ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a detailed report of a complex federal case illustrating the multidisciplinary nature of domestic homicide investigations that highlights the role of forensic anthropology. This case demonstrates the various forms of physical evidence that can be recovered from mass graves when standard archaeological procedures are correctly applied and underscores the critical need for cooperation between forensic pathologists and anthropologists in trauma analysis. The role of forensic anthropology in domestic cases in the United States has expanded tremendously in the last two decades. In the United States, only forensic pathologists are legally empowered to determine manner of death. Antemortem pathology included spinal arthritis, a healed fracture of the right second metatarsal, and antemortem tooth loss. It included osteoarthritis of the spine, a healed fracture of the left acromion process, and a well-healed fracture of the left fibula.
