The photo to the left show multiple fractures on the skull of a 28 year old woman, Mrs. DuFrees; at least 5 different blows can be seen in this view.  These defects were probably caused by a shovel because the blows were made with an instrument with a slightly curved blade; the shovel was likely latter used to dig her grave.  Mrs. DuFrees's burned car was found by a road near Santa Fe; investigators thought she had burned completely in the car, but later a hiker came across a human hand protruding from the ground – her shallow grave shown in the picture below.



 
 

This photo also shows blunt force fractures to a skull, that of an 18 year old, female Ernestine Vallejo.  The murder weapon in this case was probably either a crowbar or a claw hammer because the smooth curved fracture line matches the damage done by these types of weapons.  This illustrates what are called “class characteristics” – characteristics that are shared by a number of potential weapons;  “individual characteristics ”are unique marks left on the bone by an imperfection in the weapon.  This case also illustrates why it is important to study bones as well as soft tissue because the soft tissue left in this case was hindering the ability to see what actually occurred, so the tissue was cleaned off and
                                                                      the skull put back together.


Photo courtesy of Rhine, p. 102