Journal Published Online: 01 July 1993
Volume 38, Issue 4

Positive Identification in a Case of Intentional Extreme Fragmentation

CODEN: JFSCAS

Abstract

The investigation of the first of the murders of young males to which Jeffrey Dahmer confessed led to systematic survey of two acres of semirural property in Bath Township, Ohio. The survey revealed the fragmentary skeleton of a young adult male, as well as bones of several species of animals. Through archaeobiological analysis, the animal bones were identified and taphonomic modifications documented. The human bones were dry and weathered, and many were rodent-gnawed, indicating that they had been exposed for many years. The human bones displayed an extreme degree of splintering, warping, bending, and spiral breakage. The only relatively complete bone was a cervical vertebra. Dismemberment and breakage had been accomplished by cutting, blunt force, and, in the case of the ribs, manual bending. Even in so extreme a case of intentional fragmentation, however, forensic anthropological analysis resulted in positive identification, with the primary criteria based on matching osteological features evident in premortem and postmortem radiographs of a cervical vertebra.

Author Information

Owsley, DW
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Mann, RW
US Army Central Identification Laboratory, Fort Kamehameha, Hickham AFB, HI
Chapman, RE
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Moore, E
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Cox, WA
County of Summit, Akron, OH
Pages: 12
Price: $25.00
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Stock #: JFS13500J
ISSN: 0022-1198
DOI: 10.1520/JFS13500J