Skeleton Stories - Season 1, Episode 13 - Bone Island - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: In 1969 an archaeologist unearth remains belonging to a party of 17th century
French explorers who made it to the new world, but then died suddenly under mysterious circumstances.
Men were dying probably several a day. They were in serious trouble. NARRATOR: Now it's up to forensic anthropologist Dr. Tom
Crist and his wife Molly Crist to figure out what killed so many young men before 100 years ago.
We really didn't know what the possibilities were. NARRATOR: Then a distraught mother holds out hope
that her son Jason will return home after vanishing without a trace three years earlier.
I kept the candle flickering but it was just a flicker. NARRATOR: But when detectives find a body buried
in the woods, they wonder if this mother's search has finally come to an end. I discovered the bottom of running shoes.
NARRATOR: Now they are counting on forensic anthropologist Dr. Jerry Melby to tell them if this is indeed Jason.
And if so, how on earth he ended up here. My responsibility to the victim is to find the truth about what happened to them.
NARRATOR: On a tiny uninhabited island in Maine, a team of archaeologists is on an unusual hunt.
Their mission is to find artifacts left behind by a group of explorers that once settled
this island known as St. Croix. But as they begin to dig, they make a startling discovery.
It's a collection of human remains. The team spends weeks excavating and collecting the bones.
Then with their mission accomplished they leave, and the island fall silent once again.
The excavated bones are taken to Temple University in Philadelphia, where they are placed in storage
for further research. But they are soon forgotten. The bones wait gathering dust, 24 years
go by until one day in 1993 someone takes an interest in their story. At the time I was looking for a doctoral dissertation topic.
NARRATOR: Back then forensic anthropologist Dr. Tom Crist was a 29-year-old graduate student.
I knew that a professor at Temple University had excavated these remains from St. Croix island in 1969.
And I made arrangements to examine them. As it turned out I got much more than I ever hoped for.
NARRATOR: In fact, Dr. Crist had stumbled across one of the most dramatic tales of world exploration.
These bones have a remarkable story to tell, one that may have even changed the course of American history.
It all started in 1604 when a group of French explorers set sail across the Atlantic Ocean.
These were the pioneers. These are the early explorers who came to the New World
to establish French colonies. NARRATOR: One of the most notable people on board was Samuel De Champlain the ship's cartographer.
Samuel De Champlain is considered the father of New France. He personally explored and mapped much
of the coast of North America. And we use these maps today. NARRATOR: In June of 1604, the voyagers
come across a rocky six acre island which they named St. Croix. They thought it was a perfect place for them
to set up their settlement. NARRATOR: But as fall turns into winter, this idealic tableau was shattered by the sudden onset
of a mysterious illness. This mystery disease was killing all of them. They really didn't have any idea what caused it
or how to treat it. They were in serious trouble. NARRATOR: As the baffling disease claims life after life,
the death toll continues to rise, from 10 men to 20 to 30. The men were dying probably several a day.
NARRATOR: But with the arrival of spring a strange phenomenon occurs, the surviving sick
make a miraculous recovery, and the disease seems to completely disappear. But with 35 of the 79 settlers dead,
it's too late to salvage the colony. They were saved when the ships from France returned in June of 1605 and evacuated
the men off the island. NARRATOR: The dead lie undisturbed for nearly 400 years on the island of St. Croix now part
of Arcadia national park, until archaeologists exhume them from their shallow graves in 1969.
Despite the passage of time, one critical question remains unanswered. They never solved the mystery of what
was killing them on the island. NARRATOR: Now Dr. Tom Crist hopes to answer this 400-year-old question
by studying the only clues that remained, the bones. I became a forensic anthropologist
because I was fascinated by the mystery of the discoveries that we can make. I can open up windows on the past that are otherwise
close to us there's always something unusual about every single case. For his all important first case Dr. Crist
did lease the help of a fellow grad student, Molly Hickey. We literally met in an anatomy lab, over a cadaver.
He didn't really like me too much and I didn't really like him. Molly's impression of me was that I didn't know anything
but thought I did, my impression of her was that she thought she knew everything
and I wasn't so sure. NARRATOR: As their first step, the pair heads out to search the university's store rooms
where the bones are located. And it didn't take us very long to find some boxes that were labeled St. Croix.
We thought, my goodness, this could be very interesting. NARRATOR: Dr. Crist removes the lid from one of the boxes,
and peers inside. And there was this skull from the island looking a little bit up at me.
And we thought, my god they're here, that was incredible, 1604? that's unbelievable.
At that instant I embarked on what became for me an adventure of a lifetime. NARRATOR: As Dr. Crist and Molly moved the boxes
to their laboratory for analysis, the sheer scale of their undertaking begins to sink in.
The chances that we were going to be able to actually come up with what was killing them, we really
didn't know what the possibilities were, was it going to be a hit or miss? The first step is to try to determine the ages of death
for each of the individuals that we recovered. NARRATOR: But in this case, Dr. Crist must overcome
an unexpected obstacle. The challenge was that I did not have the complete skeletons
of each individual. NARRATOR: That's because the archaeologists who exhumed the bones in 1969 brought back only the bones strong enough
to survive the journey, mostly skulls, jaw bones, and some long bones. They really left most of the human
remains in the ground in the island. NARRATOR: But in a lucky break, the bones most commonly used in determining age
have made the cut, the teeth. An easy way to pinpoint a person's age is to look for the presence or absence
of the third molars, more commonly known as wisdom teeth. Third molars tend to erupt in most people between the ages
of about 18 and 25, so if I see a pair of third molars that are very worn down I know that this person probably
chewed on those teeth for 10, 15, 20 years that gives me an age range. NARRATOR: Using this method, Doctor Crist
is able to estimate the age at death for each of the explorers. He concludes that most of them were in their 30s or 40s
with one startling exception. Among the most surprising ones was number 10. NARRATOR: Number 10 was the name given
to the skeletal remains exhumed from the 10th grave during the excavation in 1969.
He had his mandible, his lower jaw, and his third molars had not erupted. NARRATOR: From this Doctor Crist knows
that number 10 was a young man, most likely under the age of 25. But Doctor Crist has an additional bone
that will help him narrow down number 10 age range even further, the tibia or shinbone.
This is number 10's tibia, this is the bone below the knee. And you can see here this line, this open line
here indicates that it recently fused just before he had died. NARRATOR: The tibia is made up of three
separate bones that fuse together once a child stops growing. The fact that number 10's tibia has just recently fused
provides Doctor Crist with an invaluable clue. And that's the indicator that this is a young man
about 18 or 19 years old. He turned out to be the youngest of the men that were excavated at St. Croix Island.
What must have been like for an 18- 19-year-old young man to travel to the New World?
It would be like us almost going to outer space. NARRATOR: But it would appear that even youth offered
no protection against the ruthless disease that stopped the settlers. I was surprised that someone this young had died
on the island, because you would have thought that younger men are in better shape, they're more able to survive,
but clearly he had not. NARRATOR: But as Doctor Crist nears the end of his initial examination he is no closer
to discovering what caused these 17th century explorers to die so suddenly. I was concerned that I may not be
able to find any evidence of the disease that took their lives. NARRATOR: Coming up, Doctor Crist
uncovers a chilling account of the final moments of these men's lives. To live through that so far from home, so cut off,
you can really see the horror of not knowing what this mystery disease was. NARRATOR: And then authorities have
been investigating Jason's suspicious disappearance for years. But Jason's sister is convinced she knows what happened to him.
I knew he'd been killed. It was a gut instinct. NARRATOR: When Skeleton Stories returns.
Doctor Tom Crist and fellow researcher Molly Hickey have rediscovered a cache of 400-year-old bones.
Now, they must examine them to discover what sent these early French settlers to their agonizing deaths.
It was a mystery, I was anxious that I would not be able to define the diseases that affected these men
or the causes of death. NARRATOR: Doctor Crist begins his examination of the bones looking for any evidence of disease.
He focuses on one settler in particular, number 10. I think both Molly and I felt a special attachment
to number 10, we knew and recognized that he was the youngest man that we had worked with from the site.
NARRATOR: As Doctor Crist studies the boy's mandibular or lower jaw, he spots something suspicious.
I saw areas of porous bone of porosity. NARRATOR: Porosity refers to the loss of density
in the bone which causes it to appear sponge like. With number 10's mandible we have porosity
where the muscles that let us chew the catch but we also have it down in the two sockets themselves,
looks like spongy bone. NARRATOR: And they find this same sponginess in all of the settlers mandibles.
I began to try to think of what diseases could cause these patterns of what I would call porosity.
NARRATOR: But the list of possible diseases is so long that doctor Crist must look
beyond the bones for answers. And that brought me to Champlain's own personal accounts of what had
happened at the island, which he had written and published in 1613. NARRATOR: Champlain's chronicles begin
with the decision to settle on the island of St. Croix. I think that they were very pleased that they found such
a perfect place to start their colony, what they failed to understand of course, was that they would be trapped
on the island in the winter when the ice flows began to pass by them. The first snow fell according to Champlain in October.
They were unable to get fresh water which was on the mainland, their source of firewood
was located on the mainland. NARRATOR: Before long the settlers are freezing and starving.
What they must have gone through on that island must have been unbearable, obviously it was.
NARRATOR: And then they begin to suffer from a mysterious and painful disease, which
makes their tongues and gums swell up. The swelling becomes so bad that the men can't eat
and they can't drink anything. NARRATOR: And that's not all, Champlain describes other terrifying symptoms,
bleeding from the fingernails and gums, teeth falling out, strange purple bruises and flea like bite marks on the skin.
You can really see the horror of not knowing what this mystery disease was. A sense of doom that the men must have had, I think
would have been overwhelming. And Champlain's word says it all they suffered. NARRATOR: During the winter of 1604 35 of the 79
settlers die from this mysterious disease, and just as mysteriously once spring arrives the remaining
sick get better Dr. Crist is starting to suspect what this killer might be. The best explanation is based on the skeletons themselves
and Champlain's own journals was that it was scurvy. NARRATOR: Scurvy is a severe nutritional disease caused
by insufficient vitamin C. Vitamin C is a key ingredient in the production of collagen, the glue that
holds the human body together. Without it the blood vessels, soft tissue, and even the bones
begin to deteriorate. As an individual suffers from scurvy his or her blood vessels
essentially leak inside the body. You start to see bleeding anywhere that muscles
may be pulling on the bones. NARRATOR: As critical bodily systems falter a scurvy
sufferer can die of dehydration or heart failure, vitamin C cannot be produced by the human body
and must be absorbed through diet, by eating fruits and vegetables. But Dr. Crist will need some concrete evidence
to back up his theory. And thanks to Champlain's journals he now knows exactly what to look for.
I see clearly the inflammation of the roof of the mouth, the spongy bone in the two sockets,
some teeth are missing, this is evidence of scurvy. I was very excited to be able to link these skeletal markers
with Champlain's own words and say, I know now that this is scurvy. NARRATOR: Dr. Crist has related it,
he has solved the mystery of the St. Croix deaths. This diagnosis of scurvy also explains
the survivors miraculous recovery, come spring they could once again consume fruits
and vegetables rich in vitamin C. To this day, the most effective treatment for the onset of scurvy
is an infusion of vitamin C. Dr. Crist has written a new chapter in the old history
of North America. And as it happens, he and fellow researcher Molly are writing a new chapter in their lives as well,
they have fallen in love. We have many mutual friends who swear that they saw this
all happening from the very beginning, but you couldn't have said that to me back then.
I always remind my students to be nice to the people that they're working with, because you never
know where it might end up. NARRATOR: In 1997 Dr. Crist and Molly are married. His work with the St. Croix bones is done
and he ships the remains off to the National Park Service. I had assumed that would be the last time
I would ever see them. NARRATOR: He couldn't have been more wrong. Coming up, the Crist's travel back
to where the story of these bones began, but nothing can prepare them for what they find on St. Croix island.
It was mind blowing, we thought this is cool, this is like the holy grail. NARRATOR: And then as Dr. Melby begins
to excavate what they believe is Jason Patrick's unmarked grave, he makes a puzzling discovery.
I thought you would have difficulty getting a whole body into that diameter of a hole.
NARRATOR: One skeleton stories returns. In 1993 forensic anthropologist Dr. Tom Crist
solved a 400-year-old mystery proving that the first settlers of St. Croix island died of scurvy.
As far as he and his wife Molly knew they were finished with St. Croix island, but the island wasn't quite finished with them.
Ten years later Dr. Crist receives a surprising call. That was one of the most exciting and memorable calls
of my life. NARRATOR: The National Park Service wants to know if he and Molly will help supervise
the reinsterment of the St. Croix colonists in time for the 400-year anniversary of the settlement.
Here was an opportunity to actually bring them home. NARRATOR: After several months of preparation
the Crists arrive on St. Croix island in June of 2003. To stand on that island and to look
around and see what they saw. The essence of it all, it just hits home. NARRATOR: The Crists now face the difficult task of restoring
all the bones that were excavated in 1969 to their respective graves. The tricky part for us was making
sure that we had the right burials for the right individuals. NARRATOR: During their second week of excavation
they reach a grave with a special meaning. This is where the young man number 10 was buried,
and where most of his skeletons still lies. As Molly begins to excavate the grave in order
to rebury number 10's jaw and tibia she makes a startling discovery. I came across something that looked a lot like skull.
NARRATOR: Using a soft bristle brush, Molly carefully removes the soil from the skull.
The further I got, the more I realized that we didn't have just any old skull. At that time she called all of us, the entire team
over to say I think something very unusual is here. As I brushed away further and further what I began to see
were cut marks right along the side of the skull. NARRATOR: Doctor Crist wonders if the cut marks are
the result of a terrible accident or worse, could this cut be evidence of murder?
But further examination of the cut marks leads him to another conclusion. These are cut marks that's cut all the way around.
Is that a hesitation mark right there? Here is a cut right on the skull. We could exclude that it was an accidental blow to the head
or a knife wound because the cut itself was all the way through the entire top of the head.
NARRATOR: But this type of cut can only mean one thing. It was absolutely clear that this man's skull had been
cut open to reveal the brain. This was an autopsied skull. NARRATOR: In the grips of this terrifying illness
it is likely that those who had not succumb to this disease were desperate to learn what it was,
and the only way was to perform an autopsy. Crists have made a truly historic find.
Of this particular autopsy at St. Croix island is the earliest evidence of an autopsy
that had been found anywhere in the new world. We thought this is cool, this is like the holy grail.
We already had sort of become attached to number 10, so finding out that he himself represented
a milestone in medical history it was a thrilling moment. NARRATOR: With his last forensic clue
Dr. Crist can now look back across a span of four centuries and paint a picture of the months leading up to number
10's death. In the spring of 1604 number 10 and his fellow shipmates set sail for New France.
This young man born in the late 1500s on board a ship for three or four months, maybe
he had sailed before maybe it was his first voyage. NARRATOR: But the young man's excitement
turns to horror when he falls prey to the mystery disease that is killing the colonists, scurvy.
To live through that so far from home with very little hope of ever being able to see his family again,
he must have known he was dying for quite a while, it must have been just a horrible experience.
NARRATOR: As his gums, tongue, and the roof of his mouth began to swell the young man finds himself
unable to either eat or drink. Weakened by the scurvy and suffering from starvation
and exposure number 10 dies. And when he died they were compelled to perform an autopsy on him.
But that couldn't help them at all figure out what was causing the problem. NARRATOR: Number 10 along with the other St. Croix dead
is then buried in the island's sandy soil. I sometimes catch myself looking at the face and saying,
what did you see? What did you hear? What was the last thing you saw? What was the last thing you heard?
And what would you have done if you'd lived? NARRATOR: Now that number 10 tragic story has been told,
his skull and all of his bones are returned to the soil once more. It was sad when we left the island for the last time.
The sun was just going down it was just getting to be dusk and we just sat there and watched the island
get further and further away. It was definitely like saying goodbye to old friends.
NARRATOR: But the Crist's leave one last enduring mystery behind them, the cemetery on the island
is unmarked where exactly the St. Croix dead are buried, the bone detectives will never tell.
We never want them disturbed again they were disturbed enough. And they've been put back and we'd like to just let them
rest. NARRATOR: For Dr. Crist this case marked the beginning of a successful career
in forensic anthropology, but he will always be grateful to the St. Croix settlers
for this extraordinary journey. For me, it really was a voyage of discovery much like it was a voyage of discovery for these men.
To be able to touch them, allow me to touch that part of the past. And that's a rare opportunity.
NARRATOR: Up next, Jason Petrie, mother is heartbroken to learn that authorities
may have found her son's dead body in the woods. It was very hard, I was completely
separated from myself. NARRATOR: When Skeletons Stories returns. The woods of northern Ontario, Canada, a man
is on his way to catch some fish in a nearby lake instead, he ends up fishing something out of the dirt.
He saw a key sticking out of the ground. He pulled on the key and the wallet was attached to the key.
NARRATOR: The wallet holds a driver's license with the name Jason Petrie, it's a haunting discovery.
Everyone in this tight knit community knows that 20-year-old Jason vanished three years earlier.
Police conducted a massive manhunt for him but found nothing. Still Jason's family held out hope
that he would one day return. I kept the candle flickering but it was just a flicker.
NARRATOR: The wallet is the first sign of Jason since he mysteriously disappeared.
I couldn't stop thinking that there had to be something else there. NARRATOR: Police immediately search for additional clues
in the area. Then detective Fabrio and his partner made their way through the woods to the spot
where the wallet was found, and begin digging a hole. I get down on my hands and knees looking
into the hole I could actually see fabric marks or patterns in the soil. I started to move some of the soil away with my hands
and I discovered the bottom of running shoes. And I knew that this was going to be a very important day.
NARRATOR: Investigators wonder if they have finally found Jason Petrie. According to friends and family, Jason had always
been a fun loving young man struggling to build a future for himself. He loved life.
He'd like to explore. He was very kind. He was very loving. He sang like Randy Travis.
NARRATOR: But Jason has also made some mistakes in life, and at the time of his disappearance
he is serving time in a halfway house for a burglary offense. I remember he said I swore to dad I'm never going to get
in any trouble again, mom. And he really tried from there to turn his life around.
NARRATOR: Because Jason disappears while he is incarcerated, investigators develop a theory as to what
might have happened to him. Jason was seen to have airline tickets in his pocket,
on the day that he disappeared. Well, the police suspect that he was just on the run.
NARRATOR: Investigators also learned that Jason and his wife, Cindy McLeod are recently separated,
and that she has been awarded custody of their one-year-old son. Based on this information, investigators
begin to speculate on another possible scenario. Jason was extremely troubled from the events
arising from the dissolution of his relationship with his wife. There was the possibility that Jason had taken his own life.
NARRATOR: But Jason's sister Tammy has her own theory about what happened to her brother.
I knew he'd been killed. It was a gut instinct from my first day landing in Ontario.
I wasn't here to find him alive, I was here to find his remains. NARRATOR: Tammy believes Jason's wife's
family the McLeod had something to do with his disappearance. But there's no evidence to back up the hunch.
When we were questioning the McLeods they claimed to have no knowledge of the whereabouts of Jason.
NARRATOR: Now that detectives have found Jason's wallet along with buried remains, they need
to exhume the body to determine who it is and how they died. We just simply don't have the expertise
as police investigators to be able to do that. NARRATOR: But they know just the person with that expertise,
forensic anthropologist Dr. Jerry Melby from Texas State University, San Marcos.
My responsibility to the victim is to find the truth about what happened to them.
My job is to tell the story like it is. I do not work for the defense, I do not work for the prosecution, I work for the victim.
NARRATOR: Dr. Melby arrives ready to exhume the body, his first step is to determine the graves boundaries so he
knows exactly where to dig. It's pretty imperative because then you know where the body is.
You have to be very exact, very careful, so that you don't accidentally disturb any piece of evidence which would be
relevant to the investigation. NARRATOR: Dr. Melby knows the clues to the graves boundaries
are contained in the soil. So here I found undisturbed soil that's quite hard, it hasn't been dug.
The disturbed soil is softer. And this would be the edge of their pit right here,
and we'll record where the grave goes from here. NARRATOR: As Dr. Melby's assistant places flags
around the boundaries of the grave he is puzzled by the grave's small size. This doesn't make too much sense.
NARRATOR: The grave is only three feet in diameter, not big enough for an adult male
to lay horizontally. This was of concern immediately, the pit looked very small and I thought
you would have a little bit of difficulty getting the whole body into that diameter of a hole.
NARRATOR: A grave this size would typically contain only a very small child or a dismembered adult body.
But there is one other possibility, that the body is buried vertically and the grave is very deep.
But such deep graves are rare because they take so long to dig. This was highly unusual, criminals are either in a hurry
or they're lazy and they don't dig. Well at that stage I had no idea exactly what we were going to uncover.
NARRATOR: Coming up, as Dr. Melby digs into the strange grave he uncovers something even more puzzling.
To add complications onto complications we start hitting this white kind of greasy stuff.
NARRATOR: Next on Skeleton Stories. Dr. Jerry Melby continues to excavate a makeshift grave in the woods.
Investigators believe it contains the body of a young man named Jason Petrie. Dr. Melby hopes by digging deeper
he'll solve several mysteries, is this in fact Jason? How did he die? And why is the grave only 3 feet in diameter?
As he digs further he begins to encounter a strange greasy white chemical, he believes is lime.
The presence of lime indicate to Dr. Melby that whoever buried this body was trying to cover their tracks.
And I guess they just presumed that it would eat away the body. NARRATOR: This discovery supports the investigators
suspicions of murder, and just a few inches into the ground he uncovers yet another sign of foul play.
Here we see we have some yellow rope that's in the vicinity of the ankles. NARRATOR: Whoever buried this body tied up the ankles first.
The story continues as we excavate down. NARRATOR: As the team gets to the bottom of the pit
Dr. Melby confirms there is a whole body buried here, head first. And the deep grave may actually have helped preserve
some forensic evidence. In general, the deeper you bury a body the slower decomposition progresses.
NARRATOR: Dr. Melby also discovers ironically, the killers attempts to decompose the body with lime
has had the opposite effect. That's because the perpetrators used marking lime usually used
in gardens to speed plant growth, rather than pebble lime the type known to burn flesh.
The lime combines with water and makes a thick paste all around the body and acts to preserve it.
NARRATOR: In fact, there is still tissue on the bones and even clothing. As the team removes the body from the deep pit
it becomes clear why the killer went through such great lengths to dig the unusual grave.
The hole was narrow because of the constraints of the trees. So they put him down head first,
but they must have had to twist him a little bit to get around that tree root. NARRATOR: Though detectives strongly
suspect the body belongs to Jason Petrie they are counting on Dr. Melby to provide
them with definitive proof. Dr. Melby transports the body back to his lab where he compares Jason's dental records
with the teeth in the victim's skull, it's a perfect match. After three years, the search for Jason Petrie is over.
Jason's family is devastated by the news. It was very hard emotionally and mentally, I was completely
separated from myself. I think I was completely out of body. NARRATOR: Jason's case abruptly shifts from a missing person
to a murder investigation. Police revisit their leads in the case starting with Jason's estranged wife Cindy McLeod,
her brother, and her mother. McLeod's had a hostile relationship with Jason, we felt quite confident that they had
knowledge about Jason's death. NARRATOR: Detective Fabrio informs McLeod's that Jason's body has been found
and under suspicious circumstances. Afraid they might be blamed for a murder they didn't commit,
they reveal who killed Jason and it's an entirely new suspect. Cindy's boyfriend Craig Nickerson, a body builder
known to have a hot temper. He had a relationship with Cindy McLeod while Jason was in custody at the halfway house.
NARRATOR: The MacLeods then explain why they hadn't come forward sooner, they were afraid of Craig.
They had been threatened right from the very get go by Craig Nickerson that, if I go down
you're all going down with me, and that's why he involved them. He wanted to make them part of this.
He wanted to be able to use that to control them, to manipulate them. NARRATOR: Cindy, her mother, and her brother
tell investigators that Craig first incapacitated his victim by hitting him in the shin with a tire iron,
unable to escape or defend himself. Craig proceeded to beat Jason to death. According to trial testimony, he then
forced Cindy and her family to help dig Jason's grave. This is a big break in the case but detectives merely
have testimony from three people who withheld information for years. They need more proof to support the McLeod story.
It was important for us to prove that they weren't lying at the time they provided us with the statement.
NARRATOR: Police hope Dr. Melby can find forensic evidence to support the McLeod story, if the evidence is consistent they
will be able to build a case against Craig Nickerson, but without it a killer could go free.
Coming up, as he examines Jason's bones Dr. Melby is shocked by what he sees. Must have been a horrible experience being tied
up and beaten and tortured. NARRATOR: Next on Skeleton Stories. Dr. Jerry Melby prepares to examine Jason Petrie bones.
Investigators are counting on him to find any evidence that points to how Jason died.
Otherwise, the suspected killer Craig Nickerson, could go free. Establishing the cause of death
and homicide investigation is a very important piece. NARRATOR: Dr. Melby first removes
the remaining skin and tissue from the bones using a process called mass oration.
This is done by taking the body and simmering it in water usually eight to as long as 24 hours.
NARRATOR: Once Jason's bones are clean he lays them out in anatomical order and methodically examines every bone.
When Dr. Melby looks at the tibia or shin bone he immediately see signs of brutal foul play.
The shin bone was fractured into several pieces. It would take quite a bit of force to break a tibia.
NARRATOR: Force that Dr. Melby believes could not have been the result of a simple fall or accident.
He believes the extensive fracturing is most likely the result of severe intentional trauma.
Any kind of blunt force weapon would have caused this, such as an iron bar. NARRATOR: While it's clear that the broken shin did not cause
Jason's death, it could have rendered him defenseless while the killer continued to beat him.
If you're beaten severely around the head the possibility of hemorrhages is increased.
The beating to the chest can cause breathing problems. NARRATOR: And while Jason's bones do not reveal exactly how
he died, Dr. Melby's findings corroborate the McLeod story that Craig Nickerson brutally beat Jason
to death with a tire iron. When Dr. Melby established the fact that Jason had a broken
leg, it helped us to be able to demonstrate the credibility of our witnesses. NARRATOR: Relying on Dr. Melby's forensic evidence
combined with the MacLeods version of events, police can finally piece together the last hours of Jason's life.
It's July 13, 1992, Jason gets a pass to leave the halfway house. And goes to visit his son at his estranged wife's home.
But Cindy's new boyfriend, Craig, is there and he refuses to let Jason in the house.
Later Craig tracks Jason down at a local donut shop. He offered to share some marijuana with him,
it's kind of a peace offering. NARRATOR: But the marijuana is just baked. Craig asked Jason to roll a joint.
And as Jason is distracted, Craig rushes him with the tire iron breaking Jason's left shoulder arm.
He would have been incapacitated him anonymously. NARRATOR: Craig then close Jason into the trunk
and heads to a family cottage deep in the woods to finish the job. And enroute he could hear Jason
in the trunk trying to get out. NARRATOR: At the cottage Craig ties Jason to a post
and brutally beats him until he dies. Must been a horrible experience being tied up
and beaten and tortured. NARRATOR: Now Craig needs help to cover up his crime. According to trial testimony, he forces Cindy and her family
to help dig Jason's grave, but because of the tree roots and rocks they are forced to dig a small but deep hole.
The roots in the forest must have constricted the size, great deal. NARRATOR: They then lowered Jason's body headfirst
into the hole and Craig doses the body with lime, thinking it will help destroy forensic evidence
if the body is ever discovered, but he doesn't know he's using the wrong type of lime.
Jason remains in the deep grave for three years until his wallet is discovered by a fisherman.
In the end, Craig Nickerson pleads guilty to murdering Jason Petrie. He was convicted of secondary murder
and sentenced to life imprisonment. NARRATOR: Cindy pleads guilty to obstruction of justice
but never serves time. None of the MacLeods are arrested or charged in connection with the murder.
Jason's family will never hear his voice again but in a way they feel Jason spoke one last time in a final cry
for justice. Jason can't tell us what happened but Dr. Melby has told us. And my brother has spoke through his voice
Dr. Melby is my guardian angel. I'm very thankful to Dr. Melby a man that was able to give us proof.
I was very gratified that I was able to make a contribution. I am on the side of the victim.
I always want to see that justice is closed.

The remains of an early French colonist from 400 years ago in what is now Maine show evidence of an autopsy. A wallet belonging to a missing man is found.

This true crime series delves into the case files of the country’s top forensic anthropologists and reveals the secrets trapped deep inside the human body.

Brief Summary

Dr. Crist solves a 400-year-old mystery of explorer deaths while Dr. Melby investigates the murder of Jason Petrie, revealing a tragic story of violence.

Key points

The Mystery of the St. Croix Settlers. Forensic anthropologist Dr. Tom Crist investigates the deaths of early French settlers on St. Croix Island, uncovering a tale of survival and tragedy.
Love Amidst the Bones. As Dr. Crist and Molly Hickey work together on the St. Croix bones, they unexpectedly fall in love, intertwining their personal and professional lives.
Discovery of Autopsy Evidence. A startling find reveals the earliest evidence of an autopsy in the New World, shedding light on the desperate measures taken by settlers.
The Discovery of Jason's Wallet. A fisherman finds a wallet linked to missing Jason Petrie, reigniting hope for his family.
The Shocking Confession. Cindy's family reveals that her boyfriend Craig Nickerson killed Jason, turning the investigation.
Uncovering the Truth. Forensic anthropologist Dr. Melby examines Jason's remains, revealing signs of foul play.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I kept the candle flickering but it was just a flicker.

A mother holding out hope for her missing son.

0:56WatchSep 30, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.