minds of those
00:21:00
involved
00:21:02
who should be scared of mr ruby
00:21:05
virtually anyone with children
00:21:09
i don't propose to be an expert in
00:21:11
pedophilia
00:21:13
but certainly
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be my uh
00:21:17
lay opinion the leopard doesn't change
00:21:19
its spots
00:21:20
i'm convinced that don did not
00:21:23
kill edna he might have had reason to
00:21:25
but he did not do it
00:21:27
who did kill her i i have no clue i i
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just don't i know it's not don
00:21:32
donald ruby left town soon after the
00:21:35
trial
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and no one not even his own lawyers know
00:21:39
where he is today
00:21:42
i have had a letter uh that he sent me
00:21:46
later that year
00:21:48
it basically thanked me for testifying
00:21:51
on his behalf and that
00:21:53
he was going to have a certain places in
00:21:55
his heart
00:21:56
for the welfare of the flies in the
00:21:59
future
00:22:03
[Music]
00:22:13
[Music]
00:22:19
[Music]
00:22:26
[Music]
00:22:35
you
