CHAPTER 44
When Judge Meyers returned to the bench for the afternoon session, he looked troubled, and considered the daunting blanket of snow continuing to fall outside his courtroom windows. “While I believe it is important to proceed expeditiously, I also do not want to be foolhardy,” he said. “The weathermen indicate the snow is supposed to let up this afternoon. Having lived in the Pacific Northwest much of my life, I prefer my own method of meteorology; I stick my head out the front door.” The audience chuckled. “That is precisely what I did during the break, and I didn’t see any blue sky on the horizon. This will be our last witness of the day so as to avoid many of you driving home in the dark.”
Dan displayed a series of charts and photographs on the flat-screen television as he walked Kelly Rosa, the King County forensic anthropologist, through her testimony. He started with Finlay Armstrong’s phone call and the photograph of the bone.
“And how long does it take before body fat deteriorates and turns to adipocere?”
“It depends on a number of different factors: the location of the body, the depth of burial, soil and climate conditions. Generally, though, it happens over years, not days or months.”
“So you concluded the remains had been buried for years. Why then were you puzzled?”
Rosa sat forward. “Normally a body buried in a shallow grave in the wilderness does not remain buried long. Coyotes and other animals will get to it.”
“Were you able to resolve this mystery?”
“I was advised that the grave site, up until recently, had been covered by a body of water, making it inaccessible to animals.”
“Did you conclude from the fact that animals had not desecrated the site—that is, scattered the bones—that the body had to have been buried shortly before the area was flooded?”
Clark stood. “Calls for speculation, Your Honor.”
Meyers considered the objection. “As Dr. Rosa is an expert, she can answer as to her opinions and conclusions.”
Rosa said, “I can only say that normally it would not have taken long for animals to get to a body buried in that shallow of a grave.”
O’Leary paced. “I also noted in your report a wholly separate reason for your opinion that these remains were not buried immediately upon death. Can you explain why?”
“It has to do with the position of the body in the grave.” Dan displayed a photograph of Sarah’s remains on the flat-screen. The dirt had been whisked away to reveal a skeleton curled in what looked very much like a fetal position. The gallery fidgeted and emitted soft rumblings. Tracy lowered her gaze and covered her mouth, nauseated and light-headed. Her mouth watered. She closed her eyes and took short, quick breaths.
“It was clear the person tried unsuccessfully to bend the body to fit in the hole,” Rosa continued.
“How long before burial did rigor mortis set in?” Dan asked.
“I can’t say with any reasonable certainty.”
“Were you able to determine the cause of death?”
“No.”
“Did you note any injuries, broken bones?”
“I noted skull fractures at the back of the cranium.” She used a diagram to show the location of the fractures.
“Could you determine what caused the skull fractures?”
“A blunt-force trauma, but from what . . .” She shrugged. “It’s not possible to tell.”
Rosa then explained how her team accounted for everything, from bone fragments to the rivets from Sarah’s Levi’s and the silver-and-black snaps of her Scully shirt. She also said she had unearthed pieces of black plastic of the same material as common lawn and leaf bags, as well as carpet fibers.
“And could you draw any conclusions from that?”
“What I can conclude is that the plastic was either placed underneath the body prior to the body being placed in the hole, or—”
“Why would someone do that?”
Rosa shook her head. “I don’t have any idea.”
“What is the other possibility?”
“The body was buried in a plastic bag.”
Tracy struggled to control her breathing. She felt flushed. Perspiration trickled down her sides.
“Did you find anything else?”
“Jewelry.”
“What in particular?”
“A pair of earrings and a necklace.”
The crowd stirred. Meyers reached for his gavel but resisted rapping it.
“Can you describe the earrings?”
“They were jade, teardrop shaped.”
Dan presented Rosa with the jewelry in question. “Would you show us on your diagram where you located each earring?”
Rosa used a pointer to note the two locations. “Near the skull. The necklace we found near the top of the spinal column.”
“Did you reach any conclusions from the location of the jewelry?”
“I concluded the deceased was wearing the jewelry when placed in the grave.”
Vance Clark left his tortoiseshell glasses on the table and moved purposefully toward the witness chair. He held no notes, arms crossed across his chest. “Let’s discuss for a moment, Dr. Rosa, what you don’t know. You don’t know how the deceased died.”
“I do not.”
“You don’t know how the deceased received the blunt-force trauma to the back of her skull.”
“I do not.”
“The killer could have banged her head against the ground while strangling her.”
Rosa shrugged. “It could have happened that way.”
“You have no evidence to determine whether the deceased was raped.”
“I don’t.”
“You have no DNA evidence with which the killer could be identified.”
“I don’t.”
“You believe the victim was killed sometime before burial but you don’t know how long before.”
“Not with any certainty.”
“So you don’t know if the killer buried the body immediately after death, then went back some time later and moved the body to where it was ultimately found.”
“I don’t know that,” Rosa agreed.
“That could be a potential reason that rigor mortis had set in before the body was placed in this particular location, correct? Edmund House could have killed her, buried the body, then later went back to move it, and found that rigor mortis had set in, correct?”
Dan stood. “Your Honor, now the State is clearly asking Dr. Rosa to speculate.”
Meyers looked to be pondering the scenario. “I’ll allow it.”
“Dr. Rosa, do you need me to repeat my question?” Clark asked.
Rosa said, “No. The scenario is possible with one clarification. Rigor mortis dissipates after approximately thirty-six hours. So under the scenario you’ve posed, Mr. House would have had to have moved the body relatively quickly.”
“But it is a possibility,” Clark said.
“It is a possibility,” she said.
“So there’s quite a bit of speculation on your part, in addition to the science.”
Rosa smiled. “I’m just answering the questions asked.”
“I understand. But the only thing you can state definitively is that the deceased is, in fact, Sarah Lynne Crosswhite.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what clothes the victim was wearing when she was abducted?”
“No.”
“Do you know what jewelry the victim was wearing when abducted?”
“Again, I can only offer an opinion based upon what I located in the grave.”
“I see you’re wearing earrings today.”
“I am.”
“Have you ever put on a pair of earrings and then, perhaps undecided, brought a second pair?”
Rosa shrugged. “I don’t know that I have.”
“Have you known women who do that sort of thing?”
“I have,” she said.
“It is a woman’s prerogative to change her mind, is it not?” Clark smiled. “God knows my wife does.”
The question brought a few snickers. It was a light moment in the darkest testimony so far and those in the gallery responded with nervous laughter. Even Judge Meyers smiled.
“That’s what I tell my husband,” Rosa said.
“And you have no idea whether the deceased had more than one pair of earrings or more than one necklace when she was abducted?”
“I do not.”
Clark smiled for the first time in two days as he returned to his seat.
Dan stood. “No further questions,” he said.
Meyers considered the clock on the wall. “We will end for the day. Mr. O’Leary, who do you intend to call tomorrow morning?”
Dan stood. “Weather permitting,” he said, “Tracy Crosswhite.”