The Journey to Justice: Garvin County, Oklahoma

By Susan Murphy-Milano

On October 14, I arrived in Garvin County, Oklahoma. I was brought in by family members to review and bring attention to their cases involving possible murder, cover up and corruption. I went to Oklahoma, knowing there were threats to harm me, but I felt this trip was important to secure information about each of these cases in front of new eyes.

What I found was beyond what I expected. There is a difference when meeting these families face to face and going to the actual areas where the crimes took place at "ground zero" instead of looking at photos or talking on the phone. It was immediately apparent to me that something, many things, were wrong with the initial "howdy doody" so-called investigations. This included staging the original crime scenes from bogus shell casings to cleaning up a bloody witness, and removing blood-soaked sheets, blankets or rugs, to actually dragging a body from the inside of a home out to the backyard. And at least one additional murder, possibly two, also directly relate to the cases

Meeting with each individual family was an eye-opener. Seeing, for myself, the landscape in which these crimes were committed would now give these cases a chance at justice. After reviewing never-before-seen crime scene photos, documentation and, in my opinion, new evidence added by the sheer determination of these families, I put the cases of Chanda Turner, Sheila Deviney and Tom Horton, now identified as “The Garvin County Three,” into a national spotlight. I had a lot of help, including a former prosecutor with whom I would report my findings. We would strategize my daily methods of gathering solid information and shipping it out by carrier the next day. You need to establish what is known as "a pattern of conduct." If you build the framework around this, you definitely have a case. And indeed, I did.

It was interesting to go into restaurants and businesses and see firsthand the treatment these families received--some good, some not so good. Like being shunned, or having a contagious disease, people were obviously in fear of being seen talking to them. It was gut-wrenching as I witnessed this happening before my eyes. It reminded me of a time when my own hero of a father murdered my mother before taking his own life. Those in my Chicago community, many of whom I had known my entire life, would publicly turn their backs or threaten my life if I continued “disgracing the Chicago Police Department and maligning my father’s good name."

By day three of my investigation at “ground zero,” the hostile climate turned and the curtain of fear in the surrounding towns of Paul’s Valley, Lindsey, Norman and Maysville began to rise. People were talking about the truth, the facts I was releasing nightly on the nationally syndicated program The Roth Show. People were coming forward providing crucial evidence and supplying statements. One by one, townsfolk expressed their embarrassment for how their community has been portrayed in the national spotlight. You saw them taking a stand with the truth, knowing that if things continued as they always had in Garvin County that justice would never be served and that others might be harmed in the process, possibly one of their own children or loved one.

Working within a system with a scandalous medical examiner’s office, a questionable sheriff, and a small town where families with money help keep things in control, the families of “the Garvin County Three”would not give up. My greatest pleasure, and the best part of my trip, was getting to know them better. These are real people who have been handed one of life’s biggest disservices, injustice.

As my time in Garvin County continued, I was surprised to see that other families were contacting either myself or attorney Jaye Mendros of Justice for the Dead site. This included people who had a lot of information surrounding these cases. It almost seemed as if there was a new consciousness, and some were finding that maybe their own consciences were finally getting the best of them after so many years of holding the secrets. Those secrets are now documented.

In the midst of a controversial upcoming election for a new sheriff in Garvin County, I found the tensions mounting all around me. Many people in the county were trying to keep the old guard in office to keep things as they have been for the last 11 years. Also, maybe some were trying to keep their own loved ones from facing the music they were hiding from behind the very ones who were present on each of the crime scenes of Sheila Deviney, Chanda Turner and Tom Horton, The Garvin County Three.

On November 2, the people of Garvin County spoke up loudly and clearly that it was finally time for a change. They elected to give the old sheriff the boot and bring in someone who has promised to do what is necessary to get their cases re-opened and re-examined. The task facing new Sheriff Larry Rhoades is daunting, and we have to believe that he will see this through.

There is still a lot of work to do in Oklahoma, but the process has begun to get the ball rolling in the right direction. Justice will be served for The Garvin County Three.

There are so many people I would like to thank, and you all know who you are, especially my colleagues here at Women In Crime Ink. Without your support and prayers, this journey would have been much more difficult. Also, a special thanks to Dr. Laurie Roth and Doug Hagmann; I always knew you had my back every step of the way. And to those now at the beginning stages of the preliminary investigation as it relates to the long-awaited truth for Chanda Turner, Sheila Deviney, Tom Horton and each of their families who know justice is now a step closer.

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Skeleton Tales

by Andrea Campbell

Question: If a skeleton is found walled up in a crumbling old house, what can the skeleton tell a forensic pathologist about itself? I assume sex, and if there were any injuries, like if he or she got bonked on the head before being walled up. Old broken bones, that sort of thing. But what else would we know about the deceased? Would it be mummified? Would there be any clothes left? Time of death is 20-30 years previous. How involved is the forensic pathologist going to be with the case? In your experience, are FP’s more likely to be men or women?

Answer: There’s a lot here to consider, let’s see where it goes. I’d like to define some positions before we get down to the bones. Definition: “Forensic pathology” involves the investigation of sudden, unnatural, unexplained or violent death. A medical examiner will typically be a forensic pathologist and, in his capacity within the criminal justice system, he will be called a “medical examiner” or m.e. If he has not been appointed, he will remain a forensic pathologist.

A regular pathologist (without the “forensic” designation, will be affiliated with a hospital.) By virtue of being appointed though, the forensic pathologist takes on a new title, Medical Examiner. And to define this still more, a coroner is an “elected official” who does not have to have any medical degree whatsoever. His position is based on English common law and, often, the coroner was the man who made the funeral arrangements. There are still many coroners in the United States.

Since the body in this case is so old, the m.e. may take a stab
(sorry, puns just seem to show up) at estimating time since death but, most likely, after making out a report (chain of command)—he will call in a forensic anthropologist, a specialty primarily concerned with the identification and examination of human skeletal remains.

The Forensic Goal, regardless of condition, is to identify the remains, determine the circumstances of unexplained death. (And also be able to testify in court, if need be.)


Where the forensic anthropologist is headed:

The first questions s/he will answer: • Are the bones human? • How many are present? • What is the time since death? • What is the manner of death? The main and most important job left to the anthropologist is to be able to determine major biological characteristics such as, age, sex, race or ethnicity, and stature. These are what are referred to as specific group characteristics.

“Individual” biological traits such as a pattern of dental restoration, evidence of a previous trauma or medical condition, and any unusual biological characteristics help to define the victim further, giving focus to a more specific age, sex or race group.

In the lab, investigators will examine small structures on the skeleton such as any small changes at the joint; for example, the elbow or knee might indicate a type of injury. They will look for bumps on the bone, which can indicate the site of a well-healed fracture. Perhaps they will stumble on an empty tooth socket would indicating tooth loss either shortly before death or during the recovery phase. (The way to determine the difference would be evidenced by the healing process.) And, basically, they are looking for characteristics that are either normal or abnormal because, if they are abnormal, they may have forensic significance.

Another notion, which is just as important as these biological determinations is being able to identify circumstances leading to the findings and judgment of what happened to the remains since death! By this I mean, questions concerning the state of the body: was the body moved? Time determination since death? Did trauma occur on the bones before, during or after death? I can tell you how a forensic anthropologist determines certain things, but that is for another question.

The medical examiner will be available for consultation and court testimony as long as needed for the case. (S/he works for the state.) The investigative detective assigned to the case will most likely be at an autopsy but, if not, she will still follow up with the M.E. in the lab.

Mummification of a corpse depends on the temperature and dryness of the area because heat and drying is the main ingredient. There should be clothes or artifacts if they were left behind. Their condition is another thing, meaning, moths may have eaten wool, termites may have eaten wood, worms may have ingested adipocere (body fat), and so forth, but without animals present, there is no reason why artifacts such as clothes would not be present.

Here is what a typical Forensic Anthropologist report may have on it:

Summary of Physical Characteristics on an Adult Skeleton

Case #______ Date________

• Sex:
• Age:
• Race:
• Height:
• Distinguishing dental profile:
• Handedness:
• Ante-mortem trauma:
• Peri-mortem trauma
• Post-mortem trauma:
• Disposition of body:
• Time since death:
• Pathology:
• Build:
• Comments or summary:

Suggested reading: Human and Nonhuman Bone Identification: A Color Atlas by Diane L. France (CRC Press, 2009). This is an expensive book for professionals but you may be able to order it through your library using Interlibrary Loan. Wonderful color exemplars.

The Bone Detectives: How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead by Donna M. Jackson (Little, Brown, 1996). This is a wonderful older book because the photography is so compelling; it is also oversized, but specifically for the children’s market. Jackson does a good job of outlining the job of a forensic anthropologist and includes a couple of well-known historical forensic cases.

Final comment: Women can do anything men can do within the criminal justice system.

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That Murky Question: Time of Death

by Andrea Campbell

You would think time of death would be something rather elementary. But it's actually a complicated concept and there are a lot of variables. The legal time of death is what appears on the death certificate. When you watch those hospital shows and they look at the clock and announce the time, that's a legal death notification.

Estimated Time of Death

This is what you're going to get from the medical examiner and it is his/her best guess for the present situation.

Physiological

This marks the time when the victim's vital organs for sustaining life cease to function.

The basic time of death estimation should be given when and where the body is discovered, before it gets photographed, moved, and transported. A medical examiner (or coroner, depending on your jurisdiction) will try to “guesstimate” the approximate time the person died based on several factors. In her article for Crime Library, Katherine Ramsland tells us that time of death is one of the central factors in any murder case because it can eliminate suspects, break alibis, or place victims clearly with the suspect. That's a given. Not to mention that it helps to form a timeline, giving detectives important clues as to what could have happened when. Time as an element in an investigation has the greatest potential for leads, other than a confession of course. People usually run their lives on routine, so by figuring out how long they've been dead, helps an investigator to question friends and family; in essence, he asks: Where should they have been? Doing what? Why? With who else?

Here is a short descriptive list of what is looked at in part or in whole to help determine time of death:

1. Body temperature, also called algor mortis—a body cools when oxygen no longer is being pumped through to help keep a normal body temp of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The rate is approximate, but a rectal temperature reading is divided by 1.5, which is equal to one to one and a half degrees per hour since death, when the body takes on the temperature of its surroundings.

2. Discoloration from livor mortis, also referred to as lividity or hypostasis—in a dead body the fluids settle, and a dark purple color is found on the lower side where it is lying. It happens because the white and red blood cells don’t mix anymore and the reds are settling. If part of the body is lying on a grate, that pattern will be repeated on the tissues because the contact makes pressure and keeps the blood from pooling there. A phenomenon called “blanching” (press your finger to your skin, it leaves a white trail) can indicate that lividity is not permanent, and that death is probably more than two hours old but not as long as ten. Two factors may change blood color, carbon monoxide poisoning (presents a bright red color) and extreme loss of blood (no discoloring at all).

3. Food digestion—examination of stomach contents can time date when someone has eaten their last meal, and the death estimation is based on the fact that the stomach breaks down food and empties it into the intestines at a fairly predictable rate. There are many factors that can play into this determination, however, including metabolism, drugs, medication, presence of disease, and the person’s emotional demeanor.

4. Rigor mortis—this action is due to muscles stiffening on account of accumulating waste products. It generally begins a couple to three hours after death and seems to start in the face, lower jaw and neck, and then spreads over the next twelve-plus-hours up to about eighteen hours to the larger muscles in the body. The rigidity can last up to thirty-six hours after which it then begins to disappear, starting at the head and face again. This process too, is affected by temperature (heat speeds the process) and differences in musculature (if not much muscle, less stiff).

5. Decomposition and decay—a dead body builds up fluids and gas due to the microorganisms that live inside. Liquids can emanate from the mouth and nose, the tongue swells, and the abdomen turns a greenish-yellow color. Over time, the skin will blister and fill with fluid. The decomposition process is sped up by heat and slowed under colder conditions. "Decomp" attracts insects as well and they set about the body to feed and lay eggs (usually in the bloody areas first). Their larval stages are what help to predict death. Bare in mind, Dear Reader, that forensic entomologists are a rare species themselves because there are probably no more than seventy certified forensic professionals in the whole of the country.

6. Ocular—eyes that are left open after death will develop a film on the surface. The red blood cells break down here too (in the “vitreous humor”), and the eyes after two or three hours will appear cloudy. Cloudiness shows in closed eyes as well, but much more slowly.

7. Personal factors—people are a great source of time death estimation as in “the last time I saw so-and-so . . .” ; those missing an appointment help to pinpoint time, a broken watch or timepiece will help, or a time-date from a camera are other considerations.

8. Other scientists—a forensic botanist may be able to give time-date clues based on the presence of pollen, pods or whatever vegetation growth or stunting may have occurred beneath or around the body; forensic anthropologists can help add notes after skeletonization, and toxicologists will have something to say about the fluids and blood.

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Further Reading:

Time of Death, Decomposition and Identification: An Atlas by Jay Dix, M.D. and Michael Graham, M.D., CRC Press, January 2000. ISBN: 0-8493-2367-3

Forensic Pathology by Dominick J. DiMaio, M.D. and Vincent J.M. DiMaio, M.D., CRC Press, June 2001, ISBN: 0-8493-0072-X

Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death by Jessica Snyder Sachs, Perseus Publishing. (Have not reviewed as yet.)

http://www.crimelibrary.com/forensics/time/

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Separating Fact from Fiction

by Andrea Campbell

Do you remember the television show "Qunicy, M.E."? It was a long time ago and I’d say that forensic science and crime-scene drama on television has increased twenty-fold since then. Even the primetime shows such as 20/20, Primetime, and 48 Hours have gone to the crime drama format. And for good reason: we love a mystery, we love to see stories about desperate people, and we love to see some kind of resolution. The problem lies mainly with the last element, the resolution part. Since everything on the “tube” (or should I say flat screen now?) is wrapped up in these neat, 30-60-90 minute formats (not counting commercial breaks), it gives the impression that things went smoothly from discovery, to arrest, and subsequently to conviction. Wow! if only real-life crime and cases were that condensed, we’d have to think about other things, like crime prevention (a not-so-novel idea that gets short-shrift).

I give a talk called The CSI Effect: 7 Key Differences Between TV Crime Drama and Reality. It’s amusing and I even bring props, but the scary thing is, it’s true stuff. For time’s sake and word count in this article today, we’ll take just one element I address: manpower. Television, for the sake of simplicity, has taken the jobs of twenty or more real-life criminologists and law enforcement, and rolled them into a small cast of easily-recognizable characters, maybe four or five. Okay, if you are in Podunk hill country with a population of 900, you probably know all the characters you’re going to meet at a crime scene. Get into the average, medium-sized city, however, and there is a crowd! For starters, you’ve got the “first responders,” the patrolmen of the local police department who are dispatched to the scene because of a 911 call, when a citizen discovers a body. (Outdoors it could be a hunter, berry-picker or just someone in recreation.)

The police cordon off the area, and detectives (from the police department), and the M.E. or coroner will be alerted to show up. (The difference between a medical examiner and a coroner are: 1) education - the M.E. is a doctor of pathology; 2) appointment vs. election - the coroner is an elected position and political in nature; and 3) jurisdiction - they can both pronounce death but if the manner is a suspicious death such as a homicide, suicide, or undetermined, the examination of the body at the morgue is generally done by a medically trained pathologist conducting an "autopsy.") Now most times a city has officers who are trained to collect evidence. They are called crime-scene techs, or criminalists, or any number of outfit names like CSU, crime-scene investigators, etc. Their job is to photograph the scene, collect evidence properly, and preserve chain of custody between the scene and the lab.

At the laboratory (in Arkansas we have a state crime lab), the evidence is brought in and given to lab evidence technicians at Intake, who log-in the materials, make sure the paperwork is sacrosanct, and then later, funnel it to the correct department for scientific analysis. All the while this is going on, the detectives are looking up information for identification purposes, notifying the families, conducting interviews, checking on reports and canvassing the neighborhood, if necessary, for witnesses, etc. Whew! A lot of things swirling around and many people have been linked to the scene per their own special job.

Why, if we count only those I’ve mentioned thus far, we could have between 10 to 12 people, and the evidence hasn't even begun to be processed forensically! Okay, so I’m running out of column inch here, but suffice it to say, that upwards of 20 to 30 people can eventually have touched this case in the capacity of their jobs—and the phones haven’t been silent this whole time because crime doesn’t wait for the first case to be finished. I know you get it, it’s just not something everyone thinks about when they consider the realities of working on a homicide, rape case, or other serious felony. So there’s something to think about when you watch TV.

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