Criminal - All the Time in the World

Episode Date: June 2, 2017

The “body farm” at Texas State University is a place almost no one is allowed to see, because it’s one of very few places in the world that deliberately puts out human bodies to decompose in nature. Forensic Anthropologists observe decomposition in order to help police officers discern when and how someone may have died. We asked if we could visit, and they agreed. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts: iTunes.com/CriminalShow. We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop.  Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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involving homicide detectives, ghost hunters, and even psychic mediums, and leads him to a dark secret about his own family. Check out Ghost Story, a series essential pick, completely ad-free on Apple Podcasts. This week's episode is part of a special Radiotopia-wide project welcoming a new show to the lineup.

It's called Ear Hustle, and it features stories of life in prison, told and produced by those incarcerated at San Quentin. Stay tuned after the show to hear a preview. To welcome Ear Hustle, all Radiotopia shows are releasing an episode around one theme, doing time. Each of us interpreted the theme in our own way. You can listen to them all at radiotopia.fm. Here's ours. It's called All the Time in the World. What is that you're holding? This is a mandible, the jawbone.

Oh. Let's see. And that skull is in half. Yeah, this person was autopsied. So this is an autopsy cut. Interesting. So that they can examine the brain. There's a little bag here that says hands and feet. Do those usually get separated because it's... It's just there. Lots of little small bones. So we put them in a separate bag just so that they don't get scattered out throughout the box.

It's easier to keep them together. This is Dr. Daniel Westcott, the director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, about 30 miles from Austin. We met with him in a nondescript building, a warehouse, really, so plain we drove right past it twice. But when you get out of the car and walk to the door, you see a small paper

sign with a vulture and a skull, and you know you found it. There are very few places in the world that do what they do here. While you would think that we would know a lot about how bodies decompose, it actually turns out that we really know very little about what's going on. So the work that's done here is pretty vital to that. At Dr. Westcott's center, they deliberately set out human bodies to decompose in nature. Most of the bodies are lying on the ground, face up, with their arms at their sides. But researchers also place bodies in trunks of cars, wrap them in tarps, and bury them in shallow graves. As a culture, in some ways, we actually are kind of scared of death. And, you know, we embalm bodies so that they don't decompose as fast. And we don't want to see that process going on, but that process does go on.

And we need to be able to understand how it works. How big is the facility and how many bodies are here? The facility is 26 acres and it sits on a 4,200 acre ranch. And we get about 70 donations a year. And then the bodies are usually left to decompose for about six months to several years, depending on the research protocol. And then the skeletons come back here, and so we add about 70 skeletons per year to the collection. So if you had to guess how many bodies are in some state of decomposition here right now, do you know? Probably about 60.

The bodies are donated. They're called gifted bodies, and the people who plan to donate themselves to the research when they die are called living donors. You know, if they want to do something like put me in the trunk of a car to see what happens there, or under a tarp or a slab of concrete, I've got no problem with that. This is Grady Early, a retired computer science professor who decided long ago that he wanted his body to go to the Forensic Anthropology Center.

Why did you decide to become a donor? I think that everyone should be useful in life. And if you can be useful after death as well, so much the better. After all, which would you rather do? Wind up in a box in the ground just wasting real estate, or be in a box in the lab and at least potentially useful to a researcher sometime in future? Grady Early remembers when the facility was getting established more than 10 years ago, and the university was struggling to find the right location. They needed enough space, but they also needed a place that wouldn't freak people out. We looked at a site out at the airport.

Some of the neighbors didn't like the idea, and there were some people that were unhappy with that idea. There's always NIMBYs around. He's given money to the facility and become fascinated by what he describes as quote, helping bones tell their story. When his body eventually becomes part of the research, he'll be joining his mother. She's already there. It was an astonishing thing, although in retrospect, I suppose it shouldn't have been.

When I told my mother what I was planning on doing, she, being a fairly practical woman, said, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Sign me up. So I did. She died at 102. Grady says he doesn't really care what happens to him when he goes into the field. Some bodies are placed in the open with the vultures and coyotes, and some are protected by long, low cages.

Some are clothed, and some aren't. It all depends on the nature of the experiment. It's odd to think that if all goes as planned, Grady Early will one day return to the very building where he sat and talked to us, packed in cardboard, with the bones of his hands and feet in a small paper bag. What I would really like to do is have my skeleton articulated and hung up somewhere in the facility so I can keep my eye on what's going on. In his work at Texas State, Dr. Westcott is following in the footsteps of his professor, the biggest name in this field, Dr. Bill Bass. Dr. Bass opened the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility in 1981. It was the first of these so-called body

farms, although we learned no scientists call them that. And he pioneered the idea that we needed a death database. If too much time has passed when law enforcement encounters a body, they have no way to tell when the person died, much less who they were or what happened. And the only way to answer these questions is to put a body outside and watch it decompose. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. Here's what happens when you die.

After your heart stops beating, your muscles start to stiffen and rigor mortis sets in. Over the next few days, the bacteria that's already in your body just starts to take over. And so as they do, they start to produce gases. And these gases initially will just kind of work their way through the arteries and veins, stuff like that, and you get what's called marbling. And then it also, then the next kind of step to this is that that gas starts to build up and causes the bodies to go through what's called a bloat stage. So they'll actually kind of puff up. How long after death does that happen? It depends on the time of year, but it can range from three or four days to a few weeks. Usually here, probably within about five days, they're going into bloat. Once that happens, then the other thing that's happening is that you're also getting flies that are attracted to the body.

And those flies are laying eggs, and they tend to lay eggs in natural orifices. So they like the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, stuff like that. So those maggots will hatch, and there again depends on the species and the temperature. It depends on how long it takes, but usually a few days to a week or so. And they start feeding on the body as well. So you've got that process going on. And then you've got the internal organs are decomposing. And so those internal organs are kind of liquefying.

And with the gas that's building up, that liquid gets pushed out, and that's what we call the purge phase. So you get what's called purge fluid. And so it's just a dark fluid. Dark? Yeah. What is it? It's not blood. No, it's just a combination of all the internal organs that have decomposed. This is a big place.

It is a big place. All right, so we turn between the first two telephone poles. The bodies are placed on Freeman Ranch, which sits off a small highway just a few miles from the lab. Once you pass through the gates, you see what I only imagine you might see on any number of ranches in Texas. Cactus, tall green grass, and cows. We just kept driving down a dirt road,

taking a left or right whenever we were told to. And then we arrived. The only difference between this part of the ranch and any other was the giant fence and locked gate. So our first stop will be at the shed there to put on booties. Okay. In reality, what the booties are for is so that in case you

actually step in something, you don't drag it back to your car. Wow. Are you kidding? That's exactly why. Everybody thinks it's so that it's like protecting the scene, but it's actually so that you don't drag home decon fluid on your shoes. The purge fluid. Right. Back into the minivan.

Right. All right. Let's see. We'll start this way. So typically the way that this works is the way the bodies are placed depends on what research protocol they're being used in. But typically they're left uncaged on the surface, caged on the surface, buried, or wrapped in something. So this is one that's left on the surface. Only a few feet from the gate sits the first body.

It was hard to pick out at first because of the tall grass around it. And this individual was originally clothed, and then the scattering is from the different scavengers that have come. So we can see a pair of sneakers and a pair of pants and a sock, but then the bones are all kind of broken apart. Yeah, they're kind of pulled apart at different places. What animal did this? Well, mostly it started out with vultures, and then probably you've had some raccoons and other things come since then.

But most of this is vulture activity. I had no idea what to expect when we walked into that field. I was nervous about a lot of things, wondering whether I'd be able to get these images out of my head that night when I went to sleep, trying to figure out how I would carry on an interview while not breathing through my nose, regretting not bringing a change of clothes. But this actually seemed okay. That first body hadn't been that bad. And then we turned a corner. All right, so the area that we're getting ready... Look at this.

The area we're getting ready to path, actually, this right here is a researcher, actually from New York York that's here. So she's got bodies on the surface and bodies that are buried. Oh, this is really something. There was a field of bodies under cages. And unlike what we had just seen, these bodies seemed kind of new. All were unclothed. I could see one man in a cage out of my right eye. His stomach was so bloated that it almost touched the top of the cage, and his limbs

were spread out to the sides. His skin was a mix of black and brown and purple splotches. I was trying to stay back, but Dr. West got one straight form. You can see the maggots pretty active at this stage. And then, so this person has gone through bloat. You guys all right? Yeah, but this is wild stuff. This is wild stuff. I don't think many people in their lives see stuff like this. So you can see, I was talking about the skin becomes really dark,

associated with the sulfuric gas that's produced by the bacteria and stuff. And then you get the active maggot masses going on. He kept drawing our attention to things that none of us actually wanted to see up close. So we were trying to stay with him, but also just trying to keep our eyes straight ahead. It was hard to know what to do, and it was hot, over 90 degrees. And then Dr. Westcott took us to a row of bodies under cages, which seemed to be showing a progression. So this is kind of going through time, in a sense.

And you can see that they've gone through bloat. They're actually starting to dry out. Yep. So this is, we're kind of going through the process here, walking down the line. Yeah. So you can see these are starting to get skeletonized. How long have these guys been out here, do you think? These have been out here probably a little over a year.

But you can see, now you can't even see the cadaver decomposition. As a matter of fact, you can barely see the body anymore because of all that vegetation around it. Purge fluid is so nutrient-rich that it acts like a super-fertilizer, and so bodies in the final stages of decomposition are surrounded by bunches of these tall, healthy wildflowers. The flowers are back. The flowers are back, yeah. Dr. Westcott is working on a new project that uses drones and infrared cameras

to detect how much organic material is in the soil. If law enforcement is trying to locate a missing person in a huge area, 5,000 acres, they can use the drone technology to narrow things down, looking for spots with a lot of organic material. They're also working with police dogs. Most cadaver dogs are trained with small tissue samples. But it turns out the dogs don't always know how to react when they encounter a whole body.

So police bring their dogs to the ranch to get used to finding the real thing. These different experiments are spread around the ranch, and Texas State collaborates with other facilities. Dr. Westcott showed us an experiment where three different centers across the country placed a body on the exact same day to compare regional differences. So the body that we're looking at right there seems to me to be rather new. Yeah, this individual was probably placed yesterday.

Oh, that's a brand new body. Yes. Oh, isn't that something? Our last stop was a clearing with three shallow graves. On the day we visited, they were in the process of excavating the skeletons. The excavation was being done by more than 20 students, all women. A lot of this work is done by women. Dr. Westcott is the only male director in the country,

and almost all of his colleagues and his graduate students are women. Dr. Kate Spradley was in charge of the excavation. It's interesting, I think, to do this kind of work, to look at all of these dead bodies, basically, and all of these human remains in the lab, I see a skeleton, I see a task at hand. I see a job that I have to do, particularly with the forensic cases that come in. We have a job to help identify those. So going in there, analyzing the skeleton, that's what we do. For me, it's different when I walk out to the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility where people donate their bodies, because here, when I see remains, I see people who donate their bodies because here when I see remains I see people who donate

their bodies this was their last wish this is what they wanted to do so for me it's very nice coming out here seeing them in their final resting place and it's very natural they just return to the earth are you a donor I am a donor are other members of your family? No, nobody else wants to do this but me. My husband is pretty uneasy about it, but I've looked at so many skeletons, I've built my career on looking at skeletons, so I think it's only right that I give back. Just listen to the birds.

Yeah, it's incredibly peaceful. Yeah, it's incredibly peaceful. Yeah, it's a beautiful place to be. On our way out, we made one last stop. The same stop that all the bodies make before they leave the ranch, the processing lab. What does the kettle do? It just simmers them for a little bit. It loosens up all the soft tissue.

Yes, they really are just giant soup kettles. What's the crock pot for? Small hands and feet and stuff like that and small bones, so a lot of times it's easier to finish them off in there. And then so they're cooked in here, and then they're brought over here, and they scrub them all down. What are these little guys down here? Tips of your fingers.

That's a fingertip. Yep. And then these are all toes, and you can see the little teeny toes. And then these little things right there, these are actually extras. They're not even included in the 206. It looks like wood. This bone almost looks like wood. Yeah.

It takes on the color of the soil. We saw two complete skeletons laid on metal gurneys and organized anatomically. It's amazing to see how fragile our ribs are. We were very lucky to be permitted to visit. Normally, only law enforcement and researchers are allowed in. Even if you decide to donate your body, you'll never be able to see this place while you're alive. But people do ask. Well, usually when someone calls, they say something along the lines of,

I'm interested in donating my body to science, and I hear that you take bodies. If you call for information, you'll speak with Lauren Meckel. And so I let them know about the Forensic Anthropology Center and how their body can help identify missing persons. And they usually get very excited about that. And they ask about some of the research projects that we're doing, specifically about the vulture studies. People are really interested in vulture consumption of human remains.

Like they want to be part of that study or they do not want to be part of that study? Many people actually are very interested in being part of that study. They see it as a sky burial. So it's something that seems peaceful, I suppose. You can actually make requests and they'll try to honor them. You can ask to wear a certain item of clothing or a piece of jewelry. You can ask to be placed under a tree. One man asked to be placed with a cell phone, and they did it. People also call to ask about the status of a friend or family member. So people say, I'm just wondering if they're all decomposed now and they're back inside.

Yes. I think I would, that's the question I would want to know too, if someone was, if you had got them off the ground and back in the box. Yes, and usually people are surprised by how long it takes too. Because sometimes it can be six months if we're doing a study where someone dropped in a tarp, for instance, and they skeletonized really quickly, and then we can pick them up really fairly soon after their death. But for the most part, they stay out there for about two years. Many of the donors have spent their life in education and see this as a way to continue teaching after they've died.

And many work in law enforcement and have seen the value of the research firsthand. I kind of see it as an extension of being an investigator. Elaine Walker is a retired private investigator, and last year she made the decision to donate her body to the Forensic Investigation Research Station in Colorado. How do you like retired life? It's the best job I've ever had. Oh, good. I loved my job, but this is the best job I've ever had. May I ask how old you are?

67. You're 67. But why not donate your body to science in another way, like an organ donor? Is there something about the, I guess that there's no investigative quality when you donate your body to science in another way, like an organ donor? Is there something about the, I guess that there's no investigative quality when you donate your liver? Well, no, but I am an organ donor. However, at my age, some of my organs are, you know, wouldn't really work out in somebody else's body. They're a little on the old side. How do you imagine the body farm? Peaceful? Have you seen pictures? No, I haven't seen pictures. I would imagine it's peaceful. It is out away from civilization. And I imagine that there are just bodies laying there and birds coming in to feast on them. That doesn't bother me at all that I'm going to be eaten. That's a wild thing to be talking about, isn't it? Yes, it is.

What did you tell your family when you signed up? How did they respond? My husband isn't very excited about it, but he respects that that's what I want to do. What will your husband do? When he dies? That's a good question because he won't discuss it. He's so terrified of death, he won't discuss it. Wasn't that interesting? It's like opposite ends of the spectrum. Yes, it really is. But I did tell him that I was going to send him off the cheapest way possible if he doesn't tell me what he wants. But he still won't tell me what he wants. Elaine was the fourth person we spoke with

who planned to donate their body to a body farm, but whose spouse refused to even talk about it. Even Dr. Bill Bass, the pioneer of the body farm, is leaving the decision up to his wife. Since that trip, I keep thinking about one particular part of Freeman Ranch, a patch of woods off the main path. It was greener than other places, shady. Dr. Westcott stopped us there and asked us to listen to the birds.

Right in front of us, there was a body under a tree, protected from the sun. Someone who thought they might be able to do some good. Someone who agreed to be placed outside, under the trees, with the bugs, until they disappear. Criminal is produced by Lauren Spohr, Nadia Wilson, and me. Audio mix by Rob Byers. Special thanks to Sergeant Zachary McBride of the Guadalupe County Sheriff's Office. This week, we say goodbye to our long-standing intern, Alice Wilder. Alice is responsible for some of our favorite stories, like Tony the Tiger at the truck stop and the woman who borrowed a bra from a postal worker. Alice even approached dozens of strangers to ask them what 420 means.

She's on her way to New York for her next chapter in podcasting. We're going to miss her and wish her all the best. Julian Alexander makes original illustrations for each episode of Criminal. You can see them at thisiscriminal.com. If you liked this episode and what we're doing, review us on iTunes so others can find us. Say hello on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. Criminal is recorded in the studios of North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC. We're a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, and we're excited to welcome a new show into the Radiotopia family. Ear Hustle shares true stories of life in San Quentin State Prison, told directly by and from the men living there.

The show won Radiotopia's PodQuest contest last year, beating out more than 1,500 entries from around the world. You can hear a preview in just a moment. Radiotopia is supported by the Knight Foundation, and thanks to AdCirc for providing their ad-serving platform to Radiotopia. I'm Phoebe Judge. This is Criminal. The following podcast contains language

that may not be appropriate for all listeners. I did not realize that I could be potentially facing life in prison. Now I'm going to drag you through four corners of this cell. It's like that. It's like, I don't want to be in prison, but I want to know what it's like to be in prison. You really think people want to know what it's like in prison? Hell yeah, of course. You got all these TV shows, new programs, like Prison Break.

Orange is the new black. Locked up. You know all the shows. But they all bullshit, though. Why? Why are they bullshit? Because ain't nothing I'm serving time. They never did no real time. Acting.

Yeah, and prison ain't really like that. No, man, we just living life. Like everybody else. I'm serving time. They never did no real time. They're acting. Yeah, and prison ain't really like that. No, man, we just living life. Like everybody else. I'm Erlon Woods. Erlon is serving a 31-year-to-life sentence for attempted second-degree robbery, and he's the co-host and co-producer of Ear Hustle. And that is Nigel Poore. She's a visual artist who works with incarcerated men here at San Quentin,

and she's the co-producer and co-host of Ear Hustle. See, she brings a softer touch to the show. Thanks, Antoine. Welcome. That's Antoine Williams. He's serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery with a gun enhancement, and he's the sound designer for Ear Hustle. I believed I was going to die in prison. She was happy to be with me. We all worked together inside of the media lab in San Quentin Prison where we produce Ear Hustle. And it's all done inside the prison.

I mean the interviewing, editing, sound design, by ya boy. And that's really cool, but it also is super challenging because we have limited hours we can work, we've got no internet access, and we can't even friggin' talk to each other on the phone. Whaaat? And on top of all that, prison is never a quiet place. We've got no internet access, and we can't even freaking talk to each other on the phone. What? And on top of all that, prison is never a quiet place. Hold up. All right.

Okay. And that's great to function. Hey, E, tell everyone what ear hustling means. It means being nosy and eavesdropping. And learning more about what actually happens inside a prison. You'll be hearing directly from the guys that's doing the time. See, we're going to be telling stories, all kinds of stories that range from starting a family. Having pets.

Misguided loyalty. Fashion. Ooh, cooking. Isolation. Sibling rivalry. Mommy-daddy time. And we got a lot of ground to cover over our first season. We decided to kick off this season with a story that everybody can relate to. Finding somebody to live with.

In prison terms, that means finding a cellmate. Can we hear just a little bit of it? Nope. Yep. Nope. Okay, wait. Just a little bit? Hold on. Only because you said please.

When we were cellies, I didn't smoke. He was smoking cigarettes and he just lit up right there on the bunk. And he was like, man, you're trying to kill me. You're killing me with this. You're going to kill me with cancer. Man, shut the fuck up with that shit, man. God. It's like, man, we are in prison for life.

You know, I have 67 years to life. Man, I am smoking this cigarette. So that's episode one of Ear Hustle. Coming soon from Radiotopia from PRX. Before we go, huge props to a crucial partner in all of this, and that's Lieutenant Sam Robinson, the San Quentin Public Information Officer. Without his guidance and support, none of this would be happening. He also has to listen to all of our stories in O'Kalem before they go out, even this promo.

So what about it, Lieutenant? Are we cool? This is Lieutenant Sam Robinson, the Public Information Officer at San Quentin State Prison, and I approve this promo. So what about it, Lieutenant? Are we cool? This is Lieutenant Sam Robinson, the public information officer at San Quentin State Prison, and I approve this story. And please visit our website, EarHustleSQ.com. You can subscribe to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, and find out how to send us a question by postcard

that we might answer on a future episode. That's EarHustleSQ.com. So kick back, relax, because we're about on a future episode. That's airhustlesq.com. So kick back, relax, because we're about to take you inside. Radiotopia. From PRX. The number one selling product of its kind with over 20 years of research and innovation. Botox Cosmetic, Adabotulinum Toxin A,

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