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REPORTING OFFICER'S NARRATIVE
(Brief narrative of the facts surrounding the offense
and the arrest.) At
10:19 a.m., Dispatch
received a 911 call reporting the vandalism on a property near
Taylor Creek at 424 Old Taylor Road, CR 323. The caller
identified himself as David Whitehead, owner of the property.
Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Unit 207 (Officer D. C. Baxter)
was dispatched and arrived at the scene at
10:41 a.m.. After
observing the vandalism, R/O conducted an inspection of the
surrounding area and discovered a secondary scene with possible
human remains present. At
11:00 a.m., R/O
notified Dispatch of the discovery and requested backup. Unit
221 (Officer Maria Richards) and Unit 304 (Deputy Fred Willits) were dispatched to provide
backup and arrived at the scene at
11:11 a.m. and
11:16 a.m.
respectively. Reporting
Investigators (R/Is) Detectives T. Armstrong and S. Murphy were assigned and
proceeded directly to the scene. At R/Is' request, Coroner’s Inspector
L. Johnson and a CSU team were
notified to respond to the scene. R/Is arrived at the scene at 11:44 a.m. Upon arrival, R/Is found that R/Os had
secured the area. Environmental conditions at the scene upon arrival
are as follows: Exterior Ambient Temperature 36°F/2°C; Relative
Humidity: 80%.
R/O Baxter made the following verbal report, which is stated
in summary and not verbatim. R/O
responded to the location and was met by an adult male who
identified himself as David Whitehead (Person 2), the property
owner. Person 2 escorted R/O to a location on the east edge of
the property, alongside Taylor Creek. At that location, R/O
observed an area measuring approximately 25 feet by 20 feet,
which was cleared of leaves and grass and had what appeared to
be the remains of a campfire in the center. R/O observed two
empty rum bottles approximately 2 feet southwest of the campfire
and a significantly decomposed chicken carcass approximately 5
feet southeast of the campfire. Approximately 15 feet southwest
of the campfire and outside of the cleared area, R/O observed
what appeared to be a ball made of wax with a slip of paper
protruding from the wax. R/O further observed an apparent
footpath leading south from the clearing in the direction of CR
323. R/O followed the path to approximately 165 yards south of
CR 323 where R/O observed a large yellow and white bucket
positioned inside a tree stump. R/O noted a strong unusual odor,
apparently emanating from the bucket. Wearing gloves, R/O
removed the lid from the top of the bucket and observed what
appeared to be a human head in an unidentified liquid inside the
bucket. R/O replaced the lid on the bucket and
secured the scene. R/O contacted Dispatch to request backup. R/O
said YCSD Unit 221 (Officer Maria Richards) arrived at
approximately 11:11 a.m. and
provided backup and assistance in securing the vandalism scene. R/O
said YCSD Unit 304 (Deputy Fred Willits) arrived at
approximately 11:16 a.m. and provided backup and assistance in
securing the human remains scene. R/O Baxter further stated that, to
the best of his knowledge, the following personnel had occasion
to enter the crime scene areas and should be excluded by CSU
personnel: David Whitehead, Kyle Whitehead, Megan Ferris,
Officer Richards, Deputy Willits, and himself.
After receiving the report
from R/O Baxter, R/Is contacted Dispatch and requested that
Coroner’s Inspector L. Johnson and a CSU team be notified to
respond to the scene.
R/Is conducted a preliminary inspection of the
vandalism scene [Site A] and found it consistent with R/O's description.
The cleared area measured 19.7 feet north to south and 26.4 feet
east to west. Taylor Creek runs north to south
5.3 feet east of
the clearing and intersects with CR 323 114 yards south of the
cleared area. In the center of the cleared area were the remains
of a campfire measuring 3 feet in diameter and with burned
debris approximately 1.8 feet high. The burned debris included
ashes and the remains of a wooden crate approximately 70%
burned. The wooden crate measured approximately 32 inches long,
15 inches high and 11 inches deep and appeared to be made of
pine strips with rope handles. Approximately 2 feet southwest of
the campfire remains were two empty Bacardi rum bottles. 6.3
feet southeast of the campfire was a decomposed chicken carcass
with apparent incisions in the chest and neck areas.
Approximately 12 feet east of the campfire remains was a tree
with minimal streaks of what appeared to be blood approximately
3-4 feet above the base of the tree. Outside of the cleared
area, approximately 14 feet southeast of the campfire remains
was a ball of what appeared to be black wax measuring
approximately 4.5 inches in diameter. Protruding from the ball
was a slip of white paper. On the visible portion of the white
paper, the words "Denise Hartigan" were handwritten. R/Is left
all evidence in place for documentation and collection by CSU.
Coroner's Inspector Luwinda
Johnson arrived at the scene at approximately 12:24 p.m. and
joined R/Is at the vandalism location. R/Is and Inspector Johnson
proceeded to the human remains location [Site B] south of the
vandalism scene. R/Is found the human remains scene consistent
with R/Os description. 163 yards south of CR 323, R/Is observed
a large yellow and white bucket with the words "AquaChem" on the
side. The bucket was planted in an oak stump, measuring 18
inches across and 1 foot deep, on the west side of Taylor Creek,
along the shallow bank. The bucket was 19 inches deep and
protruded 7 inches from the stump. R/Is and Inspector Johnson
noted a strong chemical odor mixed with the odor of
decomposition in the area. Upon removing the bucket lid, R/Is
observed what appeared to be a human head floating in an
unidentified liquid inside the bucket. The head appeared to be
severely corroded. The visible skin was black and blistered. The
hair on the head was white and appeared to be long, but a
specific length could not be determined at the scene. R/Is and
Inspector Johnson were unable to determine age, race, gender or
identification at the scene.
Inspector Johnson pronounced
the victim (Person 1) deceased at
12:33 p.m. by visual observation that the
victim's head was separated from the body. Inspector Johnson was
unable to provide an estimate on time of death or cause of death
at the scene, but indicated
that further details would be available in the official autopsy
report. Inspector Johnson stayed with the CSU team to ensure integrity of
the remains, while the team took photographs of the scene and
performed preliminary analyses until the remains could be removed
from the scene without affecting other evidence.
CSU arrived at the scene at
approximately 12:30 p.m. R/Is requested that CSU set a wide
perimeter for the crime scenes and to notify them immediately if
any other human remains were discovered.
Following preliminary
inspection of the scenes, R/Is interviewed Persons 2, 3 and 4
(transcripts attached).
R/Is left the location at
3:45 p.m. Before leaving, R/I Murphy instructed CSU to seal the scene
upon completion or end of shift suspension of processing. CSU to
notify R/Is of progress by the end of this date. As of this
filing, CSU is still actively processing at the scene.
The human remains were remanded into the custody of Coroner's Inspector Luwinda
Johnson. The deceased was removed from scene at 3:20 p.m. and
transported to the coroner's office for autopsy.
Evidence remanded into the
custody of Forensics Officer T. R. Douglas for transport to the
State Crime Lab for routine analysis. CSU is expected to submit
an inventory of items taken into evidence within fourteen days
of this report, with detailed report(s) of their findings to
follow at a later date.
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