Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist (16 page)

The skeleton of Joseph Merrick from the back.
(Photo courtesy of Royal London Hospital Medical College.)

Chris and Page Jennings. Glyde Earl Meek almost certainly intended to murder Chris Jennings, but the young man had flown to New Hampshire for his parents’ funeral.
(Courtesy of Chris Jennings.)

A wanted poster for Glyde Earl Meek, printed five months after his death.

The gold inlay from the tooth of Glyde Earl Meek. Originally missed by investigators, this crucial piece of evidence was later recovered when earth from the scene was resifted through a fìner-meshed screen.

Shotgun pellets (arrows) stuck to the inside of Glyde Earl Meek’s braincase.

A flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of a soldier missing in action in Vietnam.

Searching for cremated dental and skeletal evidence at the crash site of a single-engine aircraft.

Dr. Robert Benfer and I examine the bones of Pizarro at the Cathedral of San Agustín in Lima, Peru.
(Photo courtesy of Margaret Maples.)

The skull of Don Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru, assassinated Sunday, June 26,1541.

A mock sword shows the path of one of Pizarro’s many wounds.

The tomb of Zachary Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
(Photo courtesy of Ariene Albert.)

Perforations in the leaden inner casket of Zachary Taylor were caused by oxidation.
(Photo courtesy of Ariene Albert.)

The site where the remains of Tsar Nicholas II were unearthed is marked today by a makeshift Russian Orthodox cross.