00:00:17
NARRATOR: Human remains were
found in an isolated field, and the family wonders
if this is all that's
00:00:22
left of their 14-year-old
daughter who mysteriously disappeared six years earlier.
00:00:28
They say it's a parent's worst
nightmare, and it certainly is. NARRATOR: Now it's up to
forensic anthropologist,
00:00:33
Dr. Jerry Melbye to find out
exactly how this young person met such an untimely end.
00:00:39
There's something
so sad about someone whose life is cut so short. NARRATOR: Then, a homicide
case so gruesome it shocks
00:00:49
even hardened detectives-- You get somebody that's
mutilating somebody-- what kind of monster
are you dealing with?
00:00:55
NARRATOR: With only a
torso, can Dr. Beth Murray find clues to help solve
this heinous crime?
00:01:01
My work will either
make or break the case. [music playing] NARRATOR: It's a sunny
morning in Manvers, Ontario,
00:01:46
70 miles northeast of Toronto. A local farmer,
John Smith, is busy fixing a fence in his
field when he spots
00:01:54
something under the leaves. As he comes closer, he realizes
that it's a human skull.
00:02:03
Shocked, he immediately
calls the police. Detective Herb Curwain
rushes to the scene.
00:02:09
What he finds there confirms
his worst suspicions, a completely skeletonized
torso surrounded
00:02:15
by scattered bone fragments
and scraps of clothing. The remains were scattered
over roughly 70 square meters.
00:02:26
POLICE OFFICER (ON
RADIO): [inaudible] Most of it is gone. The animal interaction
was quite extensive.
00:02:33
Quite a bit of the clothing
was in and near the area. NARRATOR: Investigators must
now photograph, document,
00:02:43
and collect every single bone. Such detailed work requires
a specialist, a specialist
00:02:49
in human remains,
and Detective Curwain knows just the man,
forensic anthropologist
00:02:56
Dr. Jerry Melbye from Texas
State University, San Marcos. My responsibility is
to speak for the dead.
00:03:07
I suppose we are bone
whisperers in the sense that we let the bones speak. Sometimes you have to listen
carefully but, in the end,
00:03:21
we are speaking for the victim. NARRATOR: Dr. Melbye is
determined to collect every last piece of evidence.
00:03:32
Even the smallest bone
fragment or scrap of clothing can make or break
a forensic case.
00:03:38
It's crucial to find as much
as you can of the skeleton, because you don't know where
the damage is that might have
00:03:44
been done by a perpetrator. NARRATOR: But the
biggest mystery of all, who the
victim is, might not
00:03:52
be such a mystery after all. Six years ago, on
April 16th, 1990, a 14-year-old girl
named Julie Stanton
00:04:04
vanished without a
trace in the same area. Now Detective Curwain
believes that she
00:04:09
may finally have been found. Finding the remains
in the region-- it was a quick
conclusion that it
00:04:15
could possibly have been Julie. NARRATOR: Julie
Stanton was a much loved 14-year-old, the
youngest of three children.
00:04:23
She was an honor student
and one of the most popular girls at her school. Julie was our youngest
child, our baby.
00:04:31
She was quite tall for her
age, blond hair, pretty-- really pretty. She had her whole
life ahead of her.
00:04:38
Julie was a very thoughtful
person, very fun loving. I loved the fact that
she cared about people.
00:04:46
Her laugh is something I
remember and certainly miss. NARRATOR: From the
beginning, investigators
00:04:55
treated her disappearance
as suspicious. She did not fit the typical
runaway teenager profile.
00:05:00
She had close
friends that she loved. She had no problems
within the family. There was no reason for Julie
to leave home, none whatsoever.
00:05:11
I knew something was wrong. She was 14 years old. She just dropped off the
face of earth that day.
00:05:17
NARRATOR: At approximately
2:00 PM, on April 16th, 1990, an eyewitness saw Julie
get into a gray car
00:05:25
and drive off with
a bearded older man. That's last time that
Julie is seen alive.
00:05:31
NARRATOR: Her family
and investigators eventually became convinced
that Julie had been murdered.
00:05:37
It was a long
time before I could even admit that she was dead. You always have that hope.
00:05:44
But, as time went on, we
knew she wasn't coming back. Deep down, you know
there's now coming back.
00:05:51
If Julie was out there, she
would have got in touch. NARRATOR: Dr. Melbye is already
familiar with the name Julie
00:06:01
Stanton. Her tragic story is
known to everyone in this small community. And, although he never met
her, this missing 14-year-old
00:06:09
did affect him deeply. There's something
so sad about someone whose life is cut so short.
00:06:17
NARRATOR: For the
past six years, Dr. Melbye has helped organize
searches for Julie's body.
00:06:23
I never gave up
searching for Julie. I've had two daughters
myself and three sons,
00:06:29
and I don't think
there's anything worse than losing a child. NARRATOR: Now that a collection
of unidentified human remains
00:06:36
has been discovered,
Julie's family is convinced that their
daughter has finally been found.
00:06:42
I knew. I just got that feeling
that this is Julie. NARRATOR: In a lucky break,
one of the most important
00:06:49
bones used in
identification is retrieved from the crime scene-- the skull-- and the
skull is intact,
00:06:56
including all of its teeth. Since we had dental
records, the best avenue was to try to match them up.
00:07:02
NARRATOR: The coroner quickly
compares the skull's teeth to Julie Stanton's dental records.
00:07:08
He looks for any
distinguishing features that would help link
this body to Julie,
00:07:12
such as fillings and cavities. It's a perfect match. I couldn't believe that
this had actually happened.
00:07:21
We had finally located Julie. It was a shock but, at the
same time, it was a relief.
00:07:25
We knew now. We could at least give
her a decent burial. NARRATOR: But, ironically,
the discovery of Julie's body
00:07:32
may actually jeopardize
her murder case, a case that has an
unexpected twist. We had the killer
in jail already.
00:07:41
NARRATOR: The man convicted of
killing Julie Stanton is Peter Stark, a 47-year-old man that
neighbors described as strange
00:07:48
and withdrawn. He didn't interact
with a lot of people. He never maintained
any gainful employment
00:07:54
much of his adult life. Julie met Peter Stark
through his daughter Kim Stark. NARRATOR: In fact, Julie
and Kim were close friends,
00:08:03
and investigators
speculate that Peter Stark used their friendship as
a way of gaining Julie's trust.
00:08:10
Peter Stark had Julie
isolated in his mind, and it was starting to become
some sort of an obsession.
00:08:19
NARRATOR: And investigators
believe Peter Stark finally acted on that obsession.
00:08:24
I'm convinced,
100%, that this man was responsible for
the abduction of Julie. NARRATOR: On October
6th, 1994, Stark was put
00:08:34
on trial for Julie's murder. According to the prosecution,
Stark lured the 14-year-old
00:08:40
into his car, drugged
her, raped her, and then killed her with an ax. They say it's a parent's worst
nightmare, and it certainly is.
00:08:51
NARRATOR: Remarkably,
despite the absence of a body or of a crime scene, Peter
Stark was successfully convicted
00:08:57
of first degree murder. This is the first time
in the history of Canada that there was a conviction
of first degree murder
00:09:06
without a body or a crime scene. NARRATOR: Ironically, the
discovery of Julie's remains
00:09:12
now puts that
conviction in jeopardy. Stark and his attorneys waste
no time in filing an appeal.
00:09:20
They hope to use
any new evidence to their advantage to overturn
Stark's murder conviction.
00:09:26
If the appeal went
through, we could have a first degree murder
conviction that was overturned.
00:09:32
NARRATOR: If the evidence
found at the crime scene isn't consistent with
the theory the prosecutor
00:09:37
presented at trial, a dangerous
killer could be set free. It was crucial
that we not have
00:09:44
evidence that was
inconsistent with the theory that we had had. NARRATOR: But six long years
have elapsed since Julie was
00:09:52
murdered, and
Detective Curwain is under no illusions about the
difficulties that lie ahead.
00:09:58
I've dealt with
remains in the past. I know that, that amount
of years, evidence
00:10:02
is going to be lost
through the course of time, weather, animal interaction. These are all factors I know
are going to come into play.
00:10:10
NARRATOR: Crown
attorney John Scott needs Dr. Melbye to answer
two crucial questions.
00:10:15
Was Julie attacked with an
ax, as the prosecution stated, and was she sexually assaulted?
00:10:21
If Dr. Melbye's forensic
findings don't match the prosecutor's scenario,
Peter Stark will win his appeal,
00:10:28
and the prosecution will have
to retry Stark for Julie's murder all over again. It just started
all over again--
00:10:37
the fear, knowing that we
have to go through this again. I have done
retrials on homicides.
00:10:43
It's terrible the first time. It is a horror the second time. NARRATOR: Coming up, Dr. Melbye
begins a race against time
00:10:57
to prove the prosecution right,
but the forensic evidence he uncovers may not
be enough to keep
00:11:03
a convicted killer behind bars. What are we going
to find there? Is it going to assist us in
maintaining the conviction?
00:11:10
NARRATOR: And later, the
quiet of a sunny afternoon is shattered by a
grisly discovery.
00:11:16
You could see that somebody
had severed these limbs off. All the extremities
had been removed.
00:11:20
NARRATOR: When "Skeleton
Stories" returns-- Now that the remains
of a 14-year-old girl
00:11:38
have been found six
years after her death, Dr. Melbye faces one
of the most critical
00:11:43
challenges of his career. I wanted to look for
any evidence that might reveal how Julie Stanton died.
00:11:51
NARRATOR: Peter Stark was
convicted 18 months earlier for murdering this
14-year-old girl
00:11:55
and has been in jail since then. But, if Dr. Melbye cannot find
evidence on Julie's remains
00:12:02
to support the prosecutor's
charges against Peter Stark, he may go free. We knew in our hearts
Peter Stark was guilty,
00:12:09
but Dr. Melbye was the one
that was going to either prove or disprove his guilt.
00:12:20
NARRATOR: As he begins
the examination, Dr. Melbye must prepare
himself emotionally.
00:12:26
Looking at Julie's bones,
I'm painfully aware that she is but a child of 14. I felt very sad--
00:12:35
sad for her and
sad for her family. NARRATOR: But Dr. Melbye
knows that the only way
00:12:40
to help Julie now
is to think not as a parent but as a scientist. I had to put those
emotions on my little shelf,
00:12:49
and I could think
about them later. NARRATOR: Investigators
had one pressing question.
00:12:54
We asked Dr. Melbye-- was there evidence
that the victim had been attacked with an ax?
00:13:00
NARRATOR: If Dr. Melbye finds
ax marks on Julie's bones, this would corroborate
information
00:13:05
that Peter Stark allegedly
revealed to a fellow inmate. Stark had admitted to him to
chopping Julie up with an ax.
00:13:13
NARRATOR: But no actual
ax was ever found. Now, with the discovery
of Julie's remains,
00:13:18
the prosecution's theory
will be put to the test. First, Dr. Melbye focuses on
Julie's skull, a bone that
00:13:26
often show signs of
trauma, but he is quickly disappointed by what he sees-- or doesn't see.
00:13:33
I examined the skull
looking for ax marks, and I found nothing. NARRATOR: An examination of
the rest of Julie's skeleton
00:13:40
also yields no clues. The evidence for an
ax simply is not here. NARRATOR: But there is more
to this than meets the eye.
00:13:47
The absence of
ax marks does not mean that they weren't there. NARRATOR: Not only was 40% of
the skeleton missing, including
00:13:56
many long bones from
the legs and torso, but the remains had been
tampered with by wild animals
00:14:01
during the
decomposition process. Animals are naturally
attracted to any place where there is blood.
00:14:08
If she did have any wounds,
this would be a natural place for animals to start chewing.
00:14:15
NARRATOR: And, sure enough, Dr.
Melbye finds evidence of animal bite marks on Julie's bodies.
00:14:21
Here, evidence of chewing-- we can see some
gnawing marks on there. NARRATOR: It is precisely
this gnawing of the bone that
00:14:29
makes it impossible
for Dr. Melbye to make an accurate
determination. It's entirely possible that
there might have been ax marks
00:14:37
someplace on that
skeleton, but they would have been the first to
be eaten away by scavengers.
00:14:46
NARRATOR: This is a major blow
to the prosecution's case. Their theory that
Peter Stark killed
00:14:51
Julie with an ax
cannot be supported by any forensic evidence. Only one hope remains in
fighting Stark's appeal.
00:15:00
The prosecution turns
to Dr. Melbye once again with one last crucial question. Was Julie Stanton sexually
assaulted by Peter Stark?
00:15:09
If Dr. Melbye is able to uncover
evidence that Stark raped Julie before she was killed, that
will be enough to uphold
00:15:16
his guilty verdict. But it will also be close
to impossible to prove. That amount of years--
00:15:22
evidence is going to be lost. NARRATOR: And, without
that forensic proof, Peter Stark could go free.
00:15:28
Peter Stark is
a dangerous man. We know we didn't want
to make any mistakes. NARRATOR: Coming
up, Dr. Melbye will
00:15:37
have to call on all
his forensic expertise to unlock the secret
of these bones. But what he finds,
or doesn't find,
00:15:44
may unravel the
prosecution's case. It was a worry
that, potentially, the case could be overturned,
and Peter Stark might go free.
00:15:54
NARRATOR: And later,
Dr. Beth Murray faces one of her
greatest challenges in a case where even
the most basic question
00:16:01
proved to be a puzzle. From the outside
of the body, it wasn't even obvious whether
this was a man or a woman.
00:16:07
NARRATOR: When "Skeleton
Stories" returns-- The prosecution is
counting on Dr. Melbye
00:16:26
to find proof that Julie
Stanton was sexually assaulted before she was murdered.
00:16:31
Could we establish
whether or not there was evidence of a sexual assault? NARRATOR: Typically,
investigators search
00:16:37
for evidence of DNA, skin under
the nails, hair, even semen. But, because Julie's remains
have been decomposing for so
00:16:45
long, there is little
chance this type of evidence still exists. Dr. Melbye must rely on his 30
years of forensic experience
00:16:54
in an attempt to reconstruct
what exactly happened to Julie on the day of her death.
00:17:03
He begins by
examining what is left of Julie's clothing and one
piece in particular, her shirt.
00:17:09
What was interesting about the
shirt was that it was buttoned, and all of the chest bones
were inside the shirt.
00:17:18
Now, the conclusion
here is simple. She had decomposed
with that shirt on. NARRATOR: But another
piece of Julie's clothing
00:17:24
tells a very different story. A pair of underwear was also
found at the crime scene.
00:17:30
But, unlike the
shirt, the underwear does not contain any bones. In fact, the bones
that one would normally
00:17:37
expect to find inside,
the thigh bone and pelvis, are located 40 feet
away from the underwear.
00:17:44
This raises a
disturbing question. How did the underwear get
to that position 40 feet away?
00:17:51
Was it dragged there
and ripped by animals? NARRATOR: Dr. Melbye examines
the underwear for evidence
00:17:57
of animal tampering. The underwear was in
very good condition, considering it had been
out there six years.
00:18:03
NARRATOR: Dr. Melbye finds
no sign of animal activity. The underwear was intact.
00:18:09
NARRATOR: Next, he takes another
look at the photos of the crime scene to study the exact
position of Julie's hip bones
00:18:15
when she was discovered. As he studies the
photos, he makes another startling discovery.
00:18:21
What we have here
is an articulated hip. NARRATOR: This reveals that
Julie's thigh bone and hip are
00:18:29
still connected,
just as they would have been when Julie was alive. This is the original
position of the body,
00:18:36
with these two bones
in articulation. NARRATOR: This
seemingly small finding is actually a major
breakthrough in the case.
00:18:45
There is only one conclusion. She had decomposed
without the underwear on. Someone had taken them off.
00:18:52
NARRATOR: The fact that
Julie's shirt was left on, and only her underwear
and pants were taken off,
00:18:58
leaves Dr. Melbye
with little doubt about the killer's intentions. It's very clear to me that
this has been a sexual attack.
00:19:06
NARRATOR: This is the
supporting evidence authorities have been waiting for. Dr. Melbye was able to give us
a key, important part, the fact
00:19:13
that the sexual assault
occurred, six years after Julie was placed there. NARRATOR: Thanks to Dr.
Melbye, the prosecution now
00:19:21
feels they have a key
piece of physical evidence to fight Peter Stark's
appeal in court.
00:19:28
Stark's appeal is
heard more than five years after he was found guilty
of murdering Julie Stanton.
00:19:34
The appeal is heard by
three expert judges. Relying on Dr.
Melbye's findings, the authorities are now able to
represent their version of what
00:19:44
happened to Julie Stanton on the
afternoon of April 16th, 1990. According to the
prosecution, Julie Stanton
00:19:58
was waiting by the
side of the road when Peter stark
pulls up alongside her and lures her into his car.
00:20:04
MAN: You need a ride? Sure. He was acting out his
fantasy right there. NARRATOR: An eyewitness
sees Julie get into the car
00:20:13
and drive away. At that point, Stark possibly
offers her a drink laced with a sedative to subdue her.
00:20:21
MAN: You just relax. NARRATOR: He then drives
Julie to a secluded location and carries her from
the car into a field.
00:20:28
There, he acted out the final
step of his sexual fantasy by raping her. NARRATOR: During the rape, Peter
Stark removes Julie's underwear
00:20:38
and tosses it aside. Then, after taking
advantage of her, Peter Stark puts an
end to Julie's life,
00:20:45
possibly with an ax. Stark then abandons
Julie's body in the field to slowly decompose.
00:20:54
Over the next six years,
scavengers scatter and chew on the remains, destroying
all evidence of the ax
00:21:00
marks likely left on her bones. But her hip area is
left undisturbed. There she lies dead
until her remains
00:21:09
are discovered by a farmer. She had so much to
provide to her community-- such a senseless, completely
unnecessary crime.
00:21:21
NARRATOR: After three
weeks of deliberation, the judges issue their ruling. Peter Stark's appeal is denied.
00:21:30
The three judges
found that the evidence did not warrant an appeal
be granted for a new trial.
00:21:36
NARRATOR: The original
verdict of first degree murder is upheld. Peter Stark is
currently serving out
00:21:41
the remainder of
his life sentence in Kingston Penitentiary. I was just so happy with
the result of the verdict,
00:21:48
and I know that
justice was served. Without Dr. Melbye's
findings, we probably would
00:21:53
have been facing a new trial. NARRATOR: And, for
Dr. Melbye, there is the satisfaction
of knowing that he
00:21:59
helped solve a
mystery that haunted his community for six years. I've tried to keep Julie
alive in the sense of the future
00:22:09
and what we can learn. I want some small good to
come from this terrible thing. NARRATOR: And next--
00:22:19
Dr. Beth Murray refuses
to let her emotions get the best of her
on one of the toughest
00:22:24
cases of her career. Emotions will cloud
my scientific judgment, and I don't want
to allow that in.
00:22:30
NARRATOR: That's next
on "Skeleton Stories." It's a sunny afternoon in
May in eastern Minnesota,
00:23:06
and two friends are biking
along the Mississippi River. But their carefree
ride suddenly turns
00:23:14
macabre when they spot
something in the debris along the riverbank. It appears to be a
mass of rotting flesh.
00:23:24
Immediately, they
call the police. When Lieutenant Anthony
Dwyer arrives at the scene,
00:23:31
he is shocked by what he sees, a
human torso in the final stages of decomposition.
00:23:37
There is little doubt that he
has a murderer on his hands. I'm used to seeing a
lot of homicide scenes,
00:23:43
but this was different. You could see that somebody
had severed these limbs off.
00:23:46
All the extremities
had been removed. NARRATOR: Lieutenant
Dwyer quickly grasps the grim implications.
00:23:53
You've got
somebody in your area that's mutilating somebody. What kind of monster are
you dealing with that can
00:23:58
perform those types of acts? NARRATOR: With just
this torso to go on, Lieutenant Dwyer must figure
out who the victim is, who
00:24:05
dismembered the body, and why. But he can't do it alone. He needs the help of an
expert who can read the clues
00:24:14
hidden within human remains. Forensic anthropologist
Dr. Beth Murray of the College of Mount
St. Joseph in Cincinnati
00:24:22
has helped solve some of
the county's toughest cases. I want Beth Murray to
tell me everything she
00:24:27
possibly can about this body. As a forensic
anthropologist, it's my job to speak
for people who can
00:24:37
no longer speak for themselves. There aren't a lot of people
that can take bones and breathe
00:24:43
life back into them. I can coax the clues
out of the last evidence they have to give.
00:24:57
NARRATOR: Dr. Murray arrives
at the county coroner's office, where she will join the coroner
in an examination of the torso.
00:25:04
There's not a lot
of things in your life that prepare you to
walk into the morgue
00:25:09
and see a torso that's been
intentionally dismembered. NARRATOR: But
years of experience
00:25:14
have helped Dr. Murray develop
ways to cope with the tragedies she faces daily. I try to step back from
that and remain objective,
00:25:23
because emotions will cloud my
scientific judgment, or could, and I don't want
to allow that in.
00:25:29
I don't want to know about
this person and their humanity. My job is to know about this
person and their biology.
00:25:37
Any idea if it's a male or a-- NARRATOR: Dr. Murray's
first order of business is to try to determine
the victim's sex, age,
00:25:44
and ethnicity. I knew there were
going to be a number of challenges in this case.
00:25:50
There's only so much you
can tell from a torso. NARRATOR: Especially one that's
so extensively decomposed
00:25:56
and bloated from prolonged
immersion in the water-- DR. MURRAY: Any idea how
long it's been in the river?
00:26:02
Hard to say-- The remains were just a mass. You could see
truncated ends where the head had been removed, where
the limbs had been removed.
00:26:14
NARRATOR: Dr. Murray
studies the torso with the trained eye
of a forensic scientist
00:26:18
for clues to its sex. There was very little,
if any, breast development, and there wasn't any
external genitalia present.
00:26:27
From the outside, it
does appear to be a male. NARRATOR: But speculation
alone is not enough.
00:26:34
There is only one place left
to look for confirmation, inside the torso itself. As the coroner cuts
open the body cavity,
00:26:43
the answer is
immediately apparent. The torso contains
a uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes, the
reproductive organs of a woman.
00:26:54
Despite the lack of
female external appearance, this was in fact a female. NARRATOR: Next, Dr. Murray feels
the victim's spine for clues
00:27:02
to her age. You should be able to feel the
individual bones of the spine and whether they're smooth,
as in the case of a younger
00:27:11
person, or whether those
edges are very rough, as in a person who's older. NARRATOR: The edges of
an older person's spine
00:27:18
are rough because, over
time, the constant wear and tear on the
bones caused them
00:27:23
to lose their smooth surface. I can feel sharp
projections where there's some bony development.
00:27:30
I don't think this
is a young person. I think this is a person
approaching middle age.
00:27:36
NARRATOR: Next, Dr.
Murray determines the victim's ethnicity. There's a piece of skin that--
00:27:41
because it's relatively
pink in appearance, this could be a Caucasian. NARRATOR: Dr. Murray
is now ready to share
00:27:49
her preliminary conclusions
with investigators. I was able to tell them
that it was a tall female that
00:27:56
had little to no
breast development, but she was not a child. NARRATOR: Armed with Dr.
Murray's detailed description,
00:28:03
Lieutenant Dwyer turned
to the police department's missing persons reports. There was only one
person that matched
00:28:09
what Beth was telling me was
the most probable candidate. NARRATOR: This
probable candidate
00:28:14
is 34-year-old Lindsay Everett,
who had been reported missing by her sister a month earlier.
00:28:19
According to family and
friends, Lindsay had a sweet and generous nature. She was just a very
pleasant woman, attractive,
00:28:27
and just a warm smile. NARRATOR: But life hadn't
always treated Lindsay kindly. She had had a drug
problem of and on,
00:28:35
and she had really
struggled with that. NARRATOR: To finance
her drug addiction,
00:28:39
she turned to prostitution. Recently, she had been working
hard to break free of both
00:28:44
the drugs and the prostitution. Then, suddenly, she disappeared. Her family now wants to know
if this dismembered torso
00:28:55
is indeed Lindsay. To find out for sure, DNA
from the torso's muscle tissue is matched to a blood sample
from Lindsay's mother.
00:29:05
One week later, they
have the results. The DNA confirmed that this
was in fact Lindsay Everett.
00:29:12
NARRATOR: Dr. Murray and
the homicide investigators are flush with
their first success,
00:29:18
but the case is far from solved. Investigators still need to
know how exactly Lindsay died
00:29:25
and who killed her. Dr. Murray faces a daunting
challenge answering these questions with
just this bloated torso,
00:29:35
but she's determined to
find justice for Lindsay and closure for her family. Coming up, investigators
close in on a possible lead.
00:29:49
When you rip up all your
carpet for really no reason, and you paint a basement
that doesn't need painting,
00:29:54
it leads one to believe
that there's something up. NARRATOR: Will they find
enough to prove murder
00:29:59
when "Skeleton Stories" returns? Forensic anthropologist
Dr. Beth Murray is keen to examine
the bones of Lindsay
00:30:20
Everett's dismembered
torso for clues that might point to her killer. She immediately sends
the torso to her lab
00:30:28
where she uses warm water
to gently remove soft tissue and muscle from the bone.
00:30:35
Once the remains are
completely clean, Dr. Murray focuses
on the severed ends of the bones, where
Lindsay's killer
00:30:42
removed her head and limbs. The cut surfaces of the bone
provide valuable information
00:30:48
as to what kind of tool was
used in the dismemberment. NARRATOR: If Dr. Murray
can identify the tool,
00:30:54
it could be a huge lead for
investigators on the case. As she studies the cut
ends, her trained eye
00:31:00
quickly picks up
subtle signs hidden in the surface of the bone. What I do notice is
that there's a clean edge.
00:31:08
NARRATOR: The smooth
surface of the cut bone provides Dr. Murray
with an invaluable clue.
00:31:14
It suggested that each
cutting event for each limb was a single cutting event. NARRATOR: That means that the
tool used to dismember Lindsay
00:31:22
was powerful enough to
cut through bone in one single, fluid action. Everything I see here
suggests that Lindsay was
00:31:30
dismembered with a power saw. NARRATOR: As Dr. Murray
continues her examination,
00:31:38
Lieutenant Dwyer probes
deeper into Lindsay's life. We knew that we needed
to look at anybody
00:31:43
she was associated with. NARRATOR: One name in
particular comes up repeatedly, Michael Walter.
00:31:49
People came forward and they
said, look, he knows this girl. They've been seen together.
00:31:53
NARRATOR: And Walter is already
well known to authorities. He had several arrests.
00:31:58
He was involved in
some drug dealing. He also had a violence
towards women, just an all around bad guy.
00:32:05
NARRATOR: Investigators believe
that Michael Walker may have sold drugs to
Lindsay, but they have
00:32:09
no tangible evidence against
him, so this lead goes cold. Then, two weeks
later, police receive
00:32:18
a tip from an anonymous caller. It was very vague,
but we had information that body parts were being
stored at this one girl's house
00:32:26
and that her brother had
actually killed somebody. NARRATOR: As it turns
out, the brother is
00:32:31
none other than Michael Walter. And, as far fetched
as that sound, we had to run that lead down.
00:32:37
NARRATOR: Immediately,
Lieutenant Dwyer drives to Walter's sister's
house, where the body
00:32:41
parts are said to be stored. He is met at the door by
Walter's sister and mother.
00:32:47
Both women insist that
the story is ludicrous, but Lieutenant Dwyer finds the
sister's behavior suspicious.
00:32:53
She was very nervous. There was a lot of things that
really started to heighten our curiosity that there may
be more to this than what
00:32:59
we originally thought. NARRATOR: But, when
they searched the garage where the body parts
are supposedly located,
00:33:05
they find nothing. Despite this setback,
police continued to uncover circumstantial
evidence against Walter.
00:33:13
Neighbors describe Walter's
behavior over the past month as suspicious. He was tearing up his carpet.
00:33:19
He bought a large
amount of paint so he was trying to
do some painting. NARRATOR: And,
finally, a witness
00:33:24
swears that she saw a power
saw in Walter's living room. And that was enough
for us to get a search
00:33:30
warrant to go inside
Michael's house and search for forensic evidence. NARRATOR: On July
5th, 1995, police
00:33:36
scour Michael Walter's house. They found that
the entire basement, walls and floor of
the basement, had
00:33:43
been painted, freshly painted. Some of the paint was still wet. NARRATOR: Investigators
spray the entire room
00:33:49
with luminol, a
chemical that reacts to the iron contained in blood. When illuminated by a black
light, blood traces will glow.
00:33:59
They found that
there was blood on the floor of the basement,
and that's probably why
00:34:04
the basement had been painted. NARRATOR: Lieutenant Dwyer
orders another DNA test
00:34:08
to see if the blood
in Walter's house matches Lindsay Everett's. He also turns Walter's
house inside out
00:34:15
but fails to find a power saw
or the missing body parts. Then, while Lieutenant Dwyer
waits for the DNA results,
00:34:23
he pulls Walter in
for questioning. He was very calm,
cool, and collected. Keeps asking questions
about someone I don't know.
00:34:30
He claimed no knowledge of
anything to do with a murder. He denied knowing
Lindsay Everett.
00:34:36
Never met her,
never saw her before-- so, we've got
blood on his walls, and he's just saying, hey,
probably off my knuckles.
00:34:41
I know it's just not Lindsay's. NARRATOR: And, without
any hard evidence to link Walter to the
murder, Lieutenant Dwyer
00:34:48
must let him go. My gut instinct is I'm
talking to the guy that brutally murdered
and cut up a woman,
00:34:55
and I have to let him go. That's one of the worst feelings
that you could ever have.
00:35:04
NARRATOR: After an
anxious week, the DNA test finally comes back. The bloodstains in Walter's
basement are a perfect
00:35:11
match to Lindsay Everett's. This is a major
breakthrough in the case. We can at least put
her inside that house,
00:35:17
and we can put her
bleeding inside that house, so we're heading in
the right direction.
00:35:21
NARRATOR: But prosecutor Dan
Eichel needs concrete proof that Walter was responsible
for Lindsay's death
00:35:27
before he will bring
the case to trial. We do not have a confession. We do not have a cause of death.
00:35:32
There is not sufficient
evidence to make an arrest. NARRATOR: In his hunt
for more evidence,
00:35:38
Lieutenant Dwyer questions
Walter's sister again. After a long interrogation,
she begins to break down.
00:35:44
Eventually, she
confesses to covering up her brother's crime. She was able to tell us that
her brother Walter had actually
00:35:52
murdered this person,
and he needed their help in disposing of the parts. She told us that her and her
mother disposed of body parts
00:35:59
in two different graves. [inaudible]. She cooperated and
took the police exactly
00:36:04
where the remains were buried. NARRATOR: Walter
sister leads Lieutenant Dwyer to the first grave
site, where he begins to dig.
00:36:11
Within minutes,
he sees empty eye sockets staring back at him. It's a human skull.
00:36:19
He immediately calls Dr. Murray. When she's on the
scene, she's in charge. She's the one running the show.
00:36:24
What she says goes. Very carefully, I
excavated around the skull and removed it, along with
as much soil as I could,
00:36:35
and placed it in a container. The reason for doing
that is to preserve any evidence that's immediately
in and around the skull.
00:36:43
NARRATOR: Using this process
of meticulous excavation, Dr. Murray recovers all
the missing body parts.
00:36:50
Everything was matched
up to Lindsay Everett by DNA analysis. NARRATOR: The discovery of
Lindsay's missing remains
00:36:56
has the potential to
break this case wide open, but only if Dr. Murray can read
the secrets they might hold.
00:37:03
Best case scenario-- that
skull or those limbs are going to provide
some kind of evidence
00:37:08
of cause or manner of death. NARRATOR: For this
case to go to trial, prosecutors are
counting on Dr. Murray
00:37:14
to prove that Walter murdered
Lindsay and then dismembered her to cover up his crime.
00:37:20
If not, a suspected murderer
will remain at large. Michael Walter-- he's
a dangerous person.
00:37:26
You don't want to
let a guy like that go. We need a cause of
death to prosecute this guy for homicide.
00:37:36
NARRATOR: Coming up, Dr.
Murray's findings are challenged in a court of law. Will her testimony stand
up to the defense's attack?
00:37:44
This is when it
really matters. This is when my work will
either make or break the case.
00:37:52
NARRATOR: When "Skeleton
Stories" returns-- Forensic anthropologist
Dr. Beth Murray
00:38:10
is examining the remains
of 34-year-old Lindsay Everett, recently excavated
from their shallow grave.
00:38:18
Dr. Murray and investigators
hope these bones will yield the forensic evidence needed
to charge suspect Michael
00:38:24
Walter with Lindsay's murder. He knows what he did. He's just waiting
for us to piece it
00:38:29
together and hoping we don't. NARRATOR: Dr. Murray
begins by carefully washing the residual soil
off of Lindsay's skull.
00:38:40
There's a lot more going on
here than I originally thought. Take a look at this.
00:38:45
I can begin to see
that there's a lot of damage to the facial region. I think the nasal region,
at least one blow--
00:38:52
it appeared as though a lot of
the facial bones were broken. NARRATOR: Very quickly, a clear
pattern of injuries emerges.
00:38:59
I can see at least
four different blows, one to the left eye [inaudible],
one to the left side
00:39:05
of the skull, behind
the ear, and another one to the upper part of the jaw. I can't imagine any kind
of accident that could
00:39:13
cause fractures like this. Lindsay was
definitely bludgeoned. NARRATOR: Then Dr. Murray makes
one last chilling discovery.
00:39:22
Looks like a couple pieces
got actually pushed in there. NARRATOR: The brute
force of the blows
00:39:26
causes shards of
shattered bone to be pushed into the brain itself. Causing bleeding, swelling,
loss of cerebrospinal fluid--
00:39:35
and damage to this area
and extensive bleeding can actually cause a person to
suffocate on their own blood.
00:39:43
NARRATOR: With this
final forensic clue, Dr. Murray believes she has
found the evidence that points
00:39:48
to a cause of death,
craniocerebral trauma inflicted by a blunt object. Prosecutor Dan
Eichel now has enough
00:39:56
hard evidence to bring
charges of murder against Michael Walter. The damage to
the skull suggested
00:40:02
that this was a murder
and that the dismemberment was to cover up a murder. NARRATOR: Investigators
arrest Michael Walter
00:40:11
and prepare for the trial. On November 6th, 1996, he
goes to court for the murder
00:40:17
of Lindsay Everett. Dr. Murray is the
prosecution's key witness. It's my job as
an expert witness
00:40:23
to educate the jury
on what happened and how it happened to
the best of my ability.
00:40:30
She was able to
just state the facts plainly in an unbiased fashion. Four blows to the head
caused this person's death.
00:40:37
NARRATOR: Now it's the
defense team's turn to ask the questions,
and they have a surprise
00:40:41
for the expert witness. The defense was
attempting to allege that the damage to the
face was done either
00:40:48
by Detective Dwyer and or
myself during the process of the excavation. We had a contentious
trial going on.
00:40:56
NARRATOR: But Dr. Murray
has come prepared. I could prove by
photographs of the skull
00:41:01
in the ground, the
skull at my lab, the skull with
the flesh removed, that there was no way that
the damage to that skull
00:41:09
was caused by a shovel. NARRATOR: The prosecution
is now ready to reconstruct for the jury their version
of the final moments
00:41:17
of Lindsay's life. On April 23rd, 1995, Lindsay
is at Walter's house, possibly buying or doing drugs.
00:41:33
Then something happens that
pushes him over the edge. What are you doing? Could have been a violent
argument or altercation
00:41:40
between the two-- one thing led to another. The defendant picked up a
hammer and hit her in the head.
00:41:47
She was struck at
least four times. We're talking about
some great force that actually fractured the skull.
00:41:52
These kinds of
blows to the skull can send shards of bone
into the brain itself.
00:41:59
NARRATOR: These multiple
violent blows to Lindsay's head cause her brain to
bruise and swell.
00:42:05
Soon, the brain
ceases to function, resulting in the failure
of all vital organs.
00:42:11
Within a few minutes,
Lindsay is dead. But now Walter needs
to dispose of the body.
00:42:19
From there, he
basically dismembered her. NARRATOR: Using a power
saw, Walter removes
00:42:24
Lindsay's head, arms, and legs. He then tosses her mutilated
torso into the river.
00:42:30
But the desecration of
Lindsay's body is not over. Then we know that the mother
and sister took the body parts
00:42:35
and buried them. To me, it doesn't matter who
the person was, whether they were an upstanding citizen or
a down and out drug addicted
00:42:45
person. There's no excuse for this. NARRATOR: After just
five hours, the jury returns with their verdict--
00:42:54
guilty. He was found
guilty on all counts. NARRATOR: On
November 15th, 1996, Michael Walter is sentenced
to 15 years to life in prison.
00:43:05
OK, great. Thank god, you know,
Beth was able to give us our cause of death. I'm convinced that's what
got us our murder conviction.
00:43:13
NARRATOR: As Dr. Murray
wraps up her case, she reflects on how reading
the bones of the dead
00:43:18
can have a tremendous impact
on the lives of the living. To be able to use
science in a way that
00:43:24
has direct benefits
to family members, to society in general-- that's really a rewarding thing.