POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION IN A CASE OF INTENTIONAL EXTREME FRAGMENTATION

The investigation of the first of the murders of young males to which Jeffrey Dahmer confessed led to systematic survey of two acres of semi rural property in Bath Township, Ohio. The survey revealed the fragmen tary skeleton of a young adult male, as well as bones of several speci es of animals. Through archaeobiological analysis, the animal bones we re identified and taphonomic modifications documented. The human bones were dry and weathered, and many were rodent-gnawed, indicating that they had been exposed for many years. The human bones displayed an ext reme degree of splintering, warping, bending, and spiral breakage. The only relatively complete bone was a cervical vertebra. Dismemberment and breakage had been accomplished by cutting, blunt force, and, in th e case of the ribs, manual bending. Even in so extreme a case of inten tional fragmentation, however, forensic anthropological analysis resul ted in positive identification, with the primary criteria based on mat ching osteological features evident in premortem and postmortem radiog raphs of a cervical vertebra.