Skeleton Stories - Season 1, Episode 7 - Foul Play - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: When a long-time missing person turns up dead, a family is thrown into turmoil.
Me and my sister were close. We were best friends. When they took her, they took a part of me.
NARRATOR: Can Dr. David Glassman figure out what happened to this little girl in her final hours?
Any time you're working with children, it becomes a very, very important case to all of us.
NARRATOR: Then when a skull is found in the woods, detectives wonder if these could be
the remains of a young woman they've been trying to track down for the past year.
There was evidence that somebody could have been killed or they were hurt very bad.
NARRATOR: With just a skull, an arm bones, and two ribs to go on, they are counting on Dr. Michael Warren
to figure out who this person is. And in cases where we have just a few bones, it's even a more intense hunt.
[MUSIC PLAYING] --you do! Oh my-- [GROANS] What did you do? NARRATOR: Sunday morning in Dallas, Texas, two boys
are on their way to play ball, until something grabs their attention. Hey, Jason, look.
NARRATOR: It's a human skeleton. The boys rush home and phone the local police department.
I believe that was on a Sunday morning right after 10:00 AM. I was in church. They said they had found a body.
NARRATOR: The discovery means church is over and a homicide investigation begins.
At first, Detective Hinojosa expects this to be a typical case of a drifter or petty criminal
killed after a drug dispute. Somebody that got stabbed or shot last night got dumped in the creek bottom, that's what I was thinking.
NARRATOR: But a closer inspection reveals something that makes the case even more tragic and heartbreaking.
But it was the remains of a small child. [SCREAMING] I knew it wasn't an adult by the size.
NARRATOR: Police believe the bones may be the remains of missing 9-year-old Trini Gonzalez who
mysteriously vanished almost two years earlier. Since then she's remained in the forefront of every local police
officer's mind. She'd been missing one year, nine months, 13 days, 11 hours. I said it possibly could be Trini.
Because Trini had become so personal to us, the reality hit us that much harder.
NARRATOR: Police are unsure if this is Trini, but the child-sized skeleton brings to mind the missing girl
they grew to know so well from the loving portrait others painted of her. Trini was so beautiful and she loved
to sing and be outside jumping rope and play with her dolls, just a very good little granddaughter.
My sister is a very outgoing person. She loved people. She would just go up to people just
say hi and how are you doing. My sister loved everybody. She was a happy person.
NARRATOR: At the time of her disappearance, Trini was being raised by her great aunt Frances Smithwick.
She was the only mother Trini ever knew. And one morning 22 months ago, Frances awoke to every mother's
worst nightmare. Trini's great aunt explained that Trini had gone to bed the night before.
The next morning, she wasn't in her bed. She told the officer that somebody might have
taken her from the house when everybody was asleep during the night. NARRATOR: Police mobilize every officer on the force
determined to track down Trini. They know the chances of finding a kidnapping victim alive dwindle with every hour and day that passes.
Trini's disappearance also brings together members of the community. Local parents realize Trini could
just as easily be their child. People were searching neighborhoods and fields and, you know, every place that you can imagine.
NARRATOR: Months pass and police continue their relentless search for Trini. Leads pour in every day, prompting
detectives to gradually expand their search area. It extended well beyond the Rio Grande Valley.
There were Trini sightings all over the place. All of those leads had to be pursued.
And we looked at each one very thoroughly and tried to leave no stone unturned. NARRATOR: Investigators interview over 100 people.
The FBI offers a $15,000 reward. But after nearly two years, there is no sign of the missing little girl, and the trail grows cold.
We didn't have any leads. They was all just dead ends. NARRATOR: But now the discovery of a child-sized skeleton
could make this case red hot again if this is Trini. The best shot police have for a quick identification
are the teeth that are still in the skull. They immediately rush the remains to the county
medical examiner's office. There a forensic pathologist compares the skulls teeth
to Trini's dental records. It's an exact match. At last, police have found the little girl
they spent nearly two heartbreaking years looking for. Now a new search begins, a search for justice.
Now I know we had a murder case on our hands. We had to look for the person responsible for the murder
of Trini Gonzalez. NARRATOR: Trini could never tell the story of how she met her tragic fate.
But clues contained in her bones may reveal what happened to her and ultimately help catch a killer.
But reading with the bones have to say requires a specialist. So police turned to forensic anthropologist
Dr. David Glassman at the University of Southern Indiana. Becoming a forensic anthropologist
opened up a new world of the skeleton and what the skeleton tells us. Our job is to find not just the big things,
but the minute things that tell us the whole story. NARRATOR: The whole story is exactly
what police need to know. We wanted Dr. Glassman to tell us everything. We wanted to know time of death, how she died,
how long she'd been out there. We wanted to know everything he could possibly tell us.
Because this case was important, and every clue was going to make a big difference in the case.
NARRATOR: Police sent Trini's skeletal remains to Dr. Glassman's lab. Let's see what we've got here.
NARRATOR: Forensic anthropologists try to remain objective and detached in every investigation.
But in the case of 9-year-old Trini, it's impossible. One of the first things that I recognized
as I started taking the remains out was that they were of a child. These are individuals that have not had the opportunity
to enjoy their life. And it becomes a very different type of case. NARRATOR: As Dr. Glassman begins his examination
of Trini's bones, police continue their criminal investigation. They take a fresh look at where Trini lived
and those who had contact with her. Neighbor's soon come forward with new details
about illicit activity in the house where Trini lived. There were allegations of drug use, drug debts, which
brought up possibilities of this being somehow narcotics related. If you knew what was going on in that house,
I would have gone in there and got her out, but I never knew. NARRATOR: If drugs were being dealt out of the house,
Trini could have had contact with addicts and criminals. And with the background that we knew from the house,
we started looking into all the players that came in and out of that house. NARRATOR: Nobody knows what went on in the house better
than the woman who her mothered Trini, her Aunt Frances, but Frances can't think of anyone who would harm Trini.
Police seem to have hit the same dead end they hit when they first investigated Trini's disappearance.
But now they have a new witness-- Trini's skeleton. And they have Dr. Glassman to question the bones
and learn the story they have to tell. Coming up, Dr. Glassman discovers shocking evidence of brutality no little girl
should ever have to endure. These three fractures, these are indicative, all three
of them, of a pretty powerful blow that took place to this part of the head. NARRATOR: And later when Dr. Warren examines a skull,
he struggles to keep his emotions from getting the best of him. I've seen a lot of death and a lot of tragedy.
I try not to pile on myself. I would rather just sort of try to keep my distance.
NARRATOR: When "Skeleton Stories" returns. Police need forensic anthropologist Dr. David
Glassman to answer one question-- how did 9-year-old Trini Gonzalez die? As he begins his forensic examination of the bones,
police re-interviewed Trini's little sister Velia. She reveals something new about her aunt Frances, the woman who
mothered Trini since infancy. My aunt was very-- she was very quiet to herself, but she
would always hit my sister. If my sister did anything little wrong, she would hit her.
My sister used to hide in her closet. And she would fall asleep in her closet. [SCREAMS]
A scenario started developing dealing with the abuse of a child. And then the focus went a different way,
away from kidnapping, and looking at all the abuse this child had endured. Sorry, I'm not gonna do it again.
What did you do? I can't believe you did that! NARRATOR: Detectives now believed
the very person who was caring for Trini could be involved in her murder. But Frances adamantly denies abusing the child.
I don't know what to tell you. I've already given you the whole story like 200 times.
NARRATOR: Police begin interviewing those who knew Frances best. They start with her live-in boyfriend Roger Yarborough.
It isn't long before detectives grow suspicious of him as well. My gut instinct was something was wrong,
something happened, something was trying to be covered up to throw us off track.
NARRATOR: But to pin their evasive suspects down, police need facts, facts that only Trini's skeleton
and Dr. Glassman can provide. The first thing they need to know is how Trini died.
Dr. Glassman looks for clues in Trini's skull. The skull is one of the most important
parts of the skeleton. It's also in the area that is often involved in the death of an individual, either through gunshot
or through blunt trauma. NARRATOR: Right away, Dr. Glassman sees signs that Trini
endured severe head trauma. The facial area right here shows two fractures, one right
on the right cheek right here that's caused some separation of the bones right in between my thumbs right here.
On the other side of the face near the eye right over here, we have a crack in the bone, a small fracture.
And here we have also a little bit of separation. These bones should be touching each other, but in this case
they're separated. We also see trauma that's taken place to the cheek and right above the cheek.
NARRATOR: Then Dr. Glassman discovers a third fracture. Starting right there, there's a fracture
that's going a little bit at an angle, a little bit curved, and then goes straight up almost to the top of the skull.
NARRATOR: In court, a defense attorney might try to argue that the injuries were
the result of a fall or accident of some sort, but Dr. Glassman believes the multiple fractures
are evidence of at least two separate blows to the head. The fractures would not be a typical type of fracture
that you would see in an accident such as falling down or hitting their head on the sidewalk because
of the nature of them and being found on both sides and in three different areas, it appears that something
more was involved. Sorry. I can't believe you did that. That's all my money! All my--
NARRATOR: To Dr. Glassman, this unique pattern of fractures point to a very specific cause of death.
These three main areas of fractures are indicative, all three of them, of a pretty powerful blow that took
place to this part of the head. I can't believe you did that! If the child was pushed or taken violently
against a flat surface, such as a wall, and that the face was pushed into that wall,
this could have caused the damage to the cheek, damage to the side of the head, as well as pushed away the bones
from each on the other side. That could, in fact, have caused death to the individual. .
NARRATOR: But there's an alternate scenario that could send Dr. Glassman back to square one.
It's possible that the skull had been fractured long after Trini's death, while the skeleton spent almost two
years exposed to the elements. Dr. Glassman examines the inside of the skull to see if he can determine the exact time the break occurred.
And when you look at the fractures from inside the fracture itself, you can notice that the coloration is
the same on the inside of the fracture as the surrounding area of bone. NARRATOR: That means they've been exposed to the elements
for the same amount of time. And this suggests to me that that fracture has taken place
very recent to the time of death of the individual, as opposed to something that may have happened postmortem.
NARRATOR: Dr. Glassman immediately reports his findings to investigators. Dr. Glassman's evaluation of the case, the trauma
to the head could have been the cause of death or fatal to the child. NARRATOR: Based on the forensic findings,
police now have evidence of how Trini was murdered. Now they're ready to confront their prime suspects--
Trini's Aunt Frances and her boyfriend Roger Yarborough. Detectives question Roger first because they believe
he'll be easier to crack. You know, Frances had lots of defenses up. And we really felt like if we were gonna get a break,
it would be through Roger. NARRATOR: Coming up, will the cracks Dr. Glassman found in Trini's skull be enough to make Roger Yarborough crack?
We told him we have more information of what might have happened that night. NARRATOR: And later, detectives are counting on Dr. Warren
to provide enough evidence to convict the suspected killer. You don't want him getting away with it.
You just don't want someone like that loose. NARRATOR: When "Skeleton Stories" returns.
Police suspect Frances Smithwick of killing her 9-year-old niece Trini. But detectives can't tie Aunt Frances to the crime,
despite allegations that she abused Trini in the past. So they turned to the one person they
feel knows more than he's letting on, Frances' boyfriend Roger. The information is gonna be crucial,
a lot hanging on Roger's statements and the forensic evidence that we had. We told him we have good reason
to believe that you're involved with the murder of Trini Gonzales. NARRATOR: Police then describe the unique pattern of injuries
Dr. Glassman found on Trini's skull and their theory as to how she was killed. It's at that point that Roger begins to crack.
That's when he opened and he confessed. NARRATOR: After two long years, the shocking details
of what happened on the last night of Trini's short life are finally revealed. December 14, 1992, Frances and Roger are
about to snort some cocaine. Roger leaves to go get a beer from the kitchen. Her Great Aunt Frances was cutting
some cocaine on a table. And Trini was looking for some attention as a 9-year-old, obviously, would do.
And Frances was not paying any attention to her. NARRATOR: When Trini accidentally
knocks the drugs to the floor, Frances is enraged. What did you do? I can't believe you did that!
Oh my God! --spent on that stuff! I can't believe you did that. NARRATOR: She strikes Trini so hard on the left side
of the face that it fractures the skull above the ear. The blow was so powerful that it sends the right side of Trini's
head slamming into the wall. The results are two more fractures to Trini's skull, exactly how Dr. Glassman described.
Hearing the commotion, Roger rushes back into the room. When he came back to the room with the drinks,
Trini was on the floor. And she's convulsing and blood is coming from her head. NARRATOR: But Trini is still alive, just barely breathing.
Frances then gave a pillow to her boyfriend and said finish the-- finish the job. - Do it!
Do it! Roger got the pillow and put it on Trini's face and suffocated her. I don't care what you wanna do.
I don't want to go to jail. Hurry up. After that, he went into the bathroom and threw up.
OK, with all the cocaine on the floor? I don't think so. NARRATOR: Frances and Roger drag Trini's dead body
into an isolated section of woods. They then concoct a phony kidnapping story to explain her disappearance.
The confession backed up by the detailed forensic evidence is enough for police to finally charge Frances with the murder
of 9-year-old Trini Gonzalez. Roger is also charged. In court, Dr. Glassman takes the stand to help make
sure there's justice for Trini. When you're holding their skull and you're leading a jury through these
are the fractures that happened to this human being, that happened to this individual, it's very, very powerful.
NARRATOR: The jury listens to Dr. Glassman in rapt attention as he corroborates Roger Yarborough's confession.
Glassman was our silver bullet in this case. I mean, he confirmed what Yarborough was saying.
And that made the case for us. NARRATOR: The jury deliberates for less than an hour
before they deliver their verdict-- guilty. Frances gets 99 years in prison and Roger, who plead guilty,
gets 45. Frances appeals her conviction, and her appeal is denied. The verdict brings a sense of closure to Trini's family,
but nothing will ever take away the pain of losing her. My granddaughter did not hurting anybody.
She was a little angel. We're supposed to be family. You're not supposed to hurt family.
She took my best friend away from me. She took my sister. It just hurt me so much.
NARRATOR: Justice for little Trini may never have been found without the forensic expertise
of Dr. Glassman. Dr. Glassman's work in this case just meshed everything together.
He brought science into a case, and he played a tremendous part in helping put Trini's killer behind bars.
I am so pleased that Trini was found and identified and the people who committed the crime have
been sentenced and put away. At the same time, Trini herself is not better off and never will be.
And so I'm not sure that I can find any solace in that. She's not gonna return. Very sad.
NARRATOR: Coming up, in hopes of giving investigators the evidence they so desperately need,
Dr. Warren turns to his last resort. So what we're left with in this case, then, is a non-conventional way of looking at identification.
But that's all we had in this case, so we went with it. NARRATOR: That's next on "Skeleton Stories."
On a warm, sunny Florida afternoon, Detective Jeffrey Raker and his team comb through the woods on a painstaking search.
Earlier in the day, they received an anonymous tip that a human skull had been spotted
somewhere in this remote stretch of forest. But after several hours of searching,
police are beginning to believe that the call might have been a hoax. Then they stumble onto a grisly scene that
proves the call was no joke. And there was a skull with the lower jaw bone in the middle of this field.
NARRATOR: It's clear right away that the skull is human. The search team methodically scours the surrounding woods
for more remains, but their search turns up only a few more bones-- an arm and two ribs.
They have a theory on why they may be unable to find a more complete skeleton. A lot of animals in that area have been eating on the body.
NARRATOR: The hours long search will now become part of a much longer investigation that could
last weeks, months, or years. Anytime you find a skull or body part or bones, you need to positively identify who they are.
NARRATOR: Police believe the skull and bones may contain clues to the victim's identity
and how that person died. But they need an expert to unlock the story. No skeleton is boring.
NARRATOR: They turn to forensic anthropologist Dr. Michael Warren of the University of Florida.
There's always a fascinating story attached to each of these cases. And every skeleton that I've seen
has had something about it that's fascinating. And that's the great thing about my job.
NARRATOR: But Dr. Warren will have to do this particular job with just the victim's
skull, arm bone, and two ribs. Even in cases where you only have a few of the bones of the skeleton,
you still would do your normal analyses, determining the biological profile of that individual, male or female, ancestry,
stature, and age at death. NARRATOR: First he examines the skull. The eyebrow region can tell him whether the person
is male or female. In the male, if we put him sideways, we see that he has these very distinct brow ridges.
NARRATOR: But the skull found in the woods has no distinctive brow ridges. Dr. Warren believes this person is female.
If you look at most females, it's very, very smooth. So when we look at this one, she has some very slight
raised areas above her eyes, but they certainly don't protrude. NARRATOR: Next, Dr. Warren examines the teeth, which
can help them determine whether the person is a child or an adult. All of the teeth are completely developed.
That tells us that this person is an adult. NARRATOR: Then Dr. Warren examines the skull's nasal cavity which helps them identify her race.
Europeans tend to have this nasal sill that's very prominent where you can actually take a pen
and put it on the nose and it'll stay there. And if that nose was guttered liked
on African-American's nose, that pen would not stay there. NARRATOR: Now Dr. Warren knows the remains are
that of a white adult female. But he isn't finished yet. He measures the arm bone to estimate the person's height.
He discovers she was short for an adult female, no more than 5 feet 3 inches tall.
So we were still able to get the four biological profile components that forensic anthropologists normally
try to get. NARRATOR: Upon receiving Dr. Warren's profile, detective Raker doesn't even have to search
the missing persons database. He spent the past year investigating the disappearance of a petite white woman
named Olivia Pearson. Olivia fits Dr. Warren's description to a T. If the remains are indeed hers, it
would be a tragic end for a woman who was just 35 years old. Olivia was an outgoing, hardworking woman who owned
a small housekeeping business. Those who knew her had only nice things to say about her.
From what I can gather with the neighbors and friends of hers, she's a very likable person.
NARRATOR: Why would someone like Olivia disappear so suddenly. Detective Raker believes the answers were there
when he first began his investigation into Olivia's disappearance a year ago. July 23, 1986, Detective Raker responds to a frantic phone
call from a woman named Ellen Fields. Ellen tells him that she and her best friend Olivia Pearson
had plans to go out to lunch. But when Ellen arrived at Olivia's house, there was no answer.
Instead she saw something shocking inside. Right away, Detective Raker suspects that something is wrong.
There's what appeared to be blood smears on the door. It's on the carpet. You can tell there had been quite a bit of blood
on the floor, and somebody had attempted to scrub it up and do a cleanup job. NARRATOR: But few cleanup jobs are good enough
to stand up to a luminol test. When the luminol spray makes contact with even trace amounts of blood,
it emits a fluorescent glow under black light. And Olivia's home begins to glow with signs that something
horrific happened there. You could see the small hand prints on the carpet. And you can see the blood and the hand smears.
[SCREAMING] NARRATOR: To detectives the amount of blood and the attempt to conceal point to a grim scenario.
There was evidence that somebody could have been killed or they were hurt very bad.
NARRATOR: Assuming Olivia or someone was assaulted in the house, police begin searching for suspects.
Neighbors and friends immediately tell police about the man who shared the house with Olivia,
her boyfriend Jesse Stanton. And according to neighbors, Jesse had a history of violence.
She's in a domestic violent type relationship where she has been hurt. I expect to have my dinner ready.
Gone from a simple pull of the hair or a push, to being punched. He actually broke her collarbone.
NARRATOR: In June 1986, Olivia pressed charges against Jesse, and he was convicted and jailed for domestic abuse.
Friends hoped that would be the end of their relationship, but Olivia had other ideas.
She let him back on a trial basis. Detective Raker hauled Jesse in for questioning.
And the story he tells police is suspicious. His story is that he didn't hear anything.
He's a hard sleeper. NARRATOR: Detective Raker strongly suspects that Jesse is somehow linked
to Olivia's disappearance. But the presence of blood alone is not enough. Without a body, police cannot arrest him for murder.
In order to prosecute a murder, you have to have a victim. There had been, at that time, two,
maybe three times in the United States that they were actually able to successfully
prosecute someone for a murder and did not have the body. NARRATOR: Detective Raker and his team
search a 20-mile radius, but find no trace of Olivia. A year passes and the case grows ice cold.
The police were concerned that they would never uncover the remains and perhaps this case would
ultimately not be prosecutable. NARRATOR: Now with the discovery of the skull and bones in the woods, police may finally have the evidence
they need to make an arrest. But even though Dr. Warren has provided a biological profile,
authorities need proof that the partial skeleton in the woods is actually Olivia.
The easiest way to identify a skull is to compare its teeth to dental x-rays, but again, police hit a dead end.
In this case, there were no dental records to be found. NARRATOR: These bones and this entire case
will be filed away on a shelf if Detective Raker can't find a way to connect the remains to Olivia Pearson.
Coming up, investigators turn to Dr. Warren for answers, but the bones are offering up few clues.
Of course, the less bones that you have, the more likely it is that you won't find any evidence.
NARRATOR: When "Skeleton Stories" continues. Authorities are counting on Dr. Warren
to tie the remains found in the Florida woods to missing person Olivia Pearson. Without this positive ID, they will not
have enough evidence to build a case against her suspected killer Jesse Stanton.
You don't want him getting away with it. You just don't want someone like that loose.
NARRATOR: As a next step, Dr. Warren probes investigators on the details of Olivia
and Jesse's relationship. There was strong reason to believe that this disappeared woman had suffered
some trauma in that home. NARRATOR: The reports of domestic abuse give Dr. Warren an idea.
If he can track down medical records from previous hospital visits, he may be able to match them to the remains found
in the woods. By comparing a skull sinus cavity side by side with an X-ray, a forensic anthropologist
can easily make a positive ID. Frontal sinuses are unique to each individual, their shape,
their outline is considered a forensic fingerprint. NARRATOR: But Dr. Warren has dealt another setback.
Those medical records were not available probably because she never sought treatment
for those traumatic injuries. In many cases where someone's being abused, they're not permitted to go to the hospital for treatment
by the person that's beating them. NARRATOR: Without dental records or x-rays, the investigation looks like it might grind to a halt,
but Dr. Warren has one more unorthodox trick up his sleeve. So what we're left with in this case then is
a non-conventional way of looking at identification, a technique called video superimposition.
Video superimposition is a method which you take your specimen which is a skull, and you
superimpose a photograph of someone who is believed to be that decedent. It's truly an art and a science.
NARRATOR: If the video images of the skull and photos sync up along a series of matching points,
Dr. Warren can make a positive identification, but first he must obtain just the right still
photograph of Olivia. We had to send a picture, a frontal face picture of the victim to Dr. Warren.
It really puts a personal face on the case. Then you get to see what that person looked like.
And that's emotional when you really now then connect your work with the actual personal tragedy
that's involved. NARRATOR: But Dr. Warren knows he can't let his emotions get in the way of the task at hand.
I've seen a lot of death and a lot of tragedy. I think we're pretty good at catching ourselves
before we get too much emotionally invested in it. NARRATOR: The video superimposition process
requires two video cameras. Dr. Warren focuses one camera on the photo of Olivia.
The other is focused on the skull. The images are then fed into a video mixer which allows them to be blended to see if there is a fit.
The key is to make sure the angle of the skull exactly matches the angle of Olivia's face in the photo.
Yeah, Laurel is putting dowels into the ear holes. And that gives us an axis of how to orient
the skull to the photograph. NARRATOR: Once Dr. Warren has the proportions matched,
he compares key features on Olivia's face to the skull. The jaw bone, the width of the eyes,
the height of the forehead, the cheekbones, and the teeth. It's a very long process of trying
to evaluate the photograph and look at the position of the head in that photo and approximating that by manipulating the skull
under the other camera. NARRATOR: After a painstaking examination, Dr. Warren sees haunting evidence
that Olivia's facial features fit the skull perfectly. In fact, Olivia's photo almost seems
to bring the skull to life. The job Dr. Warren's team did with the picture and the skull
and put it all together to say that, yes, we've identified the victim. They sent a report back saying that they
believed that this was her. NARRATOR: Prosecutors now believe they have enough evidence to convince a jury
that this is Olivia. But now they want to know if the skull holds any clues to how she died.
Cause of death is an issue in any homicide that you're prosecuting. NARRATOR: This challenge once again
falls to Dr. Warren, who focuses on the network of fractures on Olivia's skull. It had a fracture of her maxilla
which is this area that extends from her left eye socket. She had nasal bone fractures on both sides.
She also had a fracture that extends down through what's called the infraorbital foramen which provides the feeling
for the left side of your face. That must have been very painful. NARRATOR: But the fractures are in various stages of healing,
some years old, some more recent. This healing process indicates that they were not
caused at the time of death. You never have dinner ready. You never have my dinner ready.
NARRATOR: All Dr. Warren can conclude is that the fractures fit the pattern of the many cases of domestic violence
that ultimately result in homicide. We have a lot of cases where people have been abused their whole life, and that's evident.
Their bones tell that life history. And they are at risk to end up in our laboratory.
NARRATOR: But without a specific cause of death the problem will lie in proving beyond a reasonable doubt
that Olivia was murdered and that Jesse killed her. Despite this obstacle, prosecutors
hope a jury will take into consideration the history of abuse and connect the violent dots.
When you put everything together, you're looking at the blood in the house, a violent history of the past.
You never have my dinner ready. What we're finding with the skull, the totality of the whole thing-- she was beat to death.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors may never know exactly what happened to Olivia in her final hours, but based on Dr. Warren's
forensic evidence and a year-long police investigation, they develop a theory. On the night of her death, Olivia
returns home late after an evening out with friends. And he had been waiting at home.
And they got into an argument over her being with her friends. Where do you think you're going?
Don't worry about it. I'm just going to bed. No, you're not! NARRATOR: Investigators believe that a fight breaks out
and Jesse begins to beat her. She bleeds profusely. [SCREAMING] But the attack leaves no evidence on the bones.
It's perfectly plausible that she died of some type of closed head injury. She may have been knocked unconscious
and her airway occluded. There's so many different scenarios that you can think of that would have resulted in her death
without marking the bone. NARRATOR: That night Jesse tries to clean up the blood,
then drives to a remote area where he dumps Olivia's body. And he just left her out to be eaten by animals.
NARRATOR: For the next 12 months, he gets away with murder. As long as Olivia's body isn't found,
Jesse knows that authorities can't arrest him. He thought he was able to outsmart us.
To him it was just a game, see how long he could get away with it. NARRATOR: Coming up, investigators
are ready to charge Jesse Stanton with Olivia's murder. But will Dr. Warren's evidence hold up in court?
If the jury comes back and just a little doubt is in their mind, we cannot go back and recharge him.
NARRATOR: When "Skeleton Stories" returns. On the strength of Dr. Warren's findings,
Detective Raker heads out to arrest Jesse Stanton for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Olivia
Pearson. We went to one house. And they said, he knows you're looking for him. He's waiting on a ride.
So I went down there, and sure enough, he was back in the shadows waiting on his ride.
So we picked him up and I arrested him. Under interrogation, Jesse tries to play
the same games he's played with detectives in the past. But Jesse is about to learn that it's a whole new playing field.
When Detective Sowder told him, he says, well, we have found her. He just clammed up and said he wanted
his attorney at that point. He knew it was over, and he just shut up. NARRATOR: As the case goes to court,
prosecutors are faced with a challenging case. Without a murder weapon, a positive ID, a confession,
or an exact cause of death, it will not be easy to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt
that Jesse murdered Olivia. If a jury comes back and just a little doubt is in their mind
and they don't convict him, we cannot go back and recharge him. It's a double jeopardy rule.
NARRATOR: The trial begins on February 10, 1988. Prosecutor Moore's first challenge
is to convince the jury that the remains found in the woods are those of Olivia Pearson.
The highlight of Dr. Warren's testimony is showing the jury the video superimposition process.
Then all of a sudden this picture comes up right there over the skull of the victim.
I think the old saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words. NARRATOR: His analysis provides strong evidence
that the skull belongs to Olivia Pearson, but it also goes a step further. It really personalizes that victim
and reminds everyone on the jury that we're talking about a person. And to superimpose that photograph
from the top of a skull really drives the point home that that person is no longer here.
NARRATOR: The jury sees Olivia Pearson smiling back at them bringing her skull to life.
And it's her skull that Dr. Warren uses to tell the jury about the pattern of brutal abuse Olivia endured during her final months.
They also were able to show us where her nose had been broken from the skull. And a cheek bone had been broken and had healed.
So she had several healed fractures of the face that were consistent with the beatings.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors also point out that the defendant Jesse Stanton had been convicted of brutally abusing Olivia
and had recently been released from jail. During closing arguments, the prosecution
asked the jury to connect the dots of evidence, the video superimposition, Jesse Stanton's history of violence--
You never have my dinner ready! NARRATOR: --crime scene photos of blood throughout the house,
and Jesse's suspicious story about the night Olivia disappeared. After deliberating for just three hours,
the jury reaches a verdict-- guilty of first degree murder. Jesse is sentenced to life without parole for the murder
of Olivia Pearson. His appeal has been denied. It's always gratifying to the prosecutor
and to the family and the police when a case like this gets solved and someone is prosecuted and convicted
and punished for the crime. NARRATOR: But without Dr. Warren's work, Jesse might never have even been arrested.
Dr. Warren's role in this investigation is he really brought that victim to life in the courtroom.
NARRATOR: Olivia's family also finds some solace knowing that justice has finally been served.
I think the family was very gratified the killer of their loved one was actually found guilty by a jury
and serving a life sentence. NARRATOR: For Dr. Warren, there is nothing more gratifying than making sure Jesse Stanton will never abuse
or murder another woman again. When my analysis plays a major role in the prosecution of a killer, then that
gives me great satisfaction.

Two boys find a nine-year-old girl's body in a creek two years after she had disappeared. An anonymous caller's tip leads a detective to a human skull, an arm bone and two ribs in a rural field.

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

Forensic experts solve the murders of Trini Gonzalez and Olivia Pearson through skeletal analysis and uncover shocking truths about their deaths.

Key points

The Discovery of Trini's Remains. Detectives find a child-sized skeleton in the woods, raising hopes of solving a two-year-old case.
Forensic Breakthrough. Dr. Glassman identifies the cause of death through examination of Trini's skull, leading to a murder charge.
The Emotional Toll on Family. Trini's disappearance deeply affects her family, especially her sister, who feels a profound loss.
Dr. Warren's Identification Process. Dr. Warren uses video superimposition to identify the remains as Olivia Pearson's.
Jesse Stanton Arrested. Detective Raker arrests Jesse Stanton based on Dr. Warren's findings.
Guilty Verdict. After three hours of deliberation, the jury finds Jesse Stanton guilty of murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

But it was the remains of a small child.

Detectives discover the tragic truth.

2:44WatchSep 17, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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