Text Excerpt 16, Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum They Died At Different Times [Note to readers: Many of the official autopsy reports of the Branch Davidians, autopsy photographs, and official diagrams showing the locations of body recoveries are available for viewing at the Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum website. Unfortunately, this documentation cannot be included in a text excerpt.] While the Autopsy Reports do not give an estimated time of death of the mothers and children found in the concrete room, let us recall Dr. Peerwani's courtroom testimony. Dr. Peerwani said: "I think they died within a short while, yes. Minutes, I can't really be certain." (Transcript, pg. 6033.) Note that in this statement Dr. Peerwani does not give an estimate of time of death--he says only that the people in the concrete room died at approximately the same time. Let's have a look at the states of decomposition for those who allegedly died on April 19 inside the concrete room. Visitors to the Museum's website who have read "Inside The Concrete Room" will know that the concrete room was filled with spent cartridges. Some of the remains of the women and children were found close to the surface in the concrete room, others were buried beneath the spent cartridges. Then let's look at the states of decomposition for those who died on February 28, some 51 days prior. Those bodies were buried in shallow graves by the Davidians during the siege and later recovered for autopsy on May 4. [Visitors to the Museum's website can review the List of Decomposition States, which contains this information as well as the dates of autopsy--space constraints prevent the inclusion of this data in this presentation.] Autopsy Reports show that remains of many who allegedly died on April 19 were severely decomposed at date of autopsy. Internal organs were no longer recognizable. They had turned into a brown amorphous mass, or had totally liquefied; the severe decomposition was often used as a reason to terminate closer examination. Unidentified, Mt. Carmel Doe 65 is typical. Under "Internal Examination," Gary Sisler writes: "The internal organs consist of amorphous brownish decomposing mass of tissue . . . and precludes further examination." Some (not all) children's corpses were so decomposed that sex organs were no longer recognizable. See Paiges Gent, Mt. Carmel Doe 64; Cyrus Howell, Mt. Carmel Doe 67-2; Hollywood Sylvia, Mt. Carmel Doe 67-4; Bobbie Lane Koresh, Mt. Carmel Does 67-5 and 69; Unidentified, Mt. Carmel Doe 67-7; Mayannah Schneider, Mt. Carmel Doe 70. Compare those remains to the remains of those who died on February 28. The decomposition of these five corpses is described as "moderate." With rare exceptions, the internal organs could be recognized, and indeed were removed and weighed. Four of these bodies were in a shallow grave or "tunnels" and spent 51 days there, and then spent a week or two inundated by rain water and human waste (see The Washington Post, April 30, 1996). Given Dr. Maples's dictum, "one week in the open air equals two weeks in water, equals eight weeks underground," we might expect the exhumed bodies to be in approximately the same state of decomposition as the bodies of those who died on April 19. Yet there are great differences--the older bodies are far less decomposed. Speaking of those exhumed bodies, Dr. Peerwani said: "We were very surprised. The bodies had been buried for approximately two months, and we were expecting the worst, since there was no embalming; however, the bodies did show a moderate decomposition." (Transcript, pg. 6034). Again: the remains of those who died on February 28 were only moderately decomposed, but many of the remains of those who allegedly died on April 19 were severely decomposed. Even more remarkable, however, were the differences in the rates of decomposition of the corpses found in the concrete room. Remember, these people were said to have died "within minutes" of each other, on April 19. Julliete (Mt. Carmel Doe 54) and Crystal Martinez (Mt. Carmel Doe 57) showed only moderate decomposition, yet they were found in close proximity to other corpses that were severely decomposed--for example, their son and brother, Joseph Martinez (Mt. Carmel Doe 52). All the remains buried under similar circumstances in the concrete room should have exhibited similar states of decomposition. Yet Dr. Peerwani wasn't asked about these extraordinary differences in the rates of decomposition during the trial, nor did he volunteer information. The anomaly is not mentioned in any one of the Autopsy Reports, of course, because each report discussed just one corpse. The truth is simple. The difference in decomposition states of remains found inside the concrete room suggests the people inside the concrete room died at different times. One particularly anomalous specimen is described in Autopsy Report Doe 59. The portion of the body above the pelvis was severely decomposed and disarticulated, the organs liquefied and indistinguishable, and the flesh falling off the bones. The lower portion of the body was fully articulated and only moderately decomposed. The Tarrant County medical examiners expressed no curiosity about this riddle. They wrote on page 2 of the Report: "The pelvis and the lower extremities are fully articulated whereas the torso and head are disarticulated and infested with maggots." The remains were never identified: perhaps they belong to two different people. Possibly the deaths occurred at widely separated times. Next: Excerpt 17, Forensic Evidence Not Wanted in Waco --------------------------------------------------------- Entire set of text excerpts from the Museum available with anonymous ftp from ftp://ftp.public-action.com/wm2-0txt.zip Excerpted by Carol Valentine. Images omitted. Visit the Museum at http://www.Public-Action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum. SkyWriter@Public-Action.com Copyright 1996-2000 by Carol A. Valentine, on loan to Public Action, Inc. All commercial rights are reserved. Full statement of terms and conditions for copying and redistribution is available in the Museum Library. "Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum," "SkyWriter," and the skywriting logo are trademarks of Public Action Inc.