Crimeatorium - The Murder of Mollie Tibbetts: Court Trial Part 5 of 8

Episode Date: June 29, 2026

Mollie Cecelia Tibbetts was born on May 8, 1998, in San Francisco, California, and raised in both San Francisco and Brooklyn, Iowa. She graduated from BGM High School in 2017 and was pursuing a degree in psychology at the University of Iowa, driven by her dream of becoming a child psychologist to help children struggling with mental health issues.Mollie loved life, and it showed in everything she did. She excelled in writing and speech, sharing her thoughts on complex topics like mental health and self-esteem. She made friends everywhere she went, and children adored her. She worked at a summer camp where her laughter and warmth left a lasting impression. She was a runner, a dancer, an actor, and a singer. But above all, Mollie was a young woman filled with kindness, ambition, and an undeniable joy for life.In July 2018, Mollie disappeared while on an evening jog near her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, sparking a massive search effort that united the community and drew nationwide attention.This episode covers the court trial, edited for length and clarity. Look for part 6 tomorrow.Music:CO.AG Music https://www.youtube.com/@co.agmusic1823

Welcome to True Crime Stories with Crime-a-Trorian. Our next witness is Dr. Dennis Klein. Dr. Klein, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Can you please state your name for the record. Yes, my name is Dennis Klein, K-L-E-I-N. And how are you employed? I'm the state medical examiner. Dr. Klein, part of the duties of the medical examiner, maybe one of the chief duties of the medical examiner, is to perform a forensic autopsy. Is that true? Yes. Can you please tell the jury, describe for them, and define what is the purpose of a forensic autopsy? The purpose of a forensic autopsy is to document medical findings, collect evidence, and provide information that determines cause and manner of death for deaths that occur under

medical examiner jurisdiction. So any case that would be of interest to the state would be of interest to the medical examiner. Dr. Klein, when did you first become involved in the recovery or autopsy of a person later identified as Molly Tibbetts? I was first informed by a telephone call from the county medical examiner, Dr. Paulson, in Poweshie County. My first encounter was on August 21st when I went out to the cornfield, the scene where the body that was ultimately identified as Molly Tibbetts was found. So you and a team from your office went to the location where she was located?

That's correct. All right. that would have been in a cornfield near the town of Guernsey? That's correct. Whenever you arrived at that area, were you shown to the location where the body had been located? Yes. What were your initial observations? The initial observation was there were human remains in a state of decomposition that were mostly covered by corn stalks. To your knowledge, had any of the corn stalks been removed from the body? Not to my knowledge at that time. Commonly you come across a crime scene team assigned by the Division of Criminal Investigation? Yes. Were any personnel

from DCI there that were assigned as crime scene technicians? Yes. Was that Amy Johnson? Yes, it was. And Jonna Berry? Yes. Did you and your team then recover the remains that were underneath the corn stalks? Yes. And how is it that you go about doing that with a body that's in the state decomposition that we've seen here last week? Yeah, so we document with photographs in a layer-wise fashion. So we take pictures with the vegetation, corn stalks on the body. We carefully remove that vegetation, take additional photographs, observe the body, and then using multi-hands with my team, we lift the body up and carefully place it into a body bag and then we photograph and examine the area where the body was to see if there were any other

pieces of evidence or body parts that we would need to recover. So whenever you lifted the body later identified as Molly Tibbetts up and put her into the body bag was there anything of significance underneath her that you observed? The thing that we saw was just the outline of her body and it was clear that the body had been decomposing in that area for some time. Okay. Nothing else of any significance? Correct. All right. Explain, if you would, Dr. Klein, what causes a body to decompose at any certain rate, either faster or slower? Can you help explain that, please?

Yeah. So the body decomposes in a couple of different ways. There are parts of the own body that starts to decompose or autolize, meaning self-digest, and then bacteria and then eventually insects start breaking down the body. All these processes act more quickly the warmer and more humid the environment is. So in a very hot, humid environment such as July in Iowa, that would be a rapid acceleration of decomposition as opposed to in the wintertime in Iowa. Okay. So whenever you were shown to the location of the body, how would you describe the weather conditions that you were dealing with? They were hot and humid. Okay. When you go into corn, it gets even worse. Isn't that right? That's correct. Humidity goes up? Yes.

And the moisture in the field, was it muddy? Yes, it was. Had it rained recently or appeared to have rained recently? Yes, it was very muddy. Are those all factors that accelerate the decomposition of a body? Yes. Where did you take the body that was later identified as Molly Tibbetts? So the body was then brought to the state medical examiner's office, which is the state morgue, which is located in Ankeny, Iowa, which is located about 15 minutes north of Des Moines. Does the decomposition process destroy the fingerprints or other identifying characteristics of a body? It can. And what about blood that's in the body? What happens to blood in the body when it decomposes?

Blood starts to disappear, and even after a few days, sometimes it can be difficult getting any blood. And then by the time that a body is in a moderate to advanced stage of decomposition, there's no blood left for analysis. Okay, and how would you characterize the state of decomposition for Molly Tibbetts? I would categorize her as a moderate to severe decomposition with skeletonization, meaning parts of bone were starting to show through. And later at autopsy, were you able to recover any blood from her body that was useful to you in your analysis? No. Once you got Molly Tibbetts back to the medical examiner's office, were you able to perform a forensic autopsy? Yes.

And when did that take place? So that was the following day on August 22nd. And tell us where it would have occurred. It would have been in the morgue in Ankeny, Iowa. Is this your office? Yes. Or at least associated with your office, correct? Yes. And as part of the autopsy process, did you obtain the assistance of any other persons? Yes, I had the assistance of technicians who helped me with the examination. And then we also called upon experts from the DCI crime lab to help with specialty items, such as trying to obtain fingerprints using specialty

techniques as well as advice on where to collect DNA samples. And in the fingerprint process, were you able to obtain any usable fingerprints from the body of Molly Tibbetts? We tried using a technique called micro-sil with the assistance, but I wasn't able to obtain any useful fingerprints. Describe for the jury how you begin the autopsy. Well, let me back up. Total time, From the time that you began with Molly Tibbetts at the beginning of the autopsy until you were finished, how long does that process take? In this particular case, it was done in various stages. So the first stage was about two and a half to three hours. But then because we need to examine the bones and have an expert in bone forensic analysis or an anthropologist, certain steps had

to be taken, which take days to occur. So there were multiple stages of analysis, but that initial examination was about three hours. Is that pretty standard for any autopsy? Yes. So who was the forensic anthropologist that you utilized in this case? Yes, this was Dr. Heather Garvin. And is she associated with any university in or around Des Moines? Yes, with Des Moines University. Is Dr. Garvin somebody that you worked with on previous cases? Yes. All right. Tell the jury how you began the autopsy of Molly Tibbetts. So we followed the process of documenting findings, and that includes taking photographs,

taking notes, and observing. Once the initial step is done, we take x-rays. The purpose of that is to see if there are any bullets or other retained fragments that might help explain death. Then we remove clothing and observe that clothing, which we did have findings on the clothing that helped further the examination. And then we'll sometimes clean the body in certain areas and observe and try to identify injuries on the external part of the body. So that would be the skin in various areas of the body, looking for injuries and interpreting those findings that would help in determining cause and manner of death. All right. This is all external. Is that correct?

Yes. Then typically in any autopsy you would perform an internal examination? That's correct. Given the state of decomposition of Molly Tibbetts, were you able to do any type of internal examination? We certainly did open the skin in a way that we normally would, but due to the extent of the decomposition, most all the organs except for the right kidney were not identifiable and were completely decomposed. You mentioned that you x-ray body or whatever. That's one of the first things that you do. Is that correct? Yes. Just in summary, what would the x-rays have revealed to you concerning the body of Molly Tibbetts? The first thing that we're looking for is bullets or any other type of retained weaponry. So a tip of a knife sometimes

can get caught up in a bone. And then we're also looking for any other identifying features. Sometimes people have hip replacements or other orthopedic metal that will help us in identifying someone who's died and has decomposed. Were you able to observe anything of significance with regard to the injuries to Molly Tibbetts from x-rays? No. What I want to do, Dr. Klein, is essentially go head to toe with your autopsy findings. Is that acceptable to you? Yes. All right. So let's go with the first photo, which has already been admitted.

States Exhibit 53 is on the screen. What are we looking at here? So this is before the body is cleaned. And this, you can see that the skin is darkened and leatherized. This is from decomposition. You can see that there's the letter H. And then I've placed in this photo a yellow arrow. That indicates a defect in the skin. It has smooth margins this would be consistent with a sharp force injury or a stab wound of the left cheek and the yellow arrow that's pointing it appears to be a hole just below the left ear is that correct that's correct anything else of significance on exhibit 53 no the only thing just so that for clarity say in the ear you'll see that hole because of the decomposition and

drying artifact. That's the ear canal. That's not another wound. Other than the wound that we see here in Exhibit 53, were there other identifiable wounds on the head of Molly Tibbetts? Not on this photo. Okay. Okay. I'm going to show you what's been marked as States Exhibit 54 and 55. Do you see those pictures? Yes. On the left side of the screen is Exhibit number 54. What are we looking at here? As I mentioned before, there's different stages and processes. So this is in the process where all the soft tissue has been removed from the skull. So we're looking at just the bone. And in the photo to the left, which is marked as a DSC 1930, this is the right side of the skull and just above and forward of the ear canal and behind the ear socket is a defect. It's an oblique

oblong defect. And a close-up of that defect is seen in the photo just to the right, DSC 2035. So exhibit 55, this would be the close-up of that defect on the right side of the skull. And the features that are important to notice is that there's a pointy end towards the top and a slightly squared off component on the bottom. This is consistent with a knife that would have a blunt end and a sharp end or we call a single-edged blade. Can you make any determination whether or not this single-edged blade that caused this wound would have penetrated through the skull? So not shown in this photograph but by observing the skull we see that this wound goes all the way through the skull. So just to be clear, were there two areas of injury on the skull?

Yes. All right. One on the left. Correct. And then a penetrating wound on the right. Correct. Anything else of any significance that assisted you in arriving at the cause and manner of death in States Exhibit 54 or 55? No, we've covered it. All right. And examining the body of Molly Tibbetts autopsy, moving to the neck area. Were you able to observe any injuries to the neck area that were of significance to you? So during the initial part of the examination, all the soft tissue was absent due to decomposition. It was only after processing the bones and observation by the forensic anthropologist, Dr. Garvin, that additional sharp force defects were identified in the what are called the cervical vertebra or the bones that stack up on one another

forming the neck bones. And let's go to the next slide. So on the screen here Dr. Klein are exhibits 56 and 57. Do you see those? Yes. Do both of these photos represent the bones in the neck area after they had been cleaned? That's correct. All right let's go with States Exhibit 56 first. Can you please describe for the jury what we're seeing in this particular photo? Yes, so you can see that they're labeled C4 and C5. Those stand for cervical vertebrae 4 and cervical vertebrae 5. The way the vertebrae or the neck bones are numbered is one is right beneath the skull and actually supports the skull and goes all the way to 7, which is right about the area where your collarbones are. So about midway in the neck, this is the exhibit 56

shows the left side of the neck. And you can see that there are defects indicated by the yellow arrow. And both C4 and C5 show this linear mark, which is from a sharp force instrument like a knife. And then in Exhibit 57, we see the right side of the neck bones, and you can see that there's a defect indicated by the yellow arrow. One point of note is that a blood vessel called vertebral artery, the vertebral artery, which is there's four major blood vessels that are in the neck, one of those four runs through that opening right next to that yellow arrow in Exhibit 57. Do you have any opinion as to whether or not the wounds that we see here in States Exhibit 56 and 57 would be consistent with any type of slashing or stabbing motion of a knife? Yes.

And what is that opinion? That they are consistent with a sharp force injury could be from stabbing or a large slash or incised wound. Are there major blood vessels in the neck that would be near where these sharp force injuries are located on the vertebrae C4 and C5? Yes. And what are those? So depending on the angle that the knife entered the neck, there are the jugular vein, the carotid arteries, and then as we discussed in Exhibit 57, the vertebral artery. With regard to the injuries that we've observed so far in the skull, as well as the two injuries that we see here in the vertebrae. Is there any way that you can quantify the amount of force that would be necessary to cause the types of

injuries that you observed? I can't give you a metric like foot pounds, but I can tell you that the order in which the amount of force needed depends on how sharp the blade is and then the tissue that it's going through. So bone offers the most amount of resistance. Cartilage, like the material inside your ear, would offer the next. And then the third would be skin. So if you use general types of common household experiences with trimming any types of meat products, you would understand that it would take a little bit more force than cutting through a steak, but probably not that much more. All right. Anything else of significance that was relevant to your determination as to cause and manner of death with States 56 or 57?

No. You had mentioned before the clothing that was associated with Molly Tibbetts. Is that right? Yes. All right. So talk to us a bit about that. Whenever you recovered her body in the cornfield, was there any article of clothing that was still on her?

Yes. And what was that? So there was a sports bra that was rolled up above the normally worn area and up closer to the neck area and then there was socks and then two running shoes. Any shorts or underwear? No. Any headband or anything of that nature? No. Okay on the screen here is exhibit number 58 which has been admitted. What is this? So this is the sports bra that we removed from the body. This would be the front of the bra and you can see a yellow arrow pointing to what looks like a white oblong shaped area. What we've done here is we took a piece of white paper, put it

behind the cloth so you can actually see that outline and this is a sharp force defect similar to what we saw in the right side of the skull. You can see that there's a blunted end towards the left of the photograph, and it becomes sharp and pointy as it goes more towards the right side of the photograph. And what would this particular defect in the front of the sports bra be consistent with? This would be consistent with a stab wound going through the bra and into the body. There does not appear to be a lot of blood on the bra, at least visible to the naked eye. Would you agree? That's correct. Do you have an explanation for that? Some of it may start to decompose, and it's also the color may also be hard. Perhaps with chemical analysis there could

be, but it's certainly not visibly present, I agree. Any other defects like the one we see here in Exhibit 58 to the front of the sports bra? Not to the front. We'll move to States Exhibit 59. What are we seeing here in States Exhibit 59? So this is the back side of the bra. This would be on the left side and left backside of the bra. And what I've done is I've taken white triangle pieces of paper and placed them on the bra where there are these defects. Again, these are all sharp force defects of the left side and left backside of the bra. Are these sharp force defects similar to the same defect that you observed on the front side of the sports bra? Yes. All right. And do each of these defects that we see here in Exhibit 59, do they penetrate all the

way through the fabric? Yes. Does there appear to be much blood that's associated with those particular defects? No. Same explanation as before? Yes. And how many different ones do we see? So there were five on the left and left backside and one on the right front. what is state's exhibit 60 so this is the torso or the front chest abdomen and upper pelvic area of the body what you see is a decomposition effect so the skin is leatherized yellow and dark what are apparent here you can see small little labels we do have some subsequent photographs that we'll look at those closer. But this gives you an idea of the distribution of defects, sharp force defects, stab wounds of both the right chest and abdominal area and left chest

and abdominal area. Is this the front or backside of Molly Tibbetts? This would be the front side. Okay. And at the top of the photo, would that be her neck area? That's correct. Dates exhibit 61 and 62 are on the screen. Let's take 61 first. What are we looking at? So States Exhibit 61, there's a blue arrow which shows a blow-up closer view of one of the wounds that's indicated by a yellow arrow in States Exhibit 62. The features to focus on here are that the edges are smooth, which are characteristic of a sharp force injury or stab wound. This would have been in the chest area and would have likely gone through the chest and likely injured internal organs. The wound that we see in States Exhibit 61, is it a close-up actually of wounds that we

see in 62, or are there three different wounds? There's a total of two wounds that we see. The wound in Exhibit 61 is a blow-up of that wound at the base of the arrow, of the blue arrow. States Exhibit 63, 64, and 65 are all on the screen. Do you see that? Yes. Are those photos all associated with in terms of what injuries you observed at autopsy? Yes.

Okay. Can you please just describe what you've observed here in States Exhibit 63? So in Exhibit 63, you can see that there's labels on D, E, and F. And these are on the left side of the front chest. And then exhibit 64 is a close-up view of wound E. Again, this has sharp margins. This would be a stab wound. And then E is in exhibit 65, again, showing smooth margins. And this wound penetrates all the way through the skin and underlying tissue. Just want to make sure we're clear for the record. State's exhibit 64, you have your label D in the photo, is that correct? That's correct. And then States Exhibit 65, you have your label E. That's correct. And those, both of those photos represent two different types of sharp force injuries that

you observed. Yes. On the screen now are States Exhibit 66, 67, and 68. Do you see those? Yes. And these are what part of the body of Molly Timmons? Right. So the previous series, we were looking at the left side of the front of the body. Now we're looking at the right side of the body. And we're looking at what I labeled three different stab wounds, A, B, and C. And those are depicted in aggregate in Exhibit 66. And then in Exhibit 67, there's a close-up of A. And again, you can see the smooth edge demonstrating that this is a sharp force or stab wound. And then in Exhibit 68, again, we see smooth edges, and that would be with depicting the stab wound B. So just to be clear, State's Exhibit 66 that's on the left side of the screen has three white labels.

Correct. All of those are separate stab wounds? Yes. Okay. And then the close-ups that we have on Exhibit 67 is A. Correct. All right. And then 68 is your B, is that right? Correct. Would those wounds have been caused like the other wounds by some type of knife or other sharp force object?

Yes. And do they penetrate all the way through the skin into the body cavity? Yes. So, Dr. Klein, we've looked at a constellation of injuries with regard to Molly Tibbetts. And the constellation of injuries I'm referring to is on her chest. You would agree? Yes. Would vital organs have been affected by the object that would have caused the wounds that we've seen in these photos on the screen, 66 through 68 in the previous photos? Yes. Can you describe that for us, please? The area in the body would be consistent with the chest and upper

abdomen, and those areas contain vital organs, including the lungs. And the heart? Could be, Yes. On the screen now is exhibit 69, 70, and 71. Do you see that? Yes. These photos were actually taken after the assistance with Dr. Garvin. Is that right? That's correct. Okay. Were they of assistance to you though in determining your cause and manner of death? Yes. Let's take 69 first. It's on the top left of the screen. Do you see that? Yes. Tell the jury what we're looking at in exhibit at 69. So you can see the label R6. This stands for right sixth ribs. So each of the ribs are named by a number starting with one near the collarbone all the way down to the lower portion of the chest and then they're just given left and right designations. So right sixth rib would be

about halfway between the collarbone and the bottom of your rib cage. On the top of that rib about mid portion on the front slightly side area of the rib on the top of that rib were defects that you can see in exhibit 70 and this is just a close-up view and you can see there's little cut marks or sometimes they'll refer to as kerfs that this would be consistent with a sharp instrument that's inserted through the soft tissue the skin and the soft tissue of the chest going in between the ribs and the sharp portion is cutting on the top of the sixth rib. On state's exhibit 70, we see two marks in the middle or just above the middle of the photo. Do you see that? Yes. Does that represent two separate stab wounds or could that be caused

from one insertion of the sharp force like a knife? Right. So technically there are two defects. The most likely is that the one stab wound into the chest and then a person moves or the knife is moved between when it's inserted and removed is the most likely explanation. And then Exhibit 71 shows the same area just a bit closer. This would be of the left rib. I'm sorry. So same scenario. This is the top of the left rib. So instead of having those defined kerf marks, you can see it's almost like a scrape along the surface of the rib.

And this would also be in an area consistent with some of the stab wounds that we previously described on the left side of the torso. These would be associated, at least in general, in the general area where we would have seen the same sharp force defects on the jogging bra? Yes. States Exhibit 72 and 73 are on the screen. Can you please describe for us what is Exhibit 72? Yeah, so State's Exhibit 72 shows a close-up view of the left rib. And so this would be the outside of the rib, so not the part of the rib that's against the lung, but it's closer to the outside chest wall. And I've put a yellow triangle indicating where the defect is.

And so this is likely caused by the tip of a knife or sharp instrument hitting that outside part of the rib, and then the knife tip scrapes along as it moves from that most tip to the tip, which is to the most left part of the photograph, and as it moves towards the right and then slightly downward. In maybe simple terms, would it be the knife striking the bone directly? That's correct, because the rib is going to provide a significant amount of resistance compared to the soft tissue. So the tip of the knife is going to be stopped by the rib, and then movement either of the knife or the person moving, that tip is going to slide along the surface of the rib. And then States Exhibit 73 is, what do we see here? So we've talked about the sixth, seventh, and now this is the eighth rib.

So this is the most further down rib on the left side. And you can see that there are, again, these defects that are consistent with sharp force defects. This would be on the top left eighth rib. So a knife would be going between the ribs through the muscles and connective tissue, and then the sharp portion of that knife is cutting on the top portion of the rib. And the injuries that we see in 72 and 73 are separate injuries. Would that be true? Correct.

Two different ribs, two different wounds. Did you also perform any type of examination of her hands looking for injuries? Yes. And were you able to find anything of any significance? Yes. Okay, we'll move to States Exhibit 74. What is States Exhibit 74? What is this a photo of?

So this is the back of the right hand. There's a large defect from the knuckles over the major portion of the back of the hand. In Exhibit 74, where you see the yellow arrow, there is a defect that, in contrast to the irregular, jagged component of the rest of the defects, which are from decomposition, there could have been injury, I can't tell. but there is this injury at the base of the thumb near the wrist indicated by the yellow arrow that has that smooth margins and this is suggestive of another sharp force injury an incised or cut wound on the back of the hand all right and in the process of your autopsy of molly tibbets you may have already described this but were you able to find any other similar type of wounds to the hand? This was the only one. And does the decomposition process affect that? Would that

be true? Yes. Concerning the injuries to Molly Tibbetts, I want to talk about one other thing. The lower abdomen and genitalia of Molly Tibbetts, how would you characterize the state of decomposition of that part of her body? Severe. Right. Did you make any attempts to take swabs from that area of the body. Yes. Were you successful? Not of the pelvic region itself, but as close as we could. So along the inner thighs, there was some remnant skin that we did swab. And that would have been submitted to the DCI laboratory for analysis? Yes. Right. But there was nothing that you could take swabs from or samples from related to the genitalia of Molly Tibbetts? That's correct. It was essentially gone? Correct. Any other body

bodily fluid that you were able to take for later toxicology testing? There was no liquids. We had to rely on skeletal muscle for analysis. And did you submit that for a toxicology analysis? Yes. Anything of significance to cause and manner of death that came back on toxicology? The toxicology report was negative. Based upon your training and experience, the results of your autopsy, do you have an opinion as to the cause of death of Molly Tibbetts? Yes. And what is that? Multiple sharp force injuries.

And based upon your training and experience and the results of your autopsy, do you have an opinion as to the manner of death of Molly Tibbetts? Yes. What is that? Homicide. Thank you. That's all I have. Defense may cross-examine. Now, Dr. Klein, in the course of your forensic autopsy of Molly Tibbetts,

did you take her fingernails? Yes. Why? That's part of our standard protocol for any suspected homicide case. And why is that part of your protocol? Sometimes the crime laboratory can do analysis on those fingernails looking for assailant DNA. Sure. And especially in this case, I think we saw the photo of Ms. Tibbetts' hand. There was an injury to the back of the hand, which would indicate that perhaps a defensive wound was found, right?

Correct. So that makes the fingernails doubly important, correct? Right. It would be important, yes. Ms. Tibbetts was said to be about 5'2 or 5'3. Was that consistent with your findings? Yes. Now, the weapon that was used to cause Ms. Tibbetts' death, could you tell if it was the same weapon throughout, or could there be multiple weapons? All the weapons are consistent with one another, and they would all be consistent with the same weapon,

but i'm not able to exclude more than one weapon okay and the wounds that you saw to miss tibbett's body first of all based upon the the wound that penetrated the skull that's going to take a fairly significant knife isn't it yes it would take a knife that was strong enough to go through bone which would offer the most resistance of anywhere in the body okay and are you able to give an opinion as to how much force it takes to penetrate a skull? I don't have an exact, any type of metric, whether that be foot pounds. I think we would have to rely on our general common knowledge with cooking and those types of things. Obviously, the sharper the tip of the blade, the easier and less force would be needed. The wounds to Ms. Tibbetts' head, we had wounds

on both sides of the head, correct? Yes. Could you tell the vantage point of the assailant from where the wounds were located? No. So you couldn't tell if the assailant was standing in front of or behind Ms. Tibbetts? That's correct.

You couldn't tell if the assailant was standing over Ms. Tibbetts? Correct. Wound to the skull, the one that penetrated the skull, was that wound in and of itself fatal? It could have been, yes. The wounds to the vertebrae, C4 and C5, We had one on the left and one on the right, correct?

Yes. Can you tell from those wounds the vantage point of the assailant? No. Again, can't tell if in front of or behind? Correct. Can you tell from any of these wounds if Ms. Tibbetts was standing in front of or behind the assailant? Strike that. In front of or with her back turned to the assailant?

I would not be able to tell that, no. How many total knife wounds did you see? Did you calculate? Yes. So my calculation is nine definitive wounds. I suspect up to 12. And some of these are in the back of the body? The back of the body was decomposed. So what we're looking at is from about the armpit side area forward. And that's what's depicted in the photograph of the sports bra? Correct. Can you tell anything from these wounds the size of the assailant. Does this appear to be, in your training and experience, a fairly frenzied attack? I can't tell you the order or rapidity with which the wounds all occurred,

just the locations and the total numbers. The injuries to the neck, you talked about the carotid artery, the jugular vein, and the other artery, which I'm not going to try to pronounce. Those all, if they're severed, cause significant blood loss, don't they? Yes. And you'd expect to find significant blood in a location other than a cornfield if that blood was, let's say, in the trunk of a car. Dr. Klein, thank you. Thank you. Nothing further. Any redirect? Go ahead. The fingernails that were collected, those were submitted to the DCI lab, is that correct? Yes. For purposes of DNA comparison? Yes. I think I did forget to ask you about that. Would any of the skin cells, if there were any underneath the fingernails,

would those be affected by the same decomposition process that you described earlier? Yes. And the constellation of wounds that we observed in the photos, what was the estimation of the number again? Right. So nine definitive, and I suspect up to 12. So if you're suspecting four additional stab-type wounds, what is it that affects your opinion as to whether or not you can say those are definitive stab wounds? In the wounds that I said were definitive, I had at least two points of reference. They would be either corroborated by defects to the bone or defects to clothing. There were some wounds that I had neither of those, just a soft tissue injury. And due to decomposition, I felt that it was highly suspicious for sharp force injury,

but was not 100%. And lastly, Dr. Klein, you were asked concerning how much bleeding would be associated with the wounds that you observed. Do you remember that? Yes. All right. There would be a significant amount of bleeding. Would that be true? Yes. If that bleeding occurred outside of a vehicle and it ended up on the ground, would it be readily recognizable on the ground weeks later. I think after rain and decomposition, it could be not visibly apparent to the eye. That's all I have. Thank you. Mr. Fries, anything else for this witness? No, Your Honor. Our final witness is Dr. Heather Garvin. Can you please state your name for the record? It's Heather Garvin. And how are you employed? I am an associate professor of anatomy at Des Moines

University, and through the university, I also have a contract with the state of Iowa as a forensic anthropology consultant given that I'm a board certified forensic anthropologist. All right Dr. Garvin were you asked to assist in examining the body of Molly Tibbetts? I was. When were you called? So I received a call from Dr. Klein on August 21st about the case asking me to be there the following morning August 22nd for the beginning of the autopsy. And were you present for the autopsy of Molly Tibbetts? I was present for a small portion of it at the beginning just to see the condition of the remains and also to create a plan with Dr. Klein about my subsequent analyses. Is there anything that has to be done to prepare the bones that are recovered from any particular

person that has been autopsied? Yes. So as a forensic anthropologist, I'm interested in the bones themselves, not the soft tissue. So after the medical examiner has completed their analyses of the soft tissue, we essentially place them in a heated water bath to remove the remaining soft tissue so that I can get a better view of the bones. Okay. It's called maceration. And was that done in this case? It was. Is that a process that you do yourself? I do not. The medical examiner's office does it for me. Okay. And at some point, the bones of Molly Tibbetts were prepared for your examination? That is correct. Where did you go to perform that exam? So the following day, August 23rd, is when I initially started my examination of the remains

and all of it was done at the state medical examiner's office. Okay, the entirety of your examination takes how long? I would say I spent at least 20 hours looking at the remains and my reports are pretty extensive. I would say at least 10 to 20 hours writing and preparing the report. And if you find anything of any significance, do you photograph that for purposes to be used later? That is correct. I'm going to show you what's been previously introduced as states Exhibit 75. It'll be on the screen right in front of you. Exhibit 75 that you have there in front of you, what are we seeing here? This is a photograph that was included in my Forensic Anthropology report. And what it's displaying is all of the skeletal remains, the bones, after processing,

after the soft tissue has been removed. And it's in approximate anatomical position. So it's just displaying everything that I had to work with and to analyze. Okay. In assessing the skeletal remains now of Molly Tibbetts, was there any particular bone or structure that was missing? I had a mostly complete skeleton. I believe I was missing one tooth, a hyoid bone, a very small bone that's in the neck and two toe bones but otherwise I had everything else. Okay what's the explanation if you have one why the hyoid and the other bones would have been missing? They probably were not recovered at the scene they're very small when bodies are exposed to the elements you can get animals there's lots of different environmental influences that can scatter remains. All right

we'll run through your findings we'll start with the head okay the next picture that we have is States Exhibit 76. In States Exhibit 76, what were you able to find? So this is a photograph I took of the right side of the head, the cranium, and the error there is indicating a sharp force defect that I found on the skull. It's just in front and above the opening for the right ear. And does this particular area that you have identified with the area, does it penetrate all the way through the skull? Yes, it perforates through the skull. And after autopsy, they did cut open the skull to look at the endocranial surfaces as well. And you can see that opening on the inside. Okay. We'll look at the next exhibit, States Exhibit 77.

What does this represent? So this is a close-up image of that defect on the right side of the head. It's in the same orientation. It's just closer to show the borders of that sharp force defect. And what, as a forensic anthropologist, what did the borders of that defect tell you about the instrument that was used to inflict it? So the very sharp borders to it are consistent with sharp force defect or sharp force trauma, something that was created with a beveled surface or a pointed surface where it cut through the bone. The particular triangular shape of this, where down towards the right side there's a more squared edge and a more pointed edge towards the other suggests that it was likely a single edged blade where the spine, the non-cutting

edge would be the squared part and then the beveled cutting edge would be towards the point. And the beveled cutting edge would be a little bit higher up in this photo, is that correct? Correct, up and towards the left. And whenever you looked at the interior of the skull, does this particular wound penetrate all the way through the bone? Yes. Can you tell, as a forensic anthropologist, how deep a knife would have been stabbed into this area of the skull? No, I could not. I mean, it went through the few millimeters of bone that you have that's covering the brain there.

I did not have any indication that it hit any other surfaces within the inside of the skull. And at the time that you were able to observe the body of Molly Tibbetts before this process was done with the bones, what was this state of decomposition that you observed? It was highly decomposed, mostly mummified tissue, some putrefied tissue underneath that mummification. Whenever you talk about mummification, what are you referring to? It's the drying out of the tissues. it's yeah I don't want to give another example but the tissues dry out they become hard they're dehydrated. We'll move on to state's exhibit number 78 you've placed some arrows on state's exhibit 78 do you see that? Yes. All right let's start on the left side of the photo what do the

arrows represent on the left side of the photo? So overall in the photo we have the two neck vertebrae, C4 and C5, sitting on top of one another as they do in the neck. And we're looking at the anterior, their frontal surface of that. Anatomically, there may have been a little bit more space between them because cartilage would sit between those bones. So the yellow and the orange and peach arrows over there are the right side of those neck vertebrae. And each arrow indicates a sharp force defect that I saw in the bone. And the three arrows that you're referring to, are those all separate defects to the bone? So those four arrows are all separate defects to the bone, but they all align anatomically with one another and could have been created with a

single impact. Is it also consistent with multiple stab wounds to the neck? All I can say is a minimum of one. Okay. Then on the right side, there's a blue arrow on States Exhibit 78. Do you see that? I do. And what does that area represent? So that's a sharp force defect that I have to the left side of the vertebrae there. And in another view, there's a second one on the C4, the top vertebrae right there, that will align with it as well. Okay. Do the wounds that you see associated with the blue arrow on the right and the other colored arrows on the left could those have been caused by one blow or one stab of the knife no they don't go all the way through the vertebrae so there's at least two injuries that we see here then it states exhibit

78 is that true correct the minimum of one to the right and the minimum of one to the left side of the neck all right can you tell by looking at the injuries here to the bones whether or not it was a slashing type motion that would have caused these injuries or some other type of motion that would have caused them well on the ones to the right if you look at how far in how deep in they would go into the bone it's about 2.5 centimeters so in my opinion that wouldn't be consistent with a shallow slashing and then the arrow on that represents the injury on the right would we're saying right side of the picture that's the left side of the neck correct correct would that be consistent with the same type of motion that you just indicated? That one's very shallow. It could

be caused either way, either by a perpendicular impact of the blade or a side impact of the blade. Okay. What is the state's exhibit 79? So in this picture here, that top vertebra, that C4, I've taken it and just flipped it over to better show those defects because they're hard to illustrate in the photographs. So the same color arrows correspond to the previous picture. So the yellow and orange is the right side, the green is the left side, and the arrows indicate sharp force defects that I have on that vertebra. Okay, so the orange and yellow arrows are the right side of the neck, correct? Correct. And the green is the left side of the neck? Correct. Same injuries that we saw before in States Exhibit 78, just to make sure we're clear.

The green is one that you couldn't see in the previous photo, but it aligns with that blue arrow, the defect we saw on the bottom vertebra, the C5 vertebra in that previous photo. Again, what are we looking at here with exhibit 80? So these are the sharp force defects to the left side of the vertebrae there, same colored arrows as in the previous photographs. So I have that C4 and C5 vertebra sitting against one another, and you can see the linear defects line up with one another. The linear defects you're referring to are the ones that are represented by the blue arrow and the green arrow? Correct. And is this a separate injury than what we've seen before in previous photos? No it's just a different view showing that they align with one

another. All right so before we get into exhibit 81 did you do some examination with regard to the ribs to the rib bones of Molly Tibbetts? So I examined all of the bones of Molly Tibbetts all of the surfaces, both of my eyes and under stereoscopic microscope. But yes, that did include the ribs. Okay. Exhibit 81 is a cluster of five separate photos. Would you agree with me? Correct. And what do those five separate photos that make up Exhibit 81 represent? So this is another figure from my report that I gave to the medical examiner, and they're showing different views of the defects that I had on the right sixth rib, sharp force defects. So do each of the photos, we'll start with the top left corner. First of all, what is that? So the top left corner,

the one labeled A, is the right sixth rib so that you can see the entire rib there. And the green arrow, it's hard to see right there, but those green arrows are where I have the sharp force defects on the rib. It's kind of an anterior lateral for the right sixth rib. And then the remaining phonographs are just closer views and different angles and different lighting of those defects on the rib. Moving to the right, we have a closer photo of what those defects are. Is that right? That is correct. And you can see that the defects come down to a point. They're V-shaped at the floor, which is consistent with a knife. And I see three different areas of defect and the bone in the picture on the top right. Would you agree? Correct. In that one, you can

see the three deeper ones. There are more shallow ones that are better represented in the other photos. Okay. And moving down to the next photo, is that one of those photos you're referring to that is in the middle on the left? Correct. In B there, it's a top-down view. So you can see the three deeper sharp force defects, but you can also see just beyond them a couple shallow linear defects as well. Okay. And then moving below that photo, there's a multiple arrows that show an area on the same rib bone. Is that true? That is correct. The green... I'm sorry. What do those represent? Those are even more superficial linear scratches in the bone. I was going to mention that the green arrow in each of these figure is the same defect for orientation. Okay. And then moving

to the last photo in exhibit 81, the last part of it, does that show the same area that we're looking at in the previous photographs? Yes, it does. All right. Looking at those pictures in the sixth rib, what side of the body again was this from? This is the right. The right side. Can you tell how many different times a knife would have been stabbed into Molly that would have caused the injuries that we see here? Given the close proximity of all of these defects, I said that it is a minimum of a of one impact to that right sixth rib area could it be more than one it's a minimum of one states exhibit 82 this is the same is this the same left i'm sorry this is a different rib is that right correct okay my bad which uh which rib are we dealing or are we looking at

here in states exhibit number 82 so now we've moved to the left sixth rib okay this is directly across from the other rib that we were looking at? Would that be accurate? The rib lies directly across from it, yes. Okay. This is a constellation of four different photos, A, B, C, and D. Is that correct? That is correct. That's within States Exhibit 82? Correct. On the top left quadrant, what does that photo show? So that top left quadrant A is an overview of that entire rib. And again, I've demarcated with arrows where the sharp force defects are on that rib. They're a little bit more lateral. On the right side, it was anterior lateral. On the left side, a little bit more lateral on the side. Okay, moving to the right of that photo, what do we see in that picture?

So this is a closer view of those sharp force defects. Again, throughout all of these pictures, the green arrow indicates the same defect, the yellow arrow the same defect for orientation. Okay, and then collectively, the two pictures below that show what? They're even closer views. we have one linear defect where that green arrow is and then between that green and the yellow arrow there's essentially a shaved off portion of that top part of the rib. Okay whenever I look at this Dr. Garvin it appears to me to be more of a scraping type injury rather than the notches that we saw in the previous photos would you agree? I would agree. What is your explanation for that in looking at this particular part of the rib? It can just be a difference in the orientation

that the blade impacted the rib. For example, if you had a more side orientation, it could shave off that top part of the bone versus creating that V-shaped defect that we saw in some of the other linear ones. State's exhibit number 83 that's on the screen, which particular rib are we looking at in States Exhibit 83? So this is the left seventh rib. Okay. So just below the sixth rib, correct? That is correct. All right. This looks to be a different type of impact. Would you agree? Yeah. So this is still a sharp force defect. Here it is on the external surface, the outer surface of the rib, where the other views were on the top part of the rib. And it's just a linear notch perpendicular impact and then a trailing scratch from that what would that be

consistent with as far as any type of weapon that would have been used to inflict this type of injury we see in exhibit 83 any kind of knife or blade it appears to me that in in the two photos to the right side of states exhibit 83 that the bone appears cracked would that be true there appear to be cracks in the bone i'm not sure where you're referring to okay well the close picture that we have here on this on the bottom right there appears to be some sort of linear mark that cuts across the bone do you see that the oblique one yes running down that's a trailing scratch from the sharp force defect so the sharp implement created a scratch against that surface. States exhibit 84. Four photos that make up states exhibit 84. Would you agree? I agree.

All right. On the top left corner of this exhibit, what is that? So that's an overall view of the left eighth rib. Okay. And then the middle photo on the top, what does that represent? So the middle photo and all the others other than A there in the top left corner are close-ups of the defects that that is located at that spot of the yellow arrow in A. And then describe for us what the defects are in the bone that is here that is the eighth left eighth rib. So again we have defects consistent with sharp force trauma. In this case it's almost as if some of the bone has been cut away or carved out from that impact. And again can you tell us with regard to this area of the eighth rib how many different stabs of a sharp force or of a knife would have caused this type of injury?

This is a minimum of one impact to that left eighth rib. State's Exhibit 85 is on the screen, is that correct? That is correct. We've looked very closely at some of the injuries or all the injuries that you observed to the skeletal remains of Molly Tibbetts, is that true? That is true. What does Exhibit 85 then represent? So this summarizes the various areas that I found those sharp force defects.

Overall, I had a minimum of seven impacts, one to that right side of the head, one to the right side of the neck, the C4, C5 vertebra, one to the left side of the C4, C5 vertebra. I have a sharp force impact to the right sixth rib, another impact to the left sixth rib, another one to the left seventh rib and another one to the left eighth rib so in total a minimum of seven impacts. Have we fairly summarized all the injuries that you were able to observe in your examination of the skeletal remains of Molly Tibbetts? Yes. All right anything else with regard to injuries to her pelvic region her leg or thigh bone shin bones and feet anything else

that you noticed or observed in your examination of her skeletal remains? No, the only trauma I saw were the sharp first defects that we've discussed here. That's all I have. Thank you. Defense may cross-examine. No questions. State of Iowa may call its next witness. Your Honor, on behalf of the state of Iowa, the state of Iowa rests.