Girl on Church Hill – Part II

Investigative wheels started turning as soon as police officers observed the dead body of “The Girl on Church Hill.”

Procedure dictated these steps:

Examine body.
Determine cause of death and time of death.
Identify victim.
Look for evidence.
Search for witnesses.
Identify suspects.

Examine Body

Victim was young white female. Nude. Sliced down the middle from stem to stern. All internal organs gutted.

Cause and Time of Death

Since evisceration usually occurs postmortem, probably not the cause of death. Several stab wounds observed in victim’s chest. Therefore, stabbing probably the cause of death. Based on condition of body, estimated time of death somewhere during the previous 24 hours.

Identify victim

No clothing or identification cards. However, a unique ring on the victim’s finger could prove vital.

Autopsy needed to identify the victim.

Look for Evidence

Two beers cans and empty pack of sunflower seeds in close proximity to body. Probably worthless. This type of killer wouldn’t be hanging around drinking beer and eating sunflower seeds while admiring his work. Already admired his handiwork while disemboweling the victim.

No way this killer would leave clues lying around next to the body. Not the careless type.

No knife or weapons of any sort.
With leaves covering the ground, no footprints.
Ring was most important piece of evidence. Could lead to the identity of the victim.
A longshot, but the Turkish towel stuffed inside the victim’s body cavity could lead to the identity of the killer.
The evisceration itself was evidence. Very specific type of killing and could lead to identity of killer.

But that was it. Not much concrete evidence to go on.

Search for witnesses

Detectives immediately started canvassing the surroundings. Looking for anyone who may have seen or heard anything unusual or suspicious during the previous 24 hours – especially during the previous night.

Rural area. Secluded. Forests and farmland. Houses here and there. Cemetery, church, and quarry nearby. Cemetery known to be a hangout for minors wanting to go undetected while drinking alcohol, using drugs, and engaging in sexual activities.

Mt. Gilead African Methodist Episcopal Church sat atop the hill. Once used as way-station for Underground Railroad.

Quarry nearby. Known to be hangout where members of the Pagans Motorcycle Gang engaged in gang activities – both social and criminal.

Unfortunately for investigative purposes, no one saw or heard anything unusual during the time in question.

Identify Suspects

The person or persons who discover the body are the first suspects.

In this case, George Childs and his son Mark made the discovery. Mark was a student at Temple. Father and son were running errands and looking for a stream to go fishing at some point in the future. No criminal records. Alibis checked out. No documented eviscerations performed by a father-and-son duo. Eliminated as suspects.

Next on the suspect chain came current husbands or boyfriends, ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends, and lovers, ex-lovers, and jilted lovers. Applying male-typing to possible suspects is not a sexist oversight. This type of homicide with a female victim implies a male killer.
Next on the suspect chain came family members.
Third on the suspect chain came neighbors.

Not yet knowing the identity of the victim forced investigators to put identifying any suspects on hold. Hopefully, the autopsy would identify the victim and allow them to proceed.

(Next post will identify the victim. But don’t look for it on Sunday. I’ll be watching football all day.)

In addition to being the official Eagles Outsider for BlameMyFather.com – Barry Bowe is also the author of: