Forensic anthropologists can tell a lot about a murder just by looking at bones. Under a microscope, markings in bone can provide clues that make or break a case.
Forensic anthropologist Ryburn Dobbs was called to investigate a suspected hit-and-run in California, but what he found was much darker.
Dobbs unpacks the case and what bones can show about a homicide on the latest episode of Crime Insiders:
“The forensics, the body, the skeleton told a very specific story,” Dobbs said.
When detectives found a body in bushes beside a busy road, a car accident seemed like the logical cause of death.
“I said to the detectives, this is not a this is not a car accident. This is not a hit-and-run or anything like that. This person was tied up and beaten,” he said.
By examining marks on the skull, he was able to tell that the victim was killed with a blunt weapon, like a golf club. However, the rest of the body appeared unscathed.
“No one’s going to fall out of the back of a truck or get hit by a car, and the only thing that breaks is their face.”
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