Skeleton Stories - Season 1, Episode 9 - Drastic Measures - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: A small town is rattled when a dead body is found in a garbage can.
I could seeing hip bones and the belt still around the headphones. NARRATOR: Can Dr. Michael Warren figure out who this person is
and what happened to them? It was unlike anything I had seen before. NARRATOR: Then, a woman stumbles upon a gruesome scene,
a homeless man dead in the woods. There's a big hole in his head. Can Dr. Glassman help find justice for a man living
on the fringes of society? It's really sad in a case like this, when the individual
probably bled to death. [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: A small community in Georgia. Neighbors here often keep to themselves.
But are always ready with a helping hand whenever someone needs it. Susanne Woodard lent her neighbors
a mop bucket several months ago and hasn't seen it since. Now, she needs her bucket back.
The door is usually open, but this time, it's locked. SUSANNE WOODARD (VOICEOVER): I was just standing
there, just looking around. Something just kept telling me, you know, come to the shed.
You know, go look in the shed. NARRATOR: The closer she gets to the shed, the more she smells something rotting.
I thought it was just a rat or cat or a squirrel, you know, had died in the shed.
Then, I noticed there was a big garbage can. And then, I looked back and I was like, what are they doing
with a garbage can in here? When I pulled it closer, I leaned it and I opened it.
I could see hip bones and the belt still around the hip bones. NARRATOR: Susanne believes the remains
are human and immediately phones the sheriff's department. Detective Robert Dean rushes to the scene
to investigate the case. He confirms Susanne's dark suspicions. The body was in a state of advanced decomposition.
You could tell that it was human remains. But other than that, it was impossible to tell
who the person was. NARRATOR: Right away, Assistant State Attorney Tim Browning suspects he
has a murder case on his hands. Certainly a human body in a garbage can in a fairly close community is going to raise
red flags all over the place. And the suspicion is definitely foul play and probably
of the highest order. NARRATOR: But all investigators have to work with are bones.
So to help solve this case, they call in forensic anthropologist Dr. Michael Warren
from the University of Florida. Dr. Warren will try to use the skeleton to identify the body
and determine a cause of death. Skeletons tell the story of a person's life. What I do is the same thing that, say,
an archaeologist is doing. I'm trying to reconstruct a past event and trying to better understand what's going on with the humans
that are involved. 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: Before he gets a look at the body,
Dr. Warren knows this will be no ordinary case. Take a left here. When we got to the medical examiner's office,
we saw something that we don't normally see, which was a large trashcan. It was just brilliant the way that the crime
scene investigators decided to just keep the body in the trash can. NARRATOR: Leaving the remains in the trash
can allows Dr. Warren to see the body exactly as it was discovered. It was as if the body had been folded in half
with the head down and then the feet were at the bottom of the receptacle. It was liquefied.
It was very decomposed. NARRATOR: Ironically, by hiding the body in the trash can, the killer actually slowed
down the decomposition process. The trash can presents a controlled environment.
It's protected from insects that may come through. It decreases the amount of variation in the temperature
that would have occurred had the body been outside of a receptacle. The trash can basically helped preserve the body.
NARRATOR: Although the body is well preserved, investigators still have no idea who it is
and how this person ended up in the trash can. As Dr. Warren begins his examination of the bones,
investigators canvassed the neighborhood, hoping to learn all they can about the occupants
of the house. Within two or three hours, we knew that two brothers lived there. NARRATOR: Police learned that the older
brother's name is Ed Gill. He's been in prison for four months for passing bad checks.
Neighbors tell police the younger brother is Larry Gill, a quiet man who was a carpenter by trade.
SUSANNE WOODARD (VOICEOVER): He worked hard. He did they labor. He would come home in the afternoon
and he'd drink his beer. As long as I knew him, he had never hurt anybody. NARRATOR: Investigators learned that the Gill brothers mostly
kept to themselves, in the house they lived in together since childhood. Their father had passed away a few years back
and they may have had distant relatives, but they were pretty much alone in the world together.
NARRATOR: But police can't find Larry Gill to question him. And the neighbors haven't seen him in six months.
For more background on Larry, investigators turned to his incarcerated brother. Ed is stunned by the news of a body in his shed.
And he has only sketchy information on Larry's whereabouts. He told us that his brother had left with his girlfriend
and hadn't heard from him in a while. NARRATOR: Those who know Larry find this sudden move
uncharacteristic. Larry loved his home. He was raised there. And I cannot see him going, well, this is it.
I'm tired of it. I'm leaving all of this. NARRATOR: But to investigators, Larry's abrupt departure
is consistent with the way a murderer would flee a murder scene. They wonder if this quiet man could be the killer who dumped
the body in the trash can. This was not consistent behavior for Larry Gill, to simply fall off the face of the Earth.
NARRATOR: Coming up, detectives, now more than ever, are counting on Dr. Warren to extract clues from the bones.
This case is unlike anything I had seen before. And I've seen a lot of skeletons.
NARRATOR: And later, prosecutors are counting on Dr. Glassman to find evidence that a hatchet found in the woods
is the murder weapon. The district attorney is very interested in having this hatchet fit.
But I'm an unbiased scientist. And I have to look at all possibilities. NARRATOR: When "Skeleton Stories" returns.
Forensic anthropologist Dr. Michael Warren needs to put a name to the bones found in a trash can.
This discovery was made behind the home shared by two brothers, Larry and Ed Gill.
One reason that we identify the dead is to help those that are left behind deal,
emotionally, with that death. NARRATOR: Determining the victim's identity will also help police develop potential suspects.
We hoped that Dr. Warren would be able to identify the victim. Without that information, there's no way we can
proceed with a criminal charge. NARRATOR: Dr. Warren begins by laying out each bone
on the examination table. The first order of business is to do an inventory and see what bones are there, to make sure
that the whole body's there. NARRATOR: He then begins to create a biological profile
of the victim to narrow down his or her sex, age, stature, and even ancestry. We may be able to provide a little bit of information,
general information, in terms of the biological characteristics of the decedent.
NARRATOR: In the human skeleton, the differences between the sexes are most obvious in the pelvis.
Designed for child bearing, a woman's pelvic bone has a visibly wider opening. Dr. Warren finds a smaller pelvic opening in the decedent,
establishing that this victim is male. Then, he notices something unusual in the victim's bones.
When the first bone comes out and then I take a look, I see, well that's a benign tumor.
That will be helpful in identifying this person. Then, the next long bone comes out.
And my goodness, there's two lesions on this one bone. All of these long ones have tumors.
The number of lesions that we saw in this case is unlike anything I had seen before.
And I've seen a lot of skeletons. NARRATOR: These multiple lesions, or tumors, indicate that the victim
suffered from a rare disease. It became apparent that this individual, in fact, did have a hereditary bone disease called
hereditary multiple exostoses. NARRATOR: Hereditary multiple exostoses, or HME, is so rare it occurs in just 1 in 50,000 people.
It is a disease of the growth plates that causes abnormal growth of bone. So the growth occurs at both ends of those long bones.
And this disease causes abnormal benign tumors. NARRATOR: HME is usually diagnosed during childhood
and can profoundly affect the development process of the afflicted person's bones.
What it causes is for one bone to grow longer than another bone. NARRATOR: And in the case of the skeleton found in the trash
can, Dr. Warren notes the leg bones are different lengths, most likely affecting
the victim's ability to walk. He actually had limbs that were of different length
that might have caused him to-- to limp. NARRATOR: This finding rocks the investigation.
Police know the man they want to question in connection with the body, Larry Gill,
also walked with a limp. Now, police believe Larry gill might not be the killer after all.
Instead, he might be the victim, the person they found stuffed in the trash can.
To verify this identification, Dr. Warren compares x-rays of the bones found in the trash can
with those of Larry Gill. Mr. Gill's skeleton was was different than any other skeleton in the world.
NARRATOR: In Larry Gill's x-rays, Dr. Warren sees tumors caused by the rare HME disease.
The tumors on both sets of x-rays are an exact match. So are the screws and plates doctors used to shore up Larry
Gill's weakened, brittle bones. And there's seven screws in it. And there it is.
After looking at these films and comparing them, it's pretty evident that this is Larry Gill.
NARRATOR: Thanks to Dr. Warren, investigators now know that Larry Gill, the man first considered a suspect,
is in fact the victim. The news of Larry's death saddens those who knew this quiet and likeable man.
He'd grown up in that house, lived in the neighborhood his entire life, everybody knew him.
He loved his neighborhood. And he loved his friends. Larry was a gentle guy. He was so close to us that our daughter called him uncle.
He was just like a brother to me. NARRATOR: Now, investigators must find justice for Larry Gill.
But first, they need to prove he was murdered, before they can charge anyone with a crime.
DR. WARREN (VOICEOVER): The body was in a trash can. And that's usually not a natural death.
So we're looking for anything that would tell us what the cause and manner of death
might have been. NARRATOR: Without a cause of death, the killer could get away with murder.
Police need Dr. Warren to search for clues contained in the skeleton that could prove Larry Gill was murdered.
Coming up, detectives are counting on Dr. Warren to find evidence of murder. We knew it was a homicide.
The question at that point was, could we prove it was a homicide? NARRATOR: And later, prosecutors are determined to bring
peace to a distraught family. They wanted to know what happened to him. NARRATOR: When "Skeleton Stories" returns.
Investigators are counting on forensic anthropologist Dr. Michael Warren to determine how Larry Gill died.
It's crucial that we have a cause of death, so that we can proceed with identification of a suspect
and the prosecution of that person. NARRATOR: As a first step, Dr. Warren examines x-rays of the Larry Gill's skull
and immediately finds evidence of foul play. He had some fractures of his face that showed that he had been struck several times.
NARRATOR: Dr. Warren also finds additional fractures in Larry Gill's tibia, more commonly known
as the shin bone. You can actually see the fracture, which is right here. Very subtle fracture.
NARRATOR: And he is sure these fractures are completely unrelated to the HME lesions that
weakened Larry's leg bones. DR. WARREN (VOICEOVER): This fracture was through good quality bone.
The fracture had nothing to do with the tumors that he had in his lower legs. That's a blow.
You know, that's-- that's a traumatic blow. This was a traumatic injury. NARRATOR: But he determined that all of these fractures
were not life threatening and occurred prior to Larry's death. He had some fractures that he had occurred
during his life that were in various stages of healing or were healed. None of these traumatic injuries are recent.
NARRATOR: Dr. Warren concludes that fractures of this nature, acquired over many years, did not kill Larry.
But they paint a disturbing portrait of unrelenting abuse. What he finds next supports his theory.
He also had a wound in his hand that we refer to as a boxer's fracture. And that is a fracture of the fourth or fifth digit, usually,
in a bone called the metacarpal. NARRATOR: Boxer's fractures are often found in people who use their fist to defend themselves
from heavy blows in a fight. But investigators wonder who would savagely beat someone
as well like this Larry. He was a real laid back, easygoing kind of guy that didn't have any problems with anyone.
NARRATOR: Detectives establish that Larry had no criminal record and kept to himself.
He lived a quiet life and devoted himself to taking care of his elderly parents prior to their death.
SUSANNE WOODARD (VOICEOVER): That was Larry. He'd make sure supper was done or clothes were washed.
NARRATOR: But neighbors had a different impression of his brother Ed. Ed Gill was a very large man, very powerful and intimidating.
He was best described as a bully by the neighbors. He was one of these guys that could come up to you
and take your glasses off your face and you would be happy to give it to him. NARRATOR: When police dig further into Ed's background,
what they uncover seems to support Dr. Warren's findings. Our investigation revealed that Ed Gill had been arrested
a couple of years earlier-- Look at me when I talk to you. For the aggravated battery of his brother.
NARRATOR: Ed attacked Larry with an ax handle, breaking both of Larry's legs, several ribs, and both wrists.
He also fractured Larry's face and skull. The comment from the doctor was that this beating
did everything but kill Larry. NARRATOR: At the time, Ed is convicted of assault. He serves
a few months in prison and is paroled on the condition that he stay away from Larry.
But Ed is determined to remain in the family home. He moves right back in with Larry.
Larry stays, despite the constant abuse. TIM BROWNING (VOICEOVER): Larry was a victim of domestic violence.
In the cycle of domestic violence, it's not uncommon for people to stay under very
oppressive physical conditions. You have two people who are living under the same roof,
one of them is on felony probation for a physical attack on the other. And that creates an environment that is just ripe for problems.
NARRATOR: Nearly two years later, tensions escalate when a probation officer pays Ed gill a visit.
The officer threatens to send Ed back to prison, unless he stops living with his brother.
You're not supposed to be here. NARRATOR: Ed's solution to the problem, investigators believe,
is to move Larry out of the house permanently, by killing him. We know, as far as the motive, why Ed would kill Larry.
I think his dislike for his brother and the fact that the home was the place he wanted to be in,
he couldn't be there if his brother was there, was motive enough for him to kill his brother.
NARRATOR: Several days after the probation officer's visit, Larry disappears. Ed's apparent ruthlessness shocks even
seasoned homicide prosecutors. The thing that stood out in my mind is how a person, not so much could kill their brother, which
is tragic enough, but then lived for weeks and months in the same house, knowing that their brother is
out there in the utility shed, in the garbage can. NARRATOR: Ed is easy for police to find.
He spent over a month in the county jail for passing bad checks. You put him in the trash can.
NARRATOR: But during the interrogation, Ed is hard to crack. He denies murdering his brother and holds to his story.
Detectives believe Ed is concealing the dark secret of how he murdered Larry. But Larry's skeleton may yet be able to reveal Ed's secret,
if Dr. Warren can read what the bones have to say. First, Dr. Warren must clean the remaining flesh and tissue
to get a closer look at the bones. This cleaning process is called maceration. It's simply putting bones into pot
and using warm water to soften up the soft tissue enough where it can be removed using plastic utensils and nylon brushes,
so as not to damage the bones. NARRATOR: Without proper precautions, the odor of the macerating bone would
be almost impossible to bear. DR. WARREN (VOICEOVER): We have maceration stations.
And these stations are designed then to draw air from inside of the laboratory, toward the specimens, and up, so we don't smell that in the lab.
And hopefully, in a day or two, we'll be able to take a good look at this. NARRATOR: Two days later, Dr. Warren
inspects the newly macerated bones, but is disappointed to discover they still don't
point to a cause of death. Everything that we're finding on Mr. Gill's body is antemortem, it's things that happened
during his life that are healed or in the process of healing. So none of these things had any significance in terms
of causing Mr. Gill's death. It's a major setback in the case. Without a cause of death, police can't charged Ed with murder,
despite his previous pattern of abuse toward Larry. Proximity alone, even with suspicions,
isn't enough to charge someone with a crime. There are a lot of other ways that a person could die.
A mere disposal of a body is a misdemeanor. NARRATOR: Unless Dr. Warren can find the cause of death,
Ed could get away with a slap on the wrist. Police are now, more than ever, counting on Dr. Warren
to prove Larry was murdered. We know we're dealing with a homicide. But we can't find out why.
NARRATOR: Coming up, Dr. Warren finds a small clue. But is it enough to connect Ed Gill with the murder
of his only brother? If this was a puzzle, there was 100 pieces that had to be put together.
NARRATOR: And later, investigators are counting on Dr. Glassman, more than ever, to build a case
against a suspected killer. We were pretty short on direct evidence. NARRATOR: When "Skeleton Stories" returns.
Forensic anthropologist Dr. Michael Warren is on a quest to prove how Larry Gill died.
No, we do not have all of them. I was looking very carefully for cut marks, stab marks, gunshot wounds,
any type of blunt trauma. NARRATOR: Investigators suspect Larry was murdered by his brother Ed Gill.
But suspicion alone is not enough. Without a cause of death, investigators hands are tied
and justice may never be served. Larry's larger bones reveal no clues about how he died.
Now, Dr. Warren turns his attention to one of the smallest bones in the human body, the hyoid bone.
DR. WARREN (VOICEOVER): This is the hyoid bone here. NARRATOR: This small U-shaped bone
is the only bone in the human body not connected to any other bone. Instead, it's attached to ligaments
that protect the vocal cords. And you can see, it floats around very freely. And it's actually suspended from ligaments
up at the base of the skull. NARRATOR: Though the hyoid bone is tiny and fragile,
it's nearly impossible to break. Because it floats around, it's very difficult to fracture
that through most blunt trauma. That's why you would never hear of someone falling and hitting
the edge of, perhaps, a coffee table or maybe getting punched in the throat and fracturing this bone, because it moves around.
NARRATOR: But as Dr. Warren examines Larry Gill's hyoid bone, he makes a stunning discovery.
The tiny bone is broken. This is the body of the hyoid here. And this was part of the wing of the hyoid.
And it's fractured. You can see that it's pulled away. NARRATOR: One of the smallest bones in the human body
leads to the biggest revelation of the case. The broken hyoid points directly to the cause of death.
Over 99% of all fractures that are due to blunt trauma in the hyoid bone are caused by manual strangulation.
That hyoid bone, in order to fracture it, has to be held in place on both sides and squeezed.
So it's compression that causes that. So there's the cause of death, manual strangulation.
NARRATOR: Now that Dr. Warren has established the cause of death, police formulate a theory as to how
and why Ed murdered Larry. It's Friday night, October 3rd, 2003. Ed Gill comes home to find Larry cooking in the kitchen.
So what you cooking us, little brother? NARRATOR: The two brothers get into a heated
argument about Ed's continued presence in the home. You know I live here too. And you know you're not supposed to be.
We talked about this. He viewed his brother as an interference to him staying in the family home.
I took care of this with the parole officer. Everything's fine. And like so many arguments they had previously--
Is that what you're calling me? DET. ROBERT DEAN (VOICEOVER): It escalated into a physical confrontation.
Ed being the stronger and more violent personality, simply overpowered his younger brother.
NARRATOR: Ed grabs Larry by the neck and begins to choke him. Ed's grip cuts off Larry's air supply
and restricts the flow of blood. And his clutch is so hard that he snaps Larry's hyoid bone.
The jugular vein and the carotid arteries of Larry's neck are obstructed and unable to carry
blood in and out of the brain. Larry's brain quickly becomes starved for oxygen. After 10 seconds, he loses consciousness.
Soon all brain signals cease to function and Larry dies. I think it's as simple as someone
was going to leave that house. And in the defendant's mind, it wasn't going to be him.
His brother left. His brother left at his hands. NARRATOR: Then, Ed carries the body out to the shed,
folds it over, and stuffs it in the garbage can. Ed carried on his normal activities of life, basically
not having a regard at all to the body being right there in the shed. NARRATOR: Two months later, Ed is arrested
for passing bad checks. The body remains in the garbage can until it is later discovered by the neighbor, Susanne.
If we had not discovered the body, there would have been no homicide investigation.
NARRATOR: Dr. Warren's proof that Larry Gill was strangled gives police the evidence they need
to charge Ed Gill with murder. DR. WARREN (VOICEOVER): It's a horrible crime. Brother killing another brother, that's as bad as you get.
NARRATOR: Ed Gill pleads not guilty and the case goes to trial. In court, prosecutors use Dr. Warren's findings
to establish that the skeleton found in the trash can was in fact Larry Gill. Then, prosecutors used Dr. Warren's discovery
of the broken hyoid bone as proof Larry was strangled to death. The DA ties Ed Gill to the crime with
the circumstantial evidence. After just three hours of deliberation, the jury returns with its verdict, guilty.
He was found guilty of second degree murder. NARRATOR: On June 16th, 2005, Ed Gill
was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his brother Larry. His subsequent appeal has been dismissed.
As tragic as the story is, there would have been no justice for Larry without Dr. Warren's work.
Dr. Warren's contribution to the case was crucial. Without his contribution, there would have been no case.
I honestly believe justice was served. Most of all, we found Larry. Because to this day, if we had not have found out,
we would've all been, you know, wondering what happened to him. NARRATOR: For Dr. Warren, the satisfaction is not only
in a job well done, but also knowing that he's made a difference. I have found a way to personally handle
the tragedy that I work with. For me, it's the ability to help, even if it's in some tangential, small way.
NARRATOR: Coming up, Dr. Glassman is determined to bring justice to a man whose life was cut short.
DR. GLASSMAN (VOICEOVER): It's almost as if he was forgotten. He was not forgotten at all.
NARRATOR: That's next on "Skeleton Stories." Hey. NARRATOR: Early in the morning on a warm spring
day in Greeneville, Alabama, a woman takes her dog for a walk in the woods. Suddenly, she smells something, an overpowering, putrid odor
coming from a dense stretch of brush. She knew something-- something bad had happened.
Somebody may have been deceased in there. So she came out and called. NARRATOR: Police have responded to 911 calls from this area
many times in the past. The people that live in these woods are the transients, the homeless people.
NARRATOR: Officers follow the sickening stench to its source. Hey, Bill. NARRATOR: A man covered in a blanket.
It almost looked like he was just laying there asleep. NARRATOR: But he's not asleep.
He's dead. BRANDY MUELLER (VOICEOVER): The skull was exposed. There was brain matter that was also exposed.
There was a big hole in his head. NARRATOR: Detectives must first identify the remains, which is often difficult with the homeless.
But fortunately, they find a driver's license in the victim's clothing. From his fingerprint, investigators
confirmed the body belonged to a man named Larry Boyd. Police immediately notify his family.
The victim's family said he was a friendly, sensitive, good person, who had trouble
with alcohol in his life, up until just a few weeks prior to, we believe, the date of the victim's death,
he'd been living in an apartment and helping a stepdaughter raise her two young children.
NARRATOR: Though Larry had tried to overcome his alcoholism, he was still drinking heavily.
And in the weeks before his death, he moved out of his stepdaughter's home and checked into a homeless shelter.
The family truly loved him and had-- they all kept in close contact with him. NARRATOR: The last they heard, he had left the shelter
and gone to live in a homeless camp. But they continued to speak on the phone every few weeks.
Then, suddenly, the calls stopped. Now, his family knows why. The medical examiner quickly determines the cause of death
was injury to the victim's head. But he's unable to prove if it was an accident or a homicide.
The clues to how Larry Boyd died are contained in his skull, clues that only a bone specialist can decipher.
The bone specialist investigators turned to is forensic anthropologist Dr. David Glassman from the University of Southern Indiana.
Our job is defined, not just the big things, but the minute things that tell us the whole story.
Every bone I feel, every bone I pick up, I touch, I turn in all dimensions. Each one is unique.
And if I can help the victim, then that's great. NARRATOR: Now, Dr. Glassman must try
to find justice for a person who was invisible to most of society. DR. GLASSMAN (VOICEOVER): It's really sad in a case like this.
And the reason, of course, is that you're dealing with a homeless individual who's a victim.
Investigators send Dr. Glassman a small box. In it is Larry's partial skull. He first explores the possibility
that the injuries were caused by a fall or some other accident. The area that we find the fractures in the skull
are the toughest, the strongest areas, the thickest bone are located in the top and back of the skull.
NARRATOR: To Dr. Glassman, it seems unlikely that an accident could have caused such severe fractures
in bone this thick. This would not be common if you just accidentally tripped and fell.
I would not expect the degree of destruction to the back of the skull from that.
NARRATOR: He concludes some type of object would be needed to cause this type of fracture.
And it would have to be used with extreme force. This would have taken a severe blow in order to penetrate
all the way into the brain. NARRATOR: Dr. Glassman also discovers that Larry Boyd suffered more than just one blow to the head.
It's my opinion that this individual died from two severe blows, one to the top side
of the head and the other to the back of the head. NARRATOR: Dr. Glassman reports his findings to investigators.
This is clearly a homicide. BRANDY MUELLER (VOICEOVER): It became clear that a brutal murder had taken place.
People on the prosecution wanted do everything we could to solve this murder. NARRATOR: Based on Dr. Glassman's determination
that Larry Boyd was murdered, detectives take another look at police records. One of the things the homicide detectives did
was pull all the reports that had taken place in the same vicinity in the months prior to--
to the date we believe the murder occurred. NARRATOR: They soon discover that, a month earlier,
an officer investigated a 911 calls from a man who lived in the woods. But the caller seemed unreliable.
The person who made the 911 call was a transient that had an alcohol problem. NARRATOR: He told police that a man in the homeless camp,
named Steve Palmer, was bragging that he had killed someone with a hatchet. He mentioned he had a dead body in his tent.
NARRATOR: Police drive to the encampment to see if the caller's story has any validity.
ROBERT MERRILL (VOICEOVER): The officers did interview the suspect that was named by the witness.
They did search the camp and found nothing. They went back to the 911 caller And said basically, hey, I think maybe this person
was just trying to scare you. We looked and there's not a dead body out there. NARRATOR: But now, the discovery of Larry's body
gives the bizarre 911 report new significance. And Steve Palmer is suddenly a suspect.
The next step was to find Steve and interview him. NARRATOR: Police tracked Palmer down at his ex-wife's house.
He admits to hanging out with Larry the night before his death, but says he left Larry
Boyd with two other people. And you haven't seen Mr. Boyd? No, sir. He claimed he had nothing to do with Mr. Boyd's death.
NARRATOR: Detectives have nothing tying Steve Palmer to Larry's murder, except an alcoholic's word
that Steve boasted about committing a murder with a hatchet. But as police questioned people in the homeless community,
they learned that Steve Palmer did carry a hatchet and had threatened people with it.
Now, investigators' only hope is to find that hatchet. It's important to get that weapon to see if you
can tie it back to the suspect. NARRATOR: They combed the homeless camp where Larry Boyd's body was found.
ROBERT MERRILL (VOICEOVER): We conducted a search off the trail. During that search we found a hatchet that was
about yards from the campsite. NARRATOR: Several people who live in the homeless camp
identified the hatchet as one Steve Palmer carried and used to threaten them. Now, police have a potential murder weapon in their hands
and a suspect tied to the weapon. Investigators immediately send the hatchet to Dr. Glassman.
They hope he will be able to prove it was used to kill Larry Boyd. If not, a cold blooded killer could go free.
Coming up, Dr. Glassman's bends findings threaten to send the investigation back
to square one. It may not be that the hatchet was involved in the death of this individual.
NARRATOR: Next on "Skeleton Stories." Based on circumstantial evidence, investigators suspect Steve Palmer used
a hatchet to kill Larry Boyd. But to charge Steve Palmer with murder, they need to prove the hatchet is the murder weapon.
We were pretty short on direct evidence. We wanted to make sure the item that we
believed to be the murder weapon was in fact the murder weapon. The district attorney is very interested in having
this hatchet fit this particular fracture. But I'm an unbiased scientist. And I have to look at all possibilities.
It may not be that the hatchet was involved in the death of this individual. NARRATOR: Dr. Glassman reexamined
the skull and his immediate impression is that the trauma was not caused by the blade of a hatchet.
DR. GLASSMAN (VOICEOVER): The type of damage that you normally associate with sharp trauma
from a hatchet or something of that variety would be that when it hits the skull,
it separates the bone tissue, causing a V, or a cut mark, into the bone itself. NARRATOR: From the fractures, Dr. Glassman
concludes this is blunt force trauma and not sharp force trauma caused by a blade or cutting object.
When you look at the internal margins, you'll see that they're bent inward, or beveled.
The best way to explain beveling is if you can picture a BB going through a window.
And as that BB passes through the first layer of that pane of glass, it then spreads out, causing an angle.
So the inside surface has more destruction than the outside surface where the BB went in.
Well, the same thing is true with blunt trauma. NARRATOR: But Dr. Glassman knows police
have strong circumstantial evidence tying the hatchet to the crime. So he continues his examination of the weapon.
I went back to the hatchet to see if there was any conceivable way in which that particular implement could have made those same tool marks
that I was seeing on the skull. NARRATOR: And suddenly, he sees the tool and a completely new light.
And as I was positioning it into the fractures and I was looking at the back edge of the hatchet, then,
of course, it dawned on me. There it is. Here was a perfect right angle, flat blunt area.
Both of these blows are consistent with what could've been made with the back end of this hatchet.
And sure enough, just a perfect, perfect fit. Culturally, we think about certain things
used in a very stereotypic way. A hatchet, we're always thinking of the sharp edge
has been the edge that's being used for the work. Very rarely do we think of the back edge
as being part of a murder weapon or even part of a tool. NARRATOR: Dr. Glassman reports his findings to detectives.
When Dr. Glassman concluded the hatchet caused the injury, it tied that hatchet to the victim.
And we could tie that hatchet to the suspect. NARRATOR: With the forensic evidence Dr. Glassman
has provided, prosecutors pieced together a scenario of what they believe took place the night
of Larry Boyd's death. Hey, get your hands off of it. Put the bottle down. There was some sort of altercation.
NARRATOR: Steve Palmer grabs the hatchet that is on the ground next to him. He approaches Larry Boyd from behind with the hatchet raised.
Palmer then hits Larry Boyd, not once, but twice, with the blunt end of the tool.
The blow would have taken place with a great deal of velocity. NARRATOR: The first blow was to the top of Larry's skull.
He falls to the ground. Palmer then strikes him again on the back of the skull, causing two beveled fractures so severe,
that they go through the skull and into the brain. This would've caused the brain tissue to swell, to hemorrhage,
and the individual probably bled to death. NARRATOR: Investigators finally have the proof they need to charge Steve Palmer
with the murder of Larry Boyd. They arrest him at his ex-wife's house. Put your hands behind your back.
You're under arrest. But despite the evidence against him, Palmer claims he's innocent.
That was his story and he never really changed it from that. NARRATOR: On July 24th, 1999, the case goes to trial.
BRANDY MUELLER (VOICEOVER): The defendant in this case was charged with first degree murder,
intentional murder, murder one. NARRATOR: Prosecutors call upon Dr. Glassman to testify as an expert witness.
What Dr. Glassman did provide the jury was a basic understanding of how this murder had taken place.
DR. GLASSMAN (VOICEOVER): The testimony that I provided allowed the jury to make the connection
that these fractures took place because of a deliberate and very forceful couple of blows
to the back of the skull. NARRATOR: Steve Palmer was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced
to 30 years in prison. The verdict provides a small measure of closure to Larry Boyd's family.
ROBERT MERRILL (VOICEOVER): They wanted to know what happened to him. For us it's a case that you get it, you investigate it,
and you move along. For them, it's a life-altering experience that they needed to have an ending to.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors and detectives know that without Dr. Glassman's work, Steve Palmer would've gotten away with murder.
Dr. Glassman was able to put a piece of the puzzle together that, ultimately, ended in a conviction
and solving the case. NARRATOR: But Dr. Glassman takes special satisfaction knowing
that he helped bring justice to a person that the rest of the world may have overlooked.
DR. GLASSMAN (VOICEOVER): It's almost as if he was forgotten. But we know that's not the case, because to his family,
he was not forgotten at all.

A woman discovers decomposing body in her neighbor's shed. Later, a woman walking through the woods discovers the decomposing body of a man, the victim of a brutal slaying, his head split open by companion in hobo campsite.

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 anthropologists solve two murder cases involving brothers and a homeless man, revealing shocking truths about their deaths.

Key points

Gruesome Discovery in a Trash Can. A body is found in a garbage can, shocking the small community.
Uncovering the Victim's Identity. Forensic anthropologist Dr. Warren identifies the victim as Larry Gill, initially a suspect.
Evidence of Abuse. Dr. Warren finds signs of long-term abuse on Larry's skeleton, painting a disturbing portrait.
The Brother's Dark Secret. Investigators suspect Ed Gill of murdering his brother Larry, revealing a history of violence.
The Hyoid Bone's Significance. Dr. Warren examines the hyoid bone, crucial for determining the cause of death.
The Discovery of the Hyoid Bone. Dr. Warren's examination reveals a broken hyoid bone, indicating manual strangulation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This was not consistent behavior for Larry Gill.

7:26WatchSep 23, 2021

Tension

80/ 100High tension

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