Posted on 07/22/2002 3:02:31 PM PDT by FresnoDA
Although forensic entomology can be very effective in determining elapsed time since death, it has its limitations :-
- freezing - if the body was frozen for a period of time before being placed outside on, for example, 8 May, the insects would only invade then, giving the misleading impression that death had occurred on 8 May. However, other forensic experts would be able to determine whether or not the body has been frozen, and insect evidence will still determine time of exposure.
- burial - if the body is buried deeply, then most insects will be excluded. However, most criminal burials are not very deep, as the aim is merely to conceal the body, and most insects will dig down to the body, particularly if there is blood soaked in the soil. Therefore, insect evidence can still be used. We have an estensive database for buried bodies in BC
- wrapped - if the body is wrapped or packaged in some way the insects may be excluded, but the wrapping must be completely secure. A body part was found sealed in a garbage bag which had been tied securely at the top, but the remains were maggot-infested, and showed severe insect damage. The adult females had probably laid their eggs at the knot, and the minute first instar larvae had crawled in.
Also trying to decide to call expert or experts on the Channel 8 videotape of Dehesa.
Does not sound like he is going to be calling Bill Libby or any other witness.....may start tommorows testimony by resting his case.
What evidence did he provide to support this conclusion ?
Add to that two other unlikely events and the explanation she played there strains reason.
Many of us posting here have shared various experiences we have had as 7 Y.O. children (or so), that included playing in neighbor's boats, trailers, garages and even cars. Others, have shared experiences, they have had with neighbor children playing in their RV's. So frankly, minion, it's difficult, for me, to understand why it "strains reason" in your particular case.
As for your implication that someone tried to remove Danielle's hair from the MH, that IMO, does tend to strain reason. There was hair, of all types, found throughout the MH and much of it was varying shades of blond. If you can explain how you hypothesize, that DW selectively found, identified and disposed of only Danielle's hair, I would be very interested in hearing your theory.
Anthony Spears, 41, convicted of murdering Jeanette Beaulieu and dumping her body in the desert, has maintained his innocence since his 1992 arrest. Eight years later, he's sticking to his story ---- and hoping a study of the maggots found on her body can save him.
Beaulieu's body was found Jan. 19, 1992, at a shooting range east of Phoenix. She had been shot in the back of the head. Based on the decomposition of her body, a medical examiner put the murder date at Jan. 4.
However, forensic entomologist David Faulkner ---- who recently examined the flesh-eating maggots found crushed and preserved in Beaulieu's clothing ---- says the date of death is more likely between Jan. 10 and 12.
Spears was at home near San Diego on those dates.
Faulkner said the maggots couldn't have been much older than 10 days when they were mummified in clothing removed from the victim shortly after her body was found. That would rule out Jan. 4 as a possible date for the murder unless the body was frozen at some point, he said.
With capital punishment under growing national scrutiny, the case is a twist on more traditional avenues of appeal, including DNA testing of evidence.
Studying the life span and development of insects found at crime scenes can help determine the date of a victim's death. Faulkner said it takes only moments for the insects to appear after someone dies.
He has studied insects at crime scenes since 1981 and is the head of the entomology department at the San Diego Natural History Museum. A second forensic entomologist, Dr. Rich Merritt of Michigan State University, is scheduled to view the maggot samples next week.
The samples were not studied during Spears' 1992 trial. Faulkner and Merritt were hired to look at Beaulieu's case by friends of Spears' wife, Janet ---- who married Spears after serving as the foreman of the jury that convicted him.
Though the jury unanimously convicted Spears of first-degree murder, she said she was never convinced and was "beat up mentally" by other jurors who were tired and wanted her to make a final decision. The day after the verdict was read, she told the judge she'd made a mistake.
It was too late. Spears was sentenced to death in 1993.
Janet Spears, now a third-year law student in San Diego, said she began visiting Spears after rereading transcripts from his trial. They were married in 1994.
"The only way he could've have killed her is if he killed her from California," she said.
Lawyers for Spears will have to submit the new maggot theory to the trial court if they hope to win his freedom.
Spears filed a motion himself in Arizona Supreme Court on June 2, saying that his lawyer, Jess Lorona, had mostly ignored him in the last two years. Lorona did not return messages for comment.
Kent Cattani, chief of the Arizona attorney general's death penalty appeals unit, refused to discuss the merits of Spears' claim. Pati Urias, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, said Spears' conviction was fair.
Although Spears was not in Arizona when Faulkner says Beaulieu was killed ---- Jan. 10-12 ---- he was in the state on Jan. 4, the day the state says she was killed.
He had flown to Phoenix on Jan. 2 with a one-way airline ticket purchased by the 39-year-old Beaulieu, and he brought a 9mm handgun with him, according to court documents. A shell casing determined to be from that gun was found among the thousands of others at the shooting range a week and a half after Beaulieu's body was found.
Spears drove back to California on Jan. 4 in a truck he bought from Beaulieu. San Diego authorities found a notarized title from Beaulieu in the glove compartment.
Evidence presented during the trial demonstrated that Spears plotted to kill Beaulieu to steal her truck, guns and about $1,000 the victim obtained through cash advances on her credit card.
"I see a big error here," said Janet Spears. "My purpose is not to say the death penalty is wrong. But if you're going to execute somebody, you'd better be damn sure you've got the right person."
6/15/00
41 posted on 7/23/02 12:40 PM Eastern by VRWC_minion
Dusek is being allowed time to review and prepare rebuttal.
It may contain something related to the Samantha/Avila case. May not.
My guess. (and this explains Danielle's partial mummification)
Watch for WRAPPED TIGHTLY IN A BLUE SHEET LIKE A COCOON.
Why not? That is how the whole approach to the Westerfield case was done ! (/sarcasm) :)
That way it is clear to everyone exactly who you mean. Just in case the wrong person mistakes who the statement is directed at.
If you can't say who, probably better not to say it.
:)
My kids would have left more than two prints in one spot. The likelihood that my kid leaves a few hairs is probable but that one of them ends up in a sink trap is next to nil assuming he was only there a short time. Add to that the odd's my kid was bleeding at the same time all add up to straining the possibilites.
Finally the lack of testimony that even one kid played there is very troubling. As for your implication that someone tried to remove Danielle's hair from the MH, that IMO, does tend to strain reason. There was hair, of all types, found throughout the MH and much of it was varying shades of blond.
If you can explain how you hypothesize, that DW selectively found, identified and disposed of only Danielle's hair, I would be very interested in hearing your theory.
He didn't Danielles hair was there.
So virtually no evidence that flies would act differently in a desert environment. No studies, no papers etc .
See the other article I posted. I bet the science has some holes in it when it comes to desert environment.
We apparently have the same dilemma here where the ME says the body has been dead much longer than the bug guys. My guess is that there theories may not work the same in the desert.
Just when you think you've heard it all....
"Wrapped tightly in a blue sheet like a cocoon."
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