Chapter 16
Dr. Lois Palmieri wore the same suit in every trial I’d ever known her to testify in.
I believed she had at least a dozen of them in her closet.
It was navy blue, double-breasted with gold buttons.
She wore a white blouse underneath and a blue-and-white-polka-dot scarf.
She cut a trim figure in blue kitten heels and tan pantyhose.
Her steel-gray hair was cropped short around her face.
She took her oath and slipped her gold aviator glasses up the bridge of her nose.
“Good morning, Dr. Palmieri,” I started. “Could you please explain to the jury what you do for a living?”
She adjusted the microphone. “Of course. I’m a criminal forensic scientist. I spent the better part of my career working for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations, conducting crime scene analysis.”
Dr. Palmieri went through her credentials.
She had a doctorate in forensic science.
Had served as BCI’s senior crime scene analyst for over twenty years before her semi-retirement.
For the past eight years, she taught doctoral students in criminal forensics at Ohio State University.
The woman was a legend among crime scene analysts all over the country.
“Do you still work as an analyst or are you exclusively in academia now?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Although I’m a full professor at OSU, I also consult with Ohio’s BCI quite frequently. I’ve also been brought in to consult on different criminal cases throughout the country.”
“I see,” I said. “Can you tell me how you became involved with the Ellie Luke murder case?”
“Twenty-two years ago, I was the senior analyst with the northwest Ohio region of BCI based in Bowling Green. I was called in to process the scene out near what’s now Homer Park where the victim’s remains were discovered.”
“It was your crime scene?” I asked.
“Well, Detective Gus Ritter with the Maumee County Sheriff’s Department was the lead detective. I came out at his request. But yes, I was put in control of the scene.”
Dr. Palmieri went through the background of how she came to the scene.
Ritter called her almost immediately when suspected human remains were found.
Palmieri’s team took control and protected the scene.
The jury maintained rapt attention as the doctor explained the steps she took to secure the area.
“Dr. Palmieri,” I said. “Can you describe for me what you discovered and where?”
“Well, the area where the victim’s remains were found was remote. There were old hiking trails out there, but the body wasn’t along any of those. It was about a quarter of a mile northwest of what’s now known as the S trail that runs past the Maumee River.”
We’d entered an aerial satellite map into evidence. Dr. Palmieri marked off the site where two hunters found Ellie’s bones.
“Is this public hunting land?” I asked.
“No, there’s state land that abuts it, but this was outside the border of that. My understanding is that the two gentlemen who found the remains were actually tracking a deer one of them believed he nicked earlier in the morning.”
“Okay. Please describe for me what you observed when you came on scene?”
“Of course. As I indicated, the area was rather remote and off the literal beaten trail here. There is thick underbrush and it’s difficult to get to.
But here, just over this ridge, there’s a clearing.
There’s a large oak tree in front of an area I’d describe as a sort of grassy, mossy knoll.
The victim’s remains were found propped up against the trunk of the tree. ”
I marked the next photograph as an exhibit.
Dr. Palmieri identified it as the scene as it appeared when she first arrived.
Part of Ellie Luke’s skeleton, her skull, rib cage and right arm could be seen leaning against the base of the tree.
We went through a series of close-up photographs.
Palmieri talked the jury through what they were seeing.
“The victim was lying against the base of the tree, her arms crossed in front of her at the wrists. Her legs splayed out in front, crossed at the ankles. The skull had partially detached from the neck. Although most of the flesh was gone except around the skull. Her hair was still pulled back in a ponytail.”
“Was there anything remarkable to you about the way the body lay?” I asked.
“Well, it didn’t appear to be lying in a natural position. As in, I immediately suspected the body had been posed in this fashion rather than falling this way.”
“Why do you say that?”
“The hands crossed and linked together, in almost a prayer pose. The legs crossed at the ankles. Even the way the body was propped against the tree. She was partially under a foot of dirt from the torso to the upper thighs. Then, when we moved the body, I could see the defect in the back of the skull. It wasn’t immediately visible the way the body was discovered against the tree like that. ”
I flipped to another photograph, a close-up of Ellie’s skull with the large, jagged hole in the back.
“What are we looking at?” I asked.
“A large portion of the back of the victim’s skull was caved in. When we moved the body, the missing piece was found underneath her.”
“Why is that significant?”
“Well, for one, it represented the most likely cause of death. A wound like that would have most certainly been fatal.”
“Objection,” Cutler said in an almost nonchalant tone. “This witness isn’t a medical doctor.”
“This witness has already testified about her extensive experience with crime scene analysis, specifically murders. If …”
“I’m going to sustain it,” Judge Saul said. “Dr. Palmieri, please leave the medical conclusions to the medical doctors.”
Palmieri seemed nonplussed by the judge’s ruling. “Of course,” she said. “May I finish my answer?”
“Please do,” Saul said.
“Let me rephrase and say that the wound was the only sign of trauma I was able to observe. You asked me why that was significant. With the way the body was positioned, I believe that it was put there in that specific pose. It didn’t fall that way naturally.
The blow was to the back of the head. She was found leaning against the tree, face up, partially buried.
It is my scientific opinion that the victim was probably already dead or at least unconscious when she was placed there. ”
“Okay,” I said. “Thank you. Doctor, what else did you find at the scene?”
“The victim was wearing a blue polo-type shirt with a Lennox Caregiving logo above the right breast. Under that, she wore a white tank top. A pair of size 4 denim jeans were found folded next to the victim at the base of the tree.”
“Folded?” I asked. I flipped to the next photograph. The jeans were there, loosely folded about a foot from Ellie Luke’s skull.
“Yes. She was still wearing white tennis shoes. They were unlaced as if they’d been removed and put back on. Perhaps when the victim’s jeans were removed. She wasn’t wearing any undergarments other than the tank top.”
“No underwear?”
“Correct.”
“What else did you find?”
“There was a gold chain around the victim’s neck. There was a blue pendant dangling from it. We also found an earring near the victim’s skull in the dirt.”
I flipped to the next photograph, a blow-up of the earring found at the scene.
“What can you tell me about this earring?” I asked.
“It’s a flat, gold-colored circular hoop with a heart pattern cut into it. There is a blue stone inside one of the hearts.”
“Did you have cause to analyze the properties of this earring?”
“Of course. The earring was made up of 92.5% sterling silver with other metals mixed in. The earring back was the same metal. The stone was made of Tanzanite. Detective Ritter had a photograph of the victim wearing the earrings. Her family reported that she’d been wearing them the day she disappeared. ”
“You found one earring, not its mate?” I asked.
“That’s correct.”
“Was there anything else significant about what you found at the scene?”
“There was no other jewelry. As I said, the victim’s hair was still present and pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing a blue satin scrunchie that roughly matched the color of her sweater. But it appeared a large chunk of hair had been cut.”
I flipped to another photograph, a close-up of Ellie’s ponytail. You could clearly see a large, uneven hank of it had been cut from the rest of the ponytail.
“Was there anything significant about the hair?”
“Well, it was dark brown in color. It had been bleached and the victim had lighter brown, artificial highlights. After speaking with her hair stylist and our chemical analysis, we identified the dye as Chestnut #7. The victim was definitively identified through dental records though. She had two crowns on her first molars as well as a permanent retainer in the upper palate. She had four fillings.”
“All right. You indicated it’s your opinion the victim wasn’t killed as she lay?”
“No. I said I don’t believe the victim was found in a natural position.
There was no evidence of any other disturbances in the area around her that would indicate a struggle.
Though I have to point out, the victim went missing in March of that year and wasn’t discovered until October.
With the advanced decomposition and the changing of seasons, I can’t definitely state there wasn’t a struggle at the site.
I can only say we didn’t find any evidence of such.
No blood. No broken branches. We found overturned earth next to the body, likely what was used to partially bury her.
But you have to understand, that’s seven months out in the elements.
There was evidence that animals had gotten to the body.
Bite marks on hands and wrists. The flesh had either decayed or been eaten away. ”
A few members of the jury grimaced, but they were still with us.