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Autopsy Report
James M. Moore
The victim, James M. Moore was a white male, 8 years of age, born July 27th, 1984, who died of multiple traumatic injuries to the head, torso, and extremities with drowning. He was found in a drainage ditch, drowned in 2ft of water, near the bodies of two other 8-year-old male victims. He was found completely nude, with his wrists bound to his ankles by shoelaces.
Time of Death Estimates
The Coroner's report completed by Mr. Kent Hale states that lividity (the red discoloration in the skin caused by the pooling and settling of the blood within the blood vessels) was present. It also states that the lividity blanched with pressure. Lividity begins about thirty minutes after death has occurred. After 4 or 5 hours, dependent on environmental conditions, lividity fixes and will not blanche. It takes about 8 to 10 hours for lividity to become fixed. This could place the time of death (which can only be given as a range) of James Moore at sometime after daybreak on May 6th, 1993. However it is only one biological indicator, and no one indicator should be used to determine the time of death.
When Dr. Peretti conducted his autopsy of James M. Moore, on May 7th, 1993, he stated that 'Rigor was present and fixed to an equal degree in all extremities.' The time that the autopsy was conducted is not noted on the report, therefore is difficult to gauge how far the body was into rigor. However, Dr. Peretti was confident that Rigor was evenly present throughout the extremities, and that he made no mention of any dissolution. As a general guideline, Rigor reaches full even distribution within 12 to 24 hours after death. Also as a general guideline, Rigor begins to disappear within 12 hours after that, at which time decomposition begins. Again, by itself, the use of Rigor Mortis to determine a time of death, or a time range of death, is not advised. Several biological indicators should be used.
As the above suggests, a time of death of any kind is very difficult to estimate given the differences in metabolic processes between individuals, given varying individual anatomy, and given varying environmental factors. The presentation and stages of Rigor Mortis and/ or Livor Mortis (lividity) used to make such estimations are not absolute, and should be treated as guidelines, not hard and fast biological principals to be blanketly generalized from case to case.
Wound Pattern Analysis
This victim received more traumatic head injuries than any of the other victims in this case. Dr. Peretti states that defense wounds were present on the victim's hands. These wounds were very few, indicating that victim was incapacitated quickly after the attack began. So the nature of these head injuries, and the limited defensive type wounds, combine to indicate sudden, forceful, and repeated blows that resulted in abraded contusions, multiple lacerations, and multiple skull fractures.
There is an unexplained directional pattern abrasion just below the victim's right anterior shoulder area.
This unexplained injury does not correspond with any of the physical evidence collected at the location that victim was discovered. It is furthermore inconsistent with any of the naturally occurring elements that exist in that environment. The best conclusion that this examiner can reach is that this pattern abrasion was created by forceful, directional contact with something that was not found at that crime scene, whether it be a weapon, a surface or something else capable of creating that pattern.
The shoelace ligatures used to restrain this victim did not leave deep furrows, and also did not leave abrasions. This indicates that the victim was not struggling while the ligatures were in place. This indicates further that the victim was very much unconscious when the ligatures were affixed to his wrists and ankles.
We know that the victim drowned, that is to say that hemorrhagic edema fluid was present in the victim's lungs, indicating that the victim was breathing when he was placed into the 2ft of water in the drainage ditch at Robin Hood Hills.
Together, these facts suggest that the purpose of the ligatures in this victim's case was to keep the victim from moving around or being able to swim should he regain consciousness once he had been thrown into the water. It is this examiners opinion that the assailant in this case demonstrated all manner of awareness and cognizance at this location. The assailant knew that this victim was not dead when they threw this victim into the water, and that the ligatures would assist to complete the act of deliberate homicide should the victim become conscious.
Sexual Assault/ Rape Indicators
The victim in this case does not show any signs consistent with sexual assault or rape. As Dr. Peretti's examination concluded, no sperm were present in any of the orifices, no injuries were detected on or at the victim's genitals and an examination of the victim's anus revealed no injuries in the mucosal surfaces, which are very tender and sensitive.
Mr. Hale in his Coroner's report states that the victim may have been sexually assaulted. That is not a helpful statement. What may have occurred is not at issue. It is more accurate to state, after a full examination, that there is no evidence of sexual assault. It further important to note that sperm evidence, along with many other types of physical transfer evidence, would have been washed away when the victim was placed in the water. So a determination of whether or not a rape or sexual assault occurred is not always possible under these conditions.
It is also important to note that though the victim's anus was dilated, this by itself does not indicate or suggest anal penetration. The anus is a sphincter; a muscle which is tight and closed in most living individuals, and always open and dilated in deceased individuals. When someone dies their anus relaxes and dilates. The presence of a dilated anus taken to indicate sexual assault or rape is a very common misinterpretation made by untrained individuals when examining those who have met with violent death.
Lack Of Injuries
When compared to the other two victims in this case, who were found at the same location, bound nude with shoelace ligatures in the same fashion, the most striking discrepancy is the lack of injuries suffered by this victim. In the crime scene and autopsy photos made available to this examiner, there were no readily discernible bite marks visible, the genitals have not been visibly disturbed or molested, and there are no discernible stab wounds. This lack of attention is very telling, and will be discussed in the Offender Characteristics section of this report.
There is again a lack of evidence to support any sort of strangulation. Dr. Peretti states that his examination of the neck of this victim revealed no injuries, and the photos that this examiner has seen support that conclusion.
There is also, again, a lack of mosquito bites to this victim, which, as mentioned earlier, suggests that he received his injuries elsewhere first. This because the injuries took time to inflict, time during which many mosquito bites would have been received, even after death.
Recommendations
It is apparent from the physical evidence in this case that James M. Moore was attacked with sudden, violent force from which he defended himself in only a limited fashion. It cannot be known whether or not this was done before or after his clothes were removed. After the attack, he was unconscious, as it was at this point that he was bound with the shoelace ligatures.
It is this examiner's recommendation that the clothes of James M. Moore, recovered from the drainage ditch, be re analyzed by experts to determine if bloodstain patterns are evident. If present, they may tell us the nature and angle of blows delivered; if blood is not present, then this could help establish whether or not the victim was wearing clothes when he was attacked.
Furthermore, the piece of cloth (pictured clutched in the victim's hand at the right), found in this victim's hand at the scene, should be re-examined. This is a very critical piece of physical evidence that has not been fully examined by qualified individuals to determine it's full evidentiary value in this case. The cloth is a potential link from this victim directly to a suspect. Where this victim tore this piece of cloth from is a question that begs answering. And given that it could be physically matched back to the material of origin, this makes its evidentiary value all the greater.