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>>[narration] You're watching 
National Geographic Channel Presents.

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There's a place so ghastly and grotesque
that most people recoil in horror,

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but these acres, filled with decaying 
human flesh actually save lives.

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This is a training ground 
for forensic specialists,

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solving murders one corpse at a time,
unlocking the secrets of the body farm.

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[dog barking]

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>>[Steve Sims] It's pretty
dark out here.

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>>[narration] A skeleton 
uncovered in Memphis.

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>>[Sims] Maybe we can find a grease spot
where the actual body is decomposed.

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>>[narration] A family, 
murdered in Mississippi,

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a body stashed 
in a Las Vegas locker.

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Real crimes, with real consquences.

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>>[Sims] We got a rib, 
we got a right scapula.

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>>[narration] What's the connection 
between these grisly discoveries?

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Real CSI. Scientists, turned 
crime scene investigators,

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dramatized on a hit TV series,
but what do they really do?

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>>[Sims] Did the skull look 
small to you too?

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>>[woman] Ready? 
Let's get him to the ground.

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>>[narration] And where do 
they learn their trade?

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Welcome to ground zero in 
the field of forensic anthropology,

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a unique outdoor classroom, 
where the subject is death,

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and more than half the CSI units working 
in the US today have been trained.

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Founded by Dr. Bill Bass of the University
of Tennessee more than 25 years ago,

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research conducted within these 
few wooded acres in Knoxville

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has redefined the frontiers 
of forensic science.

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>>[Dr. Bill Bass] The anthropology 
research facility,

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what most people call the "body farm," 
is a research facility that I set up

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to begin to look at the decay and 
the rates of decay in human bodies.

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Like many anthropologists, 
Bass started out studying ancient bones.

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His expertise eventually led to his helping
the police with modern day murder victims.

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>>[Bass] You know, we kill our friends 
and neighbors by many different means,

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and a lot of people are shot 
or bludgeoned or stabbed.

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My orientation was what happens to a body 
when it decays and how long does it take?

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>>[narration] He learned to read 
bones for signs of trauma,

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knife marks in ribs, 
unusual fractures in skulls.

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Drawing on unclaimed bodies 
from county morgues,

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he built an extensive 
collection of skeletons,

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but early in his career, Bass realized that
bones weren't the only source of clues.

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Decomposing flesh had 
secrets to reveal as well.

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>>[Bass] I got a call one afternoon, it was 
between Christmas and New Years--

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it was cold-- from the Williamson County 
Sherriff's office,

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telling me that they had a grave that had 
been disturbed, would I come and help?

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So I get over there. This is a family 
cemetery, back of a home.

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>>[narration] Someone had broken 
into the earth, near a headstone.

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Just beneath the surface, a headless male 
corpse. The remains looked fairly fresh.

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Police needed to know how fresh.
Had a new body been added to an old grave?

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Dr. Bass agreed the body was in good shape,
pink flesh still clung to the bones.

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>>[Bass] I looked at it, I said you have 
a 24 to 28 year old white male

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who's been dead about a year.

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>>[narration] But something didn't add up. 
Bass kept digging,

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ultimately identifying the body 
as Colonel William Shy,

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a rebel officer killed in the Civil War, 
buried in an air-tight cast iron coffin,

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the corpse had been 
incredibly well-preserved.

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Bass's original assessment had 
been off by more than a century.

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>>[Bass] People wonder why 
I started a body farm.

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It's because of a couple of 
experiences like that,

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that make you realize that, you know, you
really don't know much about decay rates,

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and we need to do 
something about that.

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>>[narration] By now, more than 
four hundred human corpses

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have decomposed 
at the body farm,

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every phase documented 
under a wide range of conditions.

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Some critics say letting corpses 
decay here is irreverent,

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but the scientists insist the dead 
are held in the highest respect.

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>>[Dr. Murray Marks] It's important to 
remember that the anthropology department,

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the forensics center doesn't 
own these bodies.

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They're a gift to us to study 
decomposition, but if the day comes

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and families ever decide that they 
want them, they belong to them.

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>>[Robin Miller] I always try and 
take a minute and say thank you,

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because without them, 
we wouldn't be able to do

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any of this research and 
this place would not exist.

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>>[narration] There's no doubt that the 
work done here is incredibly valuable,

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resulting in the convictions of 
countless violent criminals

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who may have
otherwise walked free.

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And those bodies, 
so generously donated,

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are put to good use in earnest 
efforts to protect the living.

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>>[Bass] We've looked at decaying bodies 
in various scenarios:

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clothing, no clothing, sun, shade, 
buried, not buried, water, trunks of cars.

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We've been able to establish 
a sequence of events

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that occurs under 
all of these conditions.

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>>[Robin Miller] You can 
see all through here,

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where it's all decayed, 
and we've got some more bugs.

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>>[Marks] Forensic anthropology 
and forensic entomology

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really take off from right here 
where we're walking.

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I mean this is, in a sense, ground zero 
where this particular research takes place.

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>>[Robin Miller] It's interesting, 
because they say okay... [fades out]

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>>[narration] Dr. Murray Marks is one of the 
thousands who have studied at the facility.

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Now he's on the faculty, 
guiding the research

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of a new generation of scientists.

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>>[Dr. Murray Marks] When I see remains 
like this, I'm always reminded that this

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is such a unique laboratory, 
because where else can we study

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this whole process 
of decomposition?

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We're there to speak for the victim, 
for the people that don't have a voice.

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By doing that, we get 
ever closer to the truth,

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and ever closer to making 
someone pay for their crime.

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>>[narration] The body farm's 
many successes has

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spread the facility's 
influence far and wide.

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A new program called 
the National Forensic Academy

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allows police and lab technicians from 
throughout the United States

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to hone their skills amid a 
cornucopia of fresh bodies,

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decomposing corpses, 
and overgrown skeletons.

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>>[Dr. Lee Jantz] If at any time you 
have a problem, I strongly recommend

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you turn around 
and take a deep breath. Okay?

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It is not a pleasant thing. 
It is something that you have to face

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at some point in your careers.

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>>[narration] In a wooded corner of the 
facility, the scientists have scattered

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a mixture of human bones, 
animal bones, bullet casings,

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and other 
simulated evidence.

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Stained by time, soil, and weather, 
and hidden by leaves,

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the scattered bones 
are difficult to find,

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just as they would be 
at an actual crime scene.

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Sorting through human remains can be an 
unsettling task, even for professionals.

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>>[Robin Miller] Sometimes that
whiff is just too much.

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>>[narration] Next: how to find 
a murder victim when the body

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is already buried six feet under.

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National Geographic Channel 
Presents will be right back.

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Now, back to National Geographic 
Channel Presents.

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The secrets of the body farm aren't 
reserved solely for human students.

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Most cadaver dogs are trained 
to find corpses

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with synthetic samples 
that smell like decay.

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Here, dogs are able to practice on 
multiple human bodies,

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in varying states of decomposition.

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>>[dog handler] What you got?
You find something?

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>>[narration] They're taught to lie down 
or bark when they find human remains.

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>>[dog handler] Oh, good girl. 
What you got? Show me.

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Good girl. Ready? 
Want to find some more?

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>>[narration] Finding corpses on 
the surface is just a warm-up.

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>>[dog handler] Out here.

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>>[narration] The dogs move on to a series of
concrete slabs for the graduate course.

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Under the yellow arrows, a researcher has 
buried corpses and other debris.

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[dog barks]

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>>[dog handler] Very good!

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>>[narration] Success is rewarded 
immediately, to reinforce

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every dog's complete 
attention to the task.

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Jane Survey is in the early stages of 
training her dog to indicate a discovery.

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>>[Jane Survey] While there's 
such overwhelming scents,

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we want them to concentrate and 
indicate on every one they find.

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What can happen, especially in early 
stages of training in something like this,

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is that they would go from one source,
to another source,

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to another source 
without indicating.

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This is a great opportunity because 
it tells them every single one,

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indicate immediately, 
then go on to the next.

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>>[to dog] You did very good, 
you're a smart dog!

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Find it.

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[dog barks]

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If you saw her head-- 
Flora, show me.

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[dog barks]
No, you show me. Yes, good dog!

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When she got over here, 
her breathing changes,

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and if you watch them 
very closely you can tell that.

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It's almost like they inhale 
and then they stop breathing,

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because they're 
processing the scent.

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Good dog! 
Are you the smartest girl?

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>>[narration] Even the best cadaver dogs can
have a difficult time locating some corpses.

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The body farm is the perfect lab for 
developing new technologies

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that can help locate 
human remains.

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>>[Bass] We have a problem in the United 
States of the husband and wife,

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one of them gets mad, 
kills the other one,

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they take them out in the
backyard and bury them.

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Then they pour a concrete slab 
over them and it's hard to find.

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>>[narration] This is an experimental 
ground-penetrating radar system, GPRS.

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On loan from the US government, 
it's one of only two units

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of this GPR model in the world.

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It's been developed to locate dinosaur 
bones, find unexploded artillery shells,

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and reveal hidden bodies.

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The system is about the size 
and weight of a weedwhacker,

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but it's packed with 
powerful electronics.

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Beneath these concrete paths at the 
anthropology research facility,

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lie seven human bodies.

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Michelle Miller buried the bodies at 
depths ranging from one foot to six feet.

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What would a body look like at each depth?
Could the radar see through cement?

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And would a body under cement 
look different from a body under dirt?

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>>[Michelle Miller] I want to see the difference 
between cement and actual-- just the clay.

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The head of one individual 
is right here,

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and the head of the other 
individual is right there,

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and hopefully I'll be able to see the 
definite difference of the GPR

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shooting through the 
cement versus the non cement.

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>>[narration] Miller didn't stop there, 
she added other variables.

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Could the system distinguish between 
a fresh corpse and a bare skeleton?

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Or between a body and rubble?

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>>[Michelle Miller] I want to see if it 
could really differentiate, you know,

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between a definite 
individual and not.

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What I did is I buried one 
individual on this side of the pad.

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On the other side of the pad, 
I actually made a mock-up.

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I used plastic buckets, metal buckets, 
two-by-fours, and metal tubing,

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and actually built a body.

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>>[Bass] What we're trying to do is to 
match a situation like you're getting

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in terrorist attacks now, where you get 
not only the people being blown up,

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but you get all of the building or 
the surroundings filled in with them.

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Can you distinguish a body under 
all of that, what you may call "noise,"

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if you want to say that, 
or something is confusing the picture.

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>>[narration] The system's field display 
shows little detail,

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just a series of swirls and squiggles, 
representing different densities.

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Miller wants to know if those 
patterns can be read as bodies.

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Back at the lab, the data is downloaded 
into a more sophisticated computer

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to enhance the display.

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The display shows a cross-section 
cutaway of the earth.

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A red band across the top 
shows the concrete,

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dense, but transparent 
as a windowpane to the GPRS.

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Beneath that, disturbed soil, 
which yields uniform signals of green.

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Then, two feet down, 
the signals go crazy,

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matching the size and shape 
of the body hidden there.

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Once a body's been found, 
the detective work truly begins.

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The one piece of evidence everyone wants?
Time since death.

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>>[Bass] The police don't 
ask you "Who is that?"

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They ask you "How long 
have they been there?"

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Now I didn't have any 
experience with maggots,

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so I looked in the literature, and
there was very little in the literature.

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So I decided this was an area 
that we needed to do research on.

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We need to find out what happens 
in the decay stages of human individuals.

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>>[narration] In the 1980s, 
Bass and a graduate student began

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charting the order and the 
timing of insect activity in corpses.

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Most numerous 
were blow flies.

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Iridescent flies that could 
sniff out a body within seconds.

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Each female blow fly laid eggs 
by the hundreds,

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usually in natural body 
openings or bloody wounds.

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In summertime, the eggs could 
hatch in just two hours,

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the resulting larvae, maggots 
soon formed a writhing, flesh-eating mass.

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The maggots were nourished to maturity 
by the proteins and lipids in the flesh.

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Some two weeks later, they formed 
pupa casings, or cocoons.

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A few days later, a new generation 
of adult flies emerged

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00:15:05,428 --> 00:15:10,465
from those pupa casings, 
and the cycle began anew.

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00:15:10,465 --> 00:15:14,513
Other insects joined the 
post-mortem food chain.

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Yellow jackets fed on blow fly eggs,
and beetles nibbled cartilage off bones.

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00:15:23,940 --> 00:15:29,861
But the key players were 
blow flies and their maggots.

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>>[Neal Haskell] Then we can go to the 
proper charts... [fades out]

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>>[narration] The studies provided crucial 
data to scientists like Neal Haskell,

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00:15:38,239 --> 00:15:41,971
a forensic entomologist, who teaches 
at St. Joseph's College in Indiana.

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00:15:41,971 --> 00:15:46,010
He also testifies in murder trials.

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00:15:46,010 --> 00:15:49,926
Coming up: a brutal and mysterious 
murder of a young family.

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00:15:49,926 --> 00:15:52,798
Could insect activity 
crack the case?

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00:15:52,798 --> 00:15:57,710
Find out when Secrets 
of the Body Farm continues.

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You're watching National Geographic 
Channel Presents.

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The expert testimony of forensic 
entomologist Neal Haskell,

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trained at the body farm, 
proved crucial as a grisly case

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00:16:13,857 --> 00:16:17,493
unfolded in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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People renting storage space in a 
mini warehouse had noticed a nasty smell.

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00:16:24,476 --> 00:16:26,908
>>[Neal Haskell] Adjacent neighbors 
that had their storage in there,

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00:16:26,908 --> 00:16:30,991
they're complaining to the management, 
"Something really stinks around here,

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and it's time to get to the bottom of it."
Well, they got a warrant to investigate,

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00:16:35,008 --> 00:16:39,509
and then opened the storage unit up, 
found the garbage can in there,

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00:16:39,509 --> 00:16:48,414
popped it open, and here is an absolutely 
disgustingly decomposing individual.

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00:16:48,414 --> 00:16:53,070
>>[narration] The body, mostly 
liquified, was an elderly woman.

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Her daughter had rented the 
storage unit two years before.

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00:16:57,042 --> 00:17:01,499
The daughter told police her 
mother had died unexpectedly.

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00:17:01,499 --> 00:17:07,717
Grief-stricken, she stored the body 
while pondering funeral arrangements.

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00:17:07,717 --> 00:17:11,558
But Haskell learned a 
different story from the bugs,

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00:17:11,558 --> 00:17:15,557
specifically from
the coffin flies.

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00:17:15,557 --> 00:17:21,462
They're tiny, about the size of gnats, but
they boldly go where other flies can't:

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00:17:21,462 --> 00:17:25,624
deep underground.

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00:17:25,624 --> 00:17:28,426
It's a highly-evolved 
survival strategy.

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00:17:28,426 --> 00:17:32,946
Underground, they have 
a feast to themselves.

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00:17:32,946 --> 00:17:38,017
>>[Haskell] Coffin Flies got their name by
their very tenacious ability to identify

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where humans were buried 
in the wooden coffins.

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00:17:41,658 --> 00:17:44,523
They can burrow up to four to 
five feet in the soil,

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00:17:44,523 --> 00:17:51,762
access the coffins, and then lay their 
eggs, and they do their lifecycle there.

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00:17:51,762 --> 00:17:56,718
>>[narration] It didn't surprise Haskell 
to find coffin flies in the container.

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00:17:56,718 --> 00:18:03,091
What surprised him was not finding 
blow flies, death's quickest opportunists.

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00:18:03,091 --> 00:18:06,412
>>[Haskell] Blow flies can come in within 
the first seconds to minutes,

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00:18:06,412 --> 00:18:08,217
and if the temperatures
are warm enough,

259
00:18:08,217 --> 00:18:12,283
you'll see them laying eggs 
within the first hour.

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00:18:12,283 --> 00:18:14,763
>>[narration] But Haskell found 
no traces of blow flies.

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00:18:14,763 --> 00:18:22,864
No flies, no eggs, no blow fly maggots.
The blow flies hadn't gotten to the body.

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00:18:22,864 --> 00:18:28,828
Haskell wondered why. Then it hit him: 
there wasn't time.

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00:18:28,828 --> 00:18:32,144
>>[Haskell] Mom wasn't left laying 
around for a number of days.

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00:18:32,144 --> 00:18:36,597
Mom was processed very, very quickly, 
placed in that garbage can,

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00:18:36,597 --> 00:18:40,115
and put in that storage area.

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00:18:40,115 --> 00:18:44,016
>>[narration] The evidence convinced the jury
that the defendant killed her mother

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00:18:44,016 --> 00:18:52,759
and moved swiftly to hide the body.
The sentence: life in prison, no parole.

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00:18:52,759 --> 00:18:57,605
Since its inception, the body farm 
has conclusively connected insect activity

269
00:18:57,605 --> 00:19:01,117
with body decomposition, 
allowing prosecutors

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00:19:01,117 --> 00:19:05,730
to bring countless 
criminals to justice.

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00:19:05,730 --> 00:19:09,250
Just as an archaeologist can tell 
how long ago a civilization ended

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00:19:09,250 --> 00:19:14,598
by sifting through generations of rubble,
a forensic entomologist can estimate

273
00:19:14,598 --> 00:19:20,551
how long ago a life ended by combing 
through generations of insects.

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00:19:20,551 --> 00:19:25,197
>>[Bass] One of the ways of determining the
length of time is to gather the maggots.

275
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You want to gather the largest maggots, 
because that indicates the first hatch,

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00:19:31,121 --> 00:19:37,778
and it would be a better indication of 
how long that individual has been dead.

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00:19:37,778 --> 00:19:43,121
Up to about 14 to 21 days, depending on 
the temperature and environmental

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00:19:43,121 --> 00:19:46,861
situation in which 
the death occurred.

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00:19:46,861 --> 00:19:50,199
>>[narration] Recently, Mississippi 
prosecutors asked Dr. Bass

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to help pinpoint time since 
death in a brutal murder case.

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00:19:57,911 --> 00:20:03,787
Someone had murdered a young family, 
a husband, wife, and their young daughter.

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00:20:03,787 --> 00:20:06,310
The chief suspect, 
a relative of the victims,

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00:20:06,310 --> 00:20:11,905
held a quarter million dollar 
life insurance policy on the child.

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00:20:11,905 --> 00:20:19,645
But Bass was told the man had an alibi for
the two weeks before the bodies were found.

285
00:20:19,645 --> 00:20:24,191
The suspect also claimed that 
he tried to visit the family twice,

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00:20:24,191 --> 00:20:28,588
once in mid-November, 
and again in late-November.

287
00:20:28,588 --> 00:20:31,340
So he admitted to being 
at the crime scene,

288
00:20:31,340 --> 00:20:35,525
but he claimed on each 
occasion, no one was home.

289
00:20:35,525 --> 00:20:39,175
Pinpointing the time 
since death was crucial.

290
00:20:39,175 --> 00:20:41,736
>>[Bass] I asked them to send me 
pictures of the crime scene,

291
00:20:41,736 --> 00:20:44,105
to send me photographs 
of the bodies.

292
00:20:44,105 --> 00:20:49,893
>>[narration] Bass looked for signs of 
insect activity, taking into account

293
00:20:49,893 --> 00:20:54,781
the fact that the bodies 
were indoors, not outside.

294
00:20:54,781 --> 00:20:57,009
>>[Bass] The blow flies are 
outside of the house,

295
00:20:57,009 --> 00:21:00,465
it takes them a few days to realize, 
"Hey, there's a dead body or bodies

296
00:21:00,465 --> 00:21:04,757
in that house. 
How can I get in there?" you see.

297
00:21:04,757 --> 00:21:08,951
>>[narration] Finally, Bass spotted a key
piece of photographic evidence,

298
00:21:08,951 --> 00:21:13,907
the discarded shells that maggots 
leave behind as they turn into flies.

299
00:21:13,907 --> 00:21:18,862
These pupa casings proved that once the
flies finally reached the murder victims,

300
00:21:18,862 --> 00:21:25,494
the insects underwent a complete 
14 day lifecycle and then some.

301
00:21:25,494 --> 00:21:29,755
Bass's report concluded that the family 
was killed in November,

302
00:21:29,755 --> 00:21:35,669
the date matching one of the 
defendant's admitted visits to the cabin.

303
00:21:35,669 --> 00:21:42,067
The blow flies helped prove opportunity, 
the insurance policy provided the motive.

304
00:21:42,067 --> 00:21:45,599
The suspect was 
convicted of murder.

305
00:21:45,599 --> 00:21:52,072
>>[Bass] It does make you feel good that 
you are able to look at the scientific data,

306
00:21:52,072 --> 00:21:55,050
which is there, and that's what I did. 
I didn't know any of the people

307
00:21:55,050 --> 00:21:59,757
involved in this at all, and from
the scientific data, able to make

308
00:21:59,757 --> 00:22:09,981
an analysis that corresponds exactly 
to the events that occurred in this case.

309
00:22:09,981 --> 00:22:14,514
>>[narration] Bass's work proved that in 
cases where corpses were decomposed,

310
00:22:14,514 --> 00:22:18,452
forensic anthropologists could 
make an important contribution

311
00:22:18,452 --> 00:22:21,153
to a murder investigation.

312
00:22:21,153 --> 00:22:25,457
Still to come: when the blood's been 
washed away and evidence is scarce,

313
00:22:25,457 --> 00:22:30,857
one investigator finds 
the answer is in the bones.

314
00:22:30,857 --> 00:22:37,260
National Geographic 
Channel Presents now continues.

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00:22:37,260 --> 00:22:42,695
The chronology of decomposing flesh
provides CSI units with useful evidence,

316
00:22:42,695 --> 00:22:46,978
but Steve Sims, one of the body farm's 
most renowned graduates,

317
00:22:46,978 --> 00:22:52,591
focuses on what's left behind after 
the bugs have picked the bones clean.

318
00:22:52,591 --> 00:22:56,995
>>[Sims] Here, we do find a scatter five feet
from somebody's foundation of their house,

319
00:22:56,995 --> 00:23:00,363
and I found the thoracic vertebrae, 
which are human.

320
00:23:00,363 --> 00:23:03,296
Over here there's a skull, 
and over here is an arm.

321
00:23:03,296 --> 00:23:07,994
Already, dogs have destroyed 
a lot of the ends of the bones.

322
00:23:07,994 --> 00:23:13,089
>>[narration] Originally, Sims planned 
for a career in archaeology.

323
00:23:13,089 --> 00:23:18,860
After one class at the forensic facility, 
he left archaeology in the dust.

324
00:23:18,860 --> 00:23:25,150
>>[Sims] This is the right tenth rib.
Right here, and right here.

325
00:23:25,150 --> 00:23:30,894
You see some trauma. Indicative of 
shot trauma or a knife stab wound.

326
00:23:30,894 --> 00:23:41,821
>>[narration] Today, he's taking bone 
trauma analysis to a new level.

327
00:23:41,821 --> 00:23:46,521
>>[Bass] One of the ways of 
killing an individual and trying to

328
00:23:46,521 --> 00:23:53,300
mask the identity of that
individual is to saw the body up.

329
00:23:53,300 --> 00:23:58,531
Saw the arms off, 
saw the head off.

330
00:23:58,531 --> 00:24:01,422
>>[narration] Sims's speciality
is reading signatures,

331
00:24:01,422 --> 00:24:04,599
the tell-tale signs that 
saws leave behind

332
00:24:04,599 --> 00:24:07,674
when a killer
cuts up a corpse.

333
00:24:07,674 --> 00:24:11,569
>>[Sims] I've seen everything used
from knives to axes to

334
00:24:11,569 --> 00:24:14,155
serrated knives 
being used as a saw.

335
00:24:14,155 --> 00:24:15,571
I've seen power tools used.

336
00:24:15,571 --> 00:24:18,885
I've seen a bandsaw
to cut up a body.

337
00:24:18,885 --> 00:24:22,947
I've seen circular saws
used numerous times.

338
00:24:22,947 --> 00:24:26,050
>>[narration] Bone is an
engineering marvel.

339
00:24:26,050 --> 00:24:30,495
It's a composite material, 
a flexible matrix of collogen fibers

340
00:24:30,495 --> 00:24:35,664
infused with calcium phosphate
for stiffness and load-bearing.

341
00:24:35,664 --> 00:24:41,530
It's like steel-reinforced concrete,
but lighter and stronger.

342
00:24:41,530 --> 00:24:46,557
It's a durable material, so the marks
a saw leaves as it cuts up a body

343
00:24:46,557 --> 00:24:49,779
can endure for years.

344
00:24:49,779 --> 00:24:53,721
Sims took up his grisly specialty
after a detective asked him to

345
00:24:53,721 --> 00:24:57,493
identify a notch in a bone.

346
00:24:57,493 --> 00:24:59,894
>>[Sims] I said "It's a
saw mark on an arm bone."

347
00:24:59,894 --> 00:25:04,373
And when I said, "It's a saw mark," I thought
I was proud to give him some information.

348
00:25:04,373 --> 00:25:07,712
Well, he looked at me, he said,
"But, I already know it's a saw mark."

349
00:25:07,712 --> 00:25:10,164
"You're the bone doc, 
what kinda saw is this?"

350
00:25:10,164 --> 00:25:12,226
And I didn't know.

351
00:25:12,226 --> 00:25:14,294
>>[narration] Sims needed to know.

352
00:25:14,294 --> 00:25:18,121
It was his third dismemberment 
case in just one month.

353
00:25:20,987 --> 00:25:25,007
He set out to fill this gruesome 
gap in forensic knowledge.

354
00:25:26,179 --> 00:25:29,400
It would take him
15 years of research.

355
00:25:30,313 --> 00:25:34,392
To the naked eye,
all sawmarks look alike.

356
00:25:35,987 --> 00:25:37,981
[beeping, then camera flash sound]

357
00:25:38,707 --> 00:25:41,017
>>[Sims] It turns out that's not true.

358
00:25:41,017 --> 00:25:45,100
Every tooth leaves another mark,
and the reciprocating action

359
00:25:45,100 --> 00:25:48,576
of these teeth, or continuous
motion of these teeth

360
00:25:48,576 --> 00:25:51,944
leaves lots of 
indicators of toolmarks,

361
00:25:51,944 --> 00:25:55,985
lots of characteristics, and with enough 
characteristics, many times I can get,

362
00:25:55,985 --> 00:26:00,590
for example, the number of teeth per inch
in a tool used to dimember a body.

363
00:26:01,296 --> 00:26:06,180
>>[narration] Now Sims can read a sawmark the 
way a handwritting expert can dissect a signature.

364
00:26:08,576 --> 00:26:13,053
He can even spot false starts,
or skips in the stroke.

365
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:20,785
And he can tell police what kind of saw
to search for in a dismemberment case.

366
00:26:21,222 --> 00:26:24,051
You want to know more than "a saw,"
you want to know what kind of saw,

367
00:26:24,051 --> 00:26:26,650
how wide that saw is,
how wide the blade is,

368
00:26:26,650 --> 00:26:30,047
how wide the tooth is,
the minimum kerf width,

369
00:26:30,047 --> 00:26:35,842
the number of teeth per inch, and how
that saw was used to dismember a victim.

370
00:26:35,842 --> 00:26:40,612
All saws look similar or look identical,
they really aren't.

371
00:26:41,245 --> 00:26:46,486
>>[narration] A killer may think that washing
blood off a blade is enough to cover his tracks.

372
00:26:46,486 --> 00:26:49,057
But, not if Sims is on the case.

373
00:26:49,711 --> 00:26:52,532
>>[Bass] If you listed five 
people in the world who were

374
00:26:52,532 --> 00:26:56,027
the world leaders in this, 
Steve would be one of those five.

375
00:26:56,664 --> 00:26:59,759
>>[narration] Like fingerprints,
footprints, and tire tracks,

376
00:26:59,759 --> 00:27:05,149
tool marks can crack a case, 
even years after the crime.

377
00:27:06,089 --> 00:27:08,692
>>[Sims] Bone trauma is
a moment frozen in time.

378
00:27:08,692 --> 00:27:12,460
All the soft tissues, and so on,
disappear or change

379
00:27:12,460 --> 00:27:14,324
or deterioriate with time.

380
00:27:14,324 --> 00:27:16,857
Bone doesn't change or deterioriate, 
we just clean it up.

381
00:27:16,857 --> 00:27:20,243
It's there, it's good evidence, 
it's evidence you can take to court.

382
00:27:22,059 --> 00:27:25,667
>>[narration] The process of normal
body decomposition and bone trauma

383
00:27:25,667 --> 00:27:28,820
are well-documented
at the body farm.

384
00:27:29,981 --> 00:27:34,356
But, some killers try to 
cover their tracks with fire.

385
00:27:36,166 --> 00:27:40,500
Not long ago, burned 
bones marked a dead end.

386
00:27:40,500 --> 00:27:44,883
Fingerprints, faces, wounds:
all gone, burned away.

387
00:27:48,257 --> 00:27:53,773
But, the Tennessee scientists were confident 
other evidence could be sifted from the ashes.

388
00:27:54,122 --> 00:28:00,166
>>[Bass] Okay, I bet that fits right there.
>>[narration] To know what to look for though,

389
00:28:00,166 --> 00:28:06,132
they'd have to learn precisely what happens
when fire meets human flesh and bone.

390
00:28:23,924 --> 00:28:26,356
>>[Elaine Pope] What
I'm about to do is,

391
00:28:26,356 --> 00:28:29,641
I'm going to build several 
little contained systems.

392
00:28:29,641 --> 00:28:32,472
Right now I'm
just testing for heat.

393
00:28:32,820 --> 00:28:36,844
>>[narration] Elaine Pope, a PhD student, 
got these body parts from an

394
00:28:36,844 --> 00:28:42,961
anatomical laboratory to which corpses had 
been willed or donated for medical research.

395
00:28:44,577 --> 00:28:48,627
Before these limbs were provided to her,
they were used by medical students

396
00:28:48,627 --> 00:28:53,632
to practice surgical procedures.
She starts with an arm.

397
00:28:54,403 --> 00:28:58,745
>>[Pope] And I'm gonna photograph
it before I place it in the fire.

398
00:29:01,220 --> 00:29:05,005
I'm gonna do each element that way 
and document what it looks like before,

399
00:29:05,005 --> 00:29:08,771
including the size, shape,
and position of it.

400
00:29:09,177 --> 00:29:12,858
>>[narration] During daylight, 
smoke obscures the details,

401
00:29:12,858 --> 00:29:16,520
not so much from the eyes,
as from the camera lens.

402
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:20,201
So, Pope experiments
and photographs at night.

403
00:29:24,150 --> 00:29:28,779
As the arm heats,
it actually begins to move.

404
00:29:28,779 --> 00:29:33,576
>>[Pope] What I want to do
is see how the arm draws up

405
00:29:33,576 --> 00:29:36,767
and how it reacts to heat.
When the arms react to heat

406
00:29:36,767 --> 00:29:40,613
they go into the pugilistic posture, 
which is where the muscles of the arm,

407
00:29:40,613 --> 00:29:44,013
the flexors, pull the arm
into flexion like this.

408
00:29:44,013 --> 00:29:48,003
And so I want to observe
that process as it occurs.

409
00:29:48,003 --> 00:29:52,408
>>[narration] As muscles burn,
their fibers shrivel, and contract.

410
00:29:52,408 --> 00:29:58,708
The stronger muscles (usually the flexors)
overpower the weaker ones (the extensors).

411
00:29:59,027 --> 00:30:04,380
In fact, the arms flexing is so consistent
that if a body is found with the arms

412
00:30:04,380 --> 00:30:08,345
extended, it could be
a sign of foul play.

413
00:30:10,302 --> 00:30:15,378
>>[Sims] The body will assume that pugilistic 
pose at all costs, unless stopped from doing it.

414
00:30:15,621 --> 00:30:18,735
The muscles are very strong
and it pulls you into that pose.

415
00:30:18,735 --> 00:30:23,039
So, if I see something that goes
against this post, I'm suspicious.

416
00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:25,404
>>[Pope] If the arm was outstretched,
and it wasn't able to assume a

417
00:30:25,404 --> 00:30:29,694
pugilistic posture with the elbow,
that would possibly indicate that

418
00:30:29,694 --> 00:30:34,875
the arms had been tied, even if
there's an absence of the actual material

419
00:30:34,875 --> 00:30:38,108
(they could have used string or 
rope which would have burned away).

420
00:30:38,108 --> 00:30:41,681
>>[narration] But, is that movement 
the same in an accidental house fire,

421
00:30:41,681 --> 00:30:47,003
as it is in an intentional fire made
hotter by accelerants like gasoline?

422
00:30:49,459 --> 00:30:52,412
>>[Pope] I'm gonna do the slow burn
so that we can watch the gradual

423
00:30:52,412 --> 00:30:59,733
progression of it, and then the other arm,
I'm gonna do in a really fast, hot, intense fire.

424
00:31:01,873 --> 00:31:04,661
>>[narration] And will 
the arm hold its position,

425
00:31:04,661 --> 00:31:08,314
even after all organic 
matter has burned away?

426
00:31:12,137 --> 00:31:15,855
>>[Pope] As you can see, 
the arm has reacted as we expected.

427
00:31:15,855 --> 00:31:19,365
It drew into the pugilistic posture
with this being the elbow here,

428
00:31:19,365 --> 00:31:21,135
and this being the wrist here,

429
00:31:21,135 --> 00:31:22,955
and these being the hands.

430
00:31:27,264 --> 00:31:32,552
>>[narration] The main torso, despite the 
separation of its limbs will also yield clues.

431
00:31:33,843 --> 00:31:39,316
Does a dismembered body
still seek the pugilistic posture?

432
00:31:40,786 --> 00:31:43,107
>>[Pope] I'm mainly 
interested in this one

433
00:31:43,107 --> 00:31:49,056
because it still has the portion of 
the humerus and the femur attached.

434
00:31:49,056 --> 00:31:52,798
And so, I'm wanting to see if it
reacts the same way as if the arm

435
00:31:52,798 --> 00:31:58,660
were still attached, to see if it's gonna be 
drawn up, and if the femur gets kinda drawn up.

436
00:32:01,074 --> 00:32:06,069
>>[narration] Even stumps of limbs
still try to assume a fighting stance.

437
00:32:07,372 --> 00:32:09,954
>>[Pope] We're trying to establish 
normal patterns of burning.

438
00:32:09,954 --> 00:32:13,225
That way we can
look for unusual cases.

439
00:32:13,225 --> 00:32:19,030
If a burn pattern is disrupted, it could be 
indicative of preexisting trauma or dismemberment.

440
00:32:22,530 --> 00:32:27,937
>>[narration] Some researchers, including Pope, 
have done studies with animal limbs.

441
00:32:27,937 --> 00:32:33,635
But when a murder case hangs in the balance, 
there's no substitute for the real thing.

442
00:32:33,888 --> 00:32:36,223
>>[Pope] The reason why
we use human material

443
00:32:36,223 --> 00:32:40,260
is to accurately simulate 
house fires and vehicular fires.

444
00:32:40,260 --> 00:32:44,049
For one thing, it stands up,
it's more credible in court,

445
00:32:44,049 --> 00:32:46,918
to say, "Yes, we've tested this
and we know exactly what happens."

446
00:32:46,918 --> 00:32:50,569
It helps with the medical 
examiner, their testimony.

447
00:32:51,571 --> 00:32:54,375
>>[narration] There are
many variables to explore.

448
00:32:54,375 --> 00:32:57,927
Can decomposing
muscles still flex an arm?

449
00:32:58,585 --> 00:33:01,587
At what temperature 
does flesh ignite?

450
00:33:03,191 --> 00:33:08,505
After burning the specimens,
Pope gathers up the charred bones,

451
00:33:08,505 --> 00:33:11,920
cleans them, 
and studies the patterns.

452
00:33:12,546 --> 00:33:15,649
She notes color changes 
in transition zones

453
00:33:15,649 --> 00:33:19,693
where protected, unburned bones 
give way to charred material.

454
00:33:22,384 --> 00:33:26,865
To fully grasp the patterns,
she makes detailed drawings.

455
00:33:27,884 --> 00:33:30,983
One clear difference
is fracture patterns,

456
00:33:30,983 --> 00:33:38,038
another is calcination: the transformation of 
dense bone into a light, chalky material.

457
00:33:39,519 --> 00:33:42,492
>>[Pope] I burned these 
two different tibia

458
00:33:42,492 --> 00:33:46,102
at different temperatures, 
and different times and durations.

459
00:33:46,102 --> 00:33:49,967
This one is more calcine,
it's burned to a further extent.

460
00:33:49,967 --> 00:33:53,383
And you can see it has a
higher frequency of fracture patterns.

461
00:33:53,383 --> 00:33:57,638
Whereas, this one was burned to a
lower temperature and less amount of time,

462
00:33:57,638 --> 00:34:01,789
and it took on more of
the char of the blackness.

463
00:34:03,182 --> 00:34:05,696
>>[narration] Do fracture
patterns change when

464
00:34:05,696 --> 00:34:09,781
a stream of cold water from
a fire hose hits hot bone?

465
00:34:10,562 --> 00:34:14,738
What patterns might be left when 
accelerants are used to heat up a fire

466
00:34:14,738 --> 00:34:17,347
and hide evidence of murder?

467
00:34:17,999 --> 00:34:21,847
There is so much to be learned
from bone, even after fire,

468
00:34:21,847 --> 00:34:27,066
but only time and research witll tell 
just how much evidence can survive.

469
00:34:30,795 --> 00:34:34,606
In the body farm's quest to
identify unkown crime victims,

470
00:34:34,606 --> 00:34:38,698
new technologies meet
old-fashioned techniques head-on.

471
00:34:44,612 --> 00:34:48,088
Joanna Hughes is a forensic sculptor,

472
00:34:48,088 --> 00:34:53,230
putting clay on skulls, 
she reconstructs human faces.

473
00:34:53,579 --> 00:34:59,349
Hughes hopes her work can someday
help I.D. a murder victim and catch a killer.

474
00:35:01,811 --> 00:35:05,711
The technique employed by 
Hughes is not only time-consuming,

475
00:35:05,711 --> 00:35:10,739
but it's ultimate success hinges
on a high degree of artisic talent.

476
00:35:11,507 --> 00:35:14,421
>>[Joanna Hughes] If you are
off by even a millimeter,

477
00:35:14,421 --> 00:35:20,101
then you run the risk of having an
incorrect, or an unidentified, individual.

478
00:35:20,101 --> 00:35:25,857
And for every unidentified individual,
there is a criminal perpetrator, murderer,

479
00:35:25,857 --> 00:35:28,729
walking the streets.

480
00:35:31,968 --> 00:35:36,435
>>[Bass] To do a good facial
reconstruction of an individual,

481
00:35:36,435 --> 00:35:39,771
you have to have
a lot of artistic ability.

482
00:35:39,771 --> 00:35:42,456
You have to be able
to get the face

483
00:35:42,456 --> 00:35:46,646
so it has some expression on 
the face, so it looks like a face.

484
00:35:46,646 --> 00:35:51,265
I've done this before and 
my heads look like clay heads.

485
00:35:51,709 --> 00:35:54,026
>>[narration] This head looks human.

486
00:35:54,026 --> 00:35:57,550
It also looks remarkably 
like the actual subject:

487
00:35:57,550 --> 00:36:01,555
a man who donated his
body to the forensic facility.

488
00:36:03,315 --> 00:36:06,368
Hughes did this 
reconstruction for practice,

489
00:36:06,368 --> 00:36:09,324
then checked her 
work against the photos.

490
00:36:09,324 --> 00:36:11,875
>>[Hughes] Ah! It's him!

491
00:36:12,884 --> 00:36:15,444
>>[narration] But, what if she'd 
guessed wrong about

492
00:36:15,444 --> 00:36:19,577
the size of the nose,
or the fleshiness of the jowls?

493
00:36:19,577 --> 00:36:24,724
In a real murder case, the stakes
are high and time is precious.

494
00:36:25,953 --> 00:36:30,619
Clay reconstruction yields a
single guess about a victim's looks.

495
00:36:30,619 --> 00:36:34,462
One mistake could
stall an investigation.

496
00:36:36,385 --> 00:36:39,594
Murray Marks hopes to
overcome those short-comings

497
00:36:39,594 --> 00:36:43,571
by bringing facial reconstruction
into the computer age.

498
00:36:43,571 --> 00:36:48,512
For help, Mark has joined forces 
with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

499
00:36:51,216 --> 00:36:56,075
The government research lab has
supercomputers and imaging experts.

500
00:36:56,075 --> 00:37:00,722
Marks has cranial dimensions
from some 1,000 modern skulls,

501
00:37:00,722 --> 00:37:04,255
the largest database
of its kind in the world.

502
00:37:06,771 --> 00:37:10,287
But, to build a face from a skull,
he needs to know more about

503
00:37:10,287 --> 00:37:13,313
the intimate marriage 
of skin and bone.

504
00:37:13,313 --> 00:37:18,408
That requires state-of-the-art
MRI and CAT scan expertise.

505
00:37:19,865 --> 00:37:22,760
Some of the world's leaders
in this field work in the

506
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:27,889
research imaging center at the 
University of Texas Health Science Center.

507
00:37:27,889 --> 00:37:30,740
The center's director, 
Dr. Peter Fox,

508
00:37:30,740 --> 00:37:34,043
is intrigued by the facial 
reconstruction project.

509
00:37:36,901 --> 00:37:40,358
To provide baseline images
from a known individual,

510
00:37:40,358 --> 00:37:44,843
he's offered his scanners
and his own flesh and bone.

511
00:37:49,446 --> 00:37:52,909
Fox's MRI maps the 
surface of his face.

512
00:37:52,909 --> 00:37:58,375
His CAT scan yields a 3D image
of the skull beneath the skin.

513
00:37:58,610 --> 00:38:06,334
Now the challenge is to recreate by computer, 
a face that looks like the living Dr. Fox.

514
00:38:08,013 --> 00:38:11,471
If they can figure out how
to do it with a known face,

515
00:38:11,471 --> 00:38:15,492
they're optimistic they can
do it with an unknown one.

516
00:38:15,909 --> 00:38:19,028
A wireframe model helps
translate the relationship

517
00:38:19,028 --> 00:38:23,515
between Fox's face and his skull 
into mathematical formulas.

518
00:38:24,683 --> 00:38:28,998
Those formulas can then be 
used to create a facial mask.

519
00:38:28,998 --> 00:38:32,698
In this case,
a mask of Fox's face.

520
00:38:33,168 --> 00:38:35,928
Once the software 
development is complete,

521
00:38:35,928 --> 00:38:40,807
police or witnesses could
easily modify such masks.

522
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:46,341
>>[Marks] What if they were heavier?
What if they were lighter?

523
00:38:46,341 --> 00:38:48,847
Change that hairline, 
change the eye color.

524
00:38:48,847 --> 00:38:52,989
Or, you know, add a beard, 
add a mustache, things like this.

525
00:38:56,843 --> 00:39:00,594
>>[narration] The Tennessee scientists
are taking promising steps toward

526
00:39:00,594 --> 00:39:04,513
one of the final frontiers
in forensic anthropology:

527
00:39:04,513 --> 00:39:10,449
to restore a face and with it, 
the identity and humanity of a victim.

528
00:39:11,812 --> 00:39:16,115
The conclusion of 
Secrets of the Body Farm, next.

529
00:39:17,921 --> 00:39:22,158
And now the conclusion of
Secrets of the Body Farm.

530
00:39:23,577 --> 00:39:27,975
In the early years, the research conducted
at the Anthropology Research Facility

531
00:39:27,975 --> 00:39:30,280
was not widely known, but then,

532
00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:33,979
its unofficial nickname 
coined by police and FBI agents,

533
00:39:33,979 --> 00:39:38,069
became the title of a best-selling
crime novel by Patricia Cornwell.

534
00:39:38,069 --> 00:39:41,553
The body farm hit the mainstream.

535
00:39:42,058 --> 00:39:45,583
More books, movies, 
and hit TV shows followed,

536
00:39:45,583 --> 00:39:50,543
raising the facility's profile and 
communicating the importance of its work.

537
00:39:50,543 --> 00:39:55,804
>>[Robin Miller] The drill is that we are 
going to pull him out of the truck.

538
00:39:57,464 --> 00:40:00,293
>>[Michelle Miller] I'm afraid 
the upper body's gonna drop.

539
00:40:00,293 --> 00:40:02,224
You have the strength?
>>[Robin] Yep.

540
00:40:07,732 --> 00:40:12,239
>>[narration] Here, death marks not an end,
but a beginning. The start of an amazing

541
00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:17,384
odyssey, carefully observed and
recorded in minute detail by researchers.

542
00:40:17,384 --> 00:40:20,003
>>[Robin] Alright, here's good.
>>[narration] Robin Miller is

543
00:40:20,003 --> 00:40:23,221
studying a specific component
in human decomposition.

544
00:40:23,221 --> 00:40:25,391
>>[Robin] Okay.
>>[narration] A possible linkage

545
00:40:25,391 --> 00:40:28,366
between clothing 
and the rate of decay.

546
00:40:31,125 --> 00:40:34,144
>>[Robin] Lift his legs up.
And put one leg at a time

547
00:40:34,144 --> 00:40:38,494
in through here, and then hold his legs up 
while someone else pulls it over his... [trails off]

548
00:40:40,585 --> 00:40:44,405
Half of all cases that we
work on in the United States

549
00:40:44,405 --> 00:40:47,487
are people that we have
found with clothing on them.

550
00:40:47,487 --> 00:40:50,386
My research hopes to
answer the question:

551
00:40:50,386 --> 00:40:55,831
Can we use that data in order
to determine a time since death?

552
00:40:56,654 --> 00:41:00,537
>>[narration] This corpse, donated 
by family per the dead man's wishes,

553
00:41:00,537 --> 00:41:03,531
will prove invaluable 
in Miller's research.

554
00:41:03,531 --> 00:41:08,511
To protect his identity, he is 
now known simply as Corpse 3101.

555
00:41:08,788 --> 00:41:13,832
But, anonymity can't diminish his generous 
nature, or his willingness to help others,

556
00:41:13,832 --> 00:41:19,767
even after his death. His contribution
reaches far beyond pure science.

557
00:41:19,767 --> 00:41:25,005
It may influence real-world murder 
cases and help bring killers to justice.

558
00:41:25,817 --> 00:41:30,766
Drawing on prior research, Miller has
divided decomposition into four stages:

559
00:41:30,766 --> 00:41:34,791
Stage one spans the 
first day or so after death.

560
00:41:34,791 --> 00:41:38,259
>>[Robin] Stage one is where--
is what we call the "fresh stage."

561
00:41:38,259 --> 00:41:42,229
Where there is no maggot activity,
we just have the basic

562
00:41:42,229 --> 00:41:45,225
rigor, algor, and liver mortis.

563
00:41:45,579 --> 00:41:51,032
>>[narration] Stage one is marked by
stiffening, discoloration, then relaxation.

564
00:41:51,294 --> 00:41:54,106
>>[Robin] As we get out of 
stage one, into stage two,

565
00:41:54,106 --> 00:41:57,489
is when the blow flies come in 
and start to lay their eggs.

566
00:41:57,489 --> 00:42:00,496
And their eggs will, of course, 
hatch into maggots.

567
00:42:00,496 --> 00:42:03,837
The maggots will take over and
start consuming the body.

568
00:42:05,347 --> 00:42:08,715
>>[narration] Stage two includes
a flurry of insect activity:

569
00:42:08,715 --> 00:42:11,726
yellowjackets, blow flies, and maggots.

570
00:42:15,106 --> 00:42:19,080
>>[Robin] The eggs that were laid
a couple days ago in the nose, have hatched.

571
00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:23,363
So, we have a maggot mass that's
going to work around his nostrils.

572
00:42:23,363 --> 00:42:28,039
And in his right ear, 
and near his right eye.

573
00:42:28,039 --> 00:42:31,849
They've eaten away on
the inside of the mouth.

574
00:42:32,391 --> 00:42:35,619
I can see some eggs that
have been laid on the tongue

575
00:42:35,619 --> 00:42:38,965
and in the left cheek area.

576
00:42:39,849 --> 00:42:42,536
>>[narration] The proteins 
and fats in human cells

577
00:42:42,536 --> 00:42:45,991
are a near perfect 
food for maggots.

578
00:42:47,029 --> 00:42:51,188
The swarm of insects is a 
gruesome reminder of mortality,

579
00:42:51,188 --> 00:42:54,056
as is the smell 
of decomposition.

580
00:42:55,713 --> 00:43:00,546
Inside the body, the bacteria are 
starting to work on the internal organs.

581
00:43:03,423 --> 00:43:07,537
>>[Robin] As that happens, 
gases are also released inside the body,

582
00:43:07,537 --> 00:43:11,926
there's a process called "autolysis," 
where the cells inside burst,

583
00:43:11,926 --> 00:43:16,612
because the pH level is disrupted.

584
00:43:17,589 --> 00:43:20,048
>>[narration] Some of the 
gases escape the corpse

585
00:43:20,048 --> 00:43:24,243
through natural body openings, 
creating putrid smells.

586
00:43:25,499 --> 00:43:29,540
Gases that are trapped within 
distend the veins in the body,

587
00:43:29,540 --> 00:43:32,092
a process called "marbling."

588
00:43:32,148 --> 00:43:37,470
Sometimes the gases build up enough 
to burst a corpse's abdomen.

589
00:43:38,303 --> 00:43:41,786
Stage three is the longest 
phase of decomposition,

590
00:43:41,786 --> 00:43:44,958
and is greatly influenced 
by the changing seasons.

591
00:43:44,958 --> 00:43:49,527
>>[Robin] We definitely have a decrease 
in maggot activity and fly activity

592
00:43:49,527 --> 00:43:53,788
because the larvae and the eggs can't live
below a certain temperature.

593
00:43:53,788 --> 00:43:57,581
So the cold weather is having 
an effect on the decomposition here.

594
00:43:57,581 --> 00:43:59,757
>>[narration] But the 
cycle does continue.

595
00:43:59,757 --> 00:44:02,401
Fifty-two days after 
the start of the experiment,

596
00:44:02,401 --> 00:44:08,193
3101 enters stage four of decomposition.
He is essentially mummified.

597
00:44:08,676 --> 00:44:11,857
Any remaining skin has 
the texture of leather,

598
00:44:11,857 --> 00:44:15,577
and nearly all of the 
soft tissue is gone.

599
00:44:15,577 --> 00:44:19,497
Already it appears that clothing 
may have slowed the rate of decay,

600
00:44:19,497 --> 00:44:22,883
but confirming that assumption 
will require a scientific review

601
00:44:22,883 --> 00:44:25,569
of the data in the weeks ahead.

602
00:44:28,322 --> 00:44:32,491
A gentle hillside in Tennessee, 
unique in all the world,

603
00:44:32,491 --> 00:44:38,746
a singular place set aside for gleaning 
knowledge and truth from flesh and bone.

604
00:44:39,214 --> 00:44:41,915
>>[Haskell] The anthropological
research facility here in Knoxville

605
00:44:41,915 --> 00:44:48,885
is absolutely critical in research, 
when it comes to assessing human death.

606
00:44:49,706 --> 00:44:52,689
>>[Bass] There's a lot of really 
cutting-edge research going on

607
00:44:52,689 --> 00:44:56,357
at the body farm right now,
it's the only research essentially,

608
00:44:56,357 --> 00:44:59,243
of this type in the world.

609
00:44:59,664 --> 00:45:02,980
>>[narration] Lee Jantz believes 
the work is so important,

610
00:45:02,980 --> 00:45:06,767
she's made an extraordinary commitment, 
in spite of her discomfort

611
00:45:06,767 --> 00:45:08,852
with what she knows will follow.

612
00:45:08,852 --> 00:45:13,712
>>[Lee Jantz] I am a donor. When I die, 
I expect my family to honor my wishes

613
00:45:13,712 --> 00:45:16,848
and donate me to the 
anthropological research facility

614
00:45:16,848 --> 00:45:21,352
in the department of anthropology.
It is not a pleasant thought.

615
00:45:21,685 --> 00:45:26,290
I don't like to think of what my body 
will go through, but it's gonna happen.

616
00:45:26,290 --> 00:45:31,144
>>[narration] The dead remain the focus 
of scientific scrutiny at the body farm,

617
00:45:31,144 --> 00:45:35,413
but the reason for the research, 
the motivation and the inspiration

618
00:45:35,413 --> 00:45:38,366
will always remain the living.

619
00:45:39,033 --> 00:45:44,338
[up-tempo closing music]