Text Excerpt 19: Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum The Agglutinated Mass [Note to readers: Many of the official autopsy reports of the Branch Davidians, autopsy photographs, and official diagrams showing the locations of body recoveries are available for viewing at the Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum website. Unfortunately, this documentation cannot be included in a text excerpt.] Now comes what must be one of the most remarkable finds in the history of forensic anthropology. The Glop from the Concrete Room, or the Agglutinated Mass. It should have been the subject of fascinated argument among the experts, spilling out into the pages of the popular press. But instead--we hear the sounds of silence. These remains were found pressed together inside the concrete room. They were among the last to be recovered, having been allowed to rot in the elements until allegedly picked up on April 27-29, 1993. It's too bad the experts from the Smithsonian Institution were not on hand when the mass was discovered. Perhaps they would have learned something about the circumstances surrounding the victims' deaths, or even the circumstances surrounding their interment together. If the FBI believed what it told the public--that David Koresh was a maniac and a child molester, and that the Davidians murdered each other on the final day--the dismemberments and the agglutination would have been thoroughly investigated. Instead, the environment in which the bodies were recovered was altered and destroyed without the benefit of observation and analysis by experts. For the purpose of the Autopsy Reports, the Agglutinated Mass was divided into the following Mt. Carmel Does: 64, 65, 66, 67-1, 67-2, 67-3, 67-4, 67-5, 67-6, 67-7, and 67-8. The eleven human beings said to be represented by this mass of flesh and bone include members of David Koresh's family: his wife Rachel, and their children Cyrus, Star, and Bobbie Lane; Lorraine Sylvia and her daughters Rachel and Hollywood; Paiges Gent, a baby; an unidentified infant, an unidentified toddler, and an unidentified child. Even more remarkably, the deceased, found compacted like this as if by a mechanical press, were said to have died variously of smoke inhalation, suffocation, and gunshot wounds. Some of the remains were mutilated by fire, some were disarticulated through decomposition, and some were dismembered. It is obvious that these people died in different environments, and their remains gathered after death, kneaded together and pressed into a mound. How was this effect achieved? Speaking of the commingled remains, the May 1, 1993 Dallas Morning News quotes Judge James Collier, Justice of the Peace for the Mt. Carmel Center district: "They were all in a mingle with one another. I was in the funeral business for 40 years, and I never saw anything like this. This is the worst because of the sheer numbers of it. It's mind boggling." Sgt. Coffman, the Texas Ranger in charge of the crime scene at the concrete room testified at the 1994 San Antonio trial of the Branch Davidians about finding the bodies among the spent cartridges. "... there were several other bodies that were intertwined that we just couldn't separate without tearing them up. And so, they were all packaged in one body bag and given numbers by the medical examiner later on." (Transcript, pg. 935.) The agglutinated mass was originally given the Mt. Carmel Doe Numbers 64-68; this is documented in the Autopsy Report of Mt. Carmel Doe 67-1, which states: "it should be noted that this subject emanated from commingled remains formerly designated as 64-68 and was subsequently designated MC Doe 67-1, B2 [sic] after anthropologic sorting/evaluation." Autopsies were done during the course of eleven calendar days. Sgt. Coffman said all the bodies in the agglutinated mass were put into one body bag [Transcript, pg. 935] and the Autopsy Report for Mt. Carmel Doe 66 also confirms Coffman's statement. But some of the remains in the agglutinated mass arrived at the morgue in a black body bag (Rachel Koresh's and Hollywood Sylvia's) while the others arrived in a blue body bag. Something is wrong here. The Autopsy Report for Hollywood Slyvia further states her remains arrived wrapped in a white sheet. But if her remains were part of the agglutinated mass which were separated by the medical examiners, how could her remains "arrive" at the morgue in a white sheet? When were the remains of Rachel Koresh and Hollywood Sylvia separated from the agglutinated mass, and by whom? Enough explanation. Let's review the Autopsy Reports: Paiges Gent, (Mt. Carmel Doe 64), a baby girl: "Body is presented to County Morgue co-mingled with other bodies in the 'Bunker' with sorting performed by Dr. Owsley. The separated body parts are presented for autopsy wrapped in a white sheet." The body parts have become disarticulated due to advanced decomposition--but, the body seems to have been pulped and then kneaded together. Dr. Peerwani performed the autopsy. His observations include: "separated skull with disarticulated mandible. The skull is incomplete with missing occipital and left temporal bones ... Separated and decomposing fragments of scalp are also present with long blond hair ... large mass of soft tissue and viscera with co-mingled ribs, vertebrae, scapulae, sternum and most of the bones of the extremities ... external genitalia are not distinguishable because of advanced state of decomposition" Body is focally charred. Cause of death? Carbon monoxide inhalation, and no questions asked. Anthropology examination conducted by Douglas W. Owsley, Ph.D. Date of Autopsy: May 1, 1993. (Unidentified) Mt. Carmel Doe 65, infant: "Body is presented to the County Morgue secured in a blue body bag accompanied by a large quantity of ordinance ..." Body is a fragmented infant's skull, absent of soft tissues of the face; some of the spinal column, a hand, and a hip. "The internal organs consist of amorphous brownish decomposing mass of tissue with active insect larvae and precludes further examination." Why was further examination precluded? Examining decomposing tissue and maggots is surely routine in morgues. Gary Sisler performed the autopsy; cause of death is carbon monoxide inhalation and thermal burns. Some slight charring is mentioned. Anthropology examination by Drs. Ubelaker and Owsley. Date of Autopsy: May 5, 1993 (disregard obvious typo on page 1 of Autopsy Report.) Lorraine Sylvia (Mt. Carmel Doe 66): "The body is presented to the County Morgue secured in a blue body bag ..." and "[i]t should be noted that this body originally emanated from commingled remains formerly annotated as MC64-68C." Body is extensively charred with massive destruction of many bony tissues; but Mickey and Minnie characters are seen on a diaper which is still in the pocket of a jacket worn by the victim. Stephen Putthoff and Gary Sisler performed the autopsy. Body is fractured, shattered, severely decomposed and crawling with maggots. No visceral organs are present, or at least recognizable. Cause of death is "multiple gunshot wounds of left back and thorax," and page 5 describes six bullet wounds to the back. Anthropological examination conducted by Drs. Owsley and Ubelaker. Lots of clues, possibly, but no curiosity. Date of Autopsy: May 2, 1993 Star Howell (Mt. Carmel Doe 67-1), six year old daughter of David and Rachel Koresh: "The body is presented to the county morgue secured in a blue body bag ..." and "[i]t should be noted that this subject emanated from commingled remains formerly designated as 64-68 and was subsequently designated MC Doe 67-1, B2 after anthropologic sorting/evaluation." This body is partially burned, and consists of part of the skull, a torso, a pelvis, lower limbs, and an assortment of other bones and bone fragments. Decomposition is so advanced that internal organs cannot be identified, with the exception of some liver tissue. No mention of date of death, as usual. Stephen Puttoff performed the autopsy, and cause of death is listed as smoke and carbon monoxide inhalation. Anthropology examination conducted by Douglas Owsley, Ph.d. Date of Autopsy: May 3, 1993 Cyrus Howell (Mt. Carmel Doe 67-2), eight year old son of David and Rachel Koresh "The body is presented to the City Morgue secured in a blue body bag." The body consists of a charred torso; remnants of a pelvis, lower back, legs and feet, and assorted detached bones. "The genitalia is extensively cooked with decomposition precluding sex determination." Chest and abdominal organs as well as skull are absent. Gary Sisler performed the autopsy; cause of death "Probably suffocation due to overlie and burial in structural collapse (cannot rule out trauma to the head)." Once more: Even if Gary Sisler believed that there had been a structural collapse, the missing head should have been a clue signaling him that something was wrong. The concrete debris would have crushed the head, but held it in place under the weight. Nor should fire have been able to penetrate this concrete debris. Anthropology examination by Douglas Owsley, Ph.d. Date of Autopsy: May 5, 1993. Rachel Howell Koresh (Mt. Carmel Doe 67-3), David Koresh's wife. "The body is presented to the county morgue in a black body bag ... intermingled with additional remains (note anthropology reports)." The Department of Justice report says of Rachel Koresh: "Rachel Koresh was buried alive inside the bunker. She died of suffocation." Marc Krouse performed the autopsy, and he notes on page 1: "body recovered from collapsed structure," and gives the cause of her death: "Suffocation due to overlay and burial in structural collapse." Yet most of her head is burned away. If she was buried by debris from the (non-existent) structural collapse, how did her head burn away? Fire cannot burn concrete. No questions asked. Anthropology examination by Douglas Ubelaker, Ph.d. The date of autopsy on Rachel Koresh's body is late: May 11, 1993. Hollywood Sylvia (Mt. Carmel Doe 67-4), one year old baby daughter of Lorraine Sylvia. "Body is presented to the County Morgue co-mingled with other bodies in the 'Bunker' with sorting performed by Dr. Owsley. The separated body parts are presented for autopsy wrapped in a white sheet and a black body bag." Body is fragmented, charred, and severely decomposed to the point where external genitalia are not distinguishable. Dr. Peerwani performed this one; cause of death carbon monoxide inhalation. Date of Autopsy: May 2, 1993. Bobbie Lane Howell (Mt. Carmel Doe 67-5 and Mt. Carmel Doe 69). These remains have already been discussed in "Dismemberment," Excerpt 16. Dates of Autopsies: May 2 and April 30, 1993 Rachel Sylvia (Mt. Carmel Doe 67-6), twelve-year-old daughter of Lorraine Sylvia. "The body is presented to the County Morgue secured in a black body bag ..." The upper torso is missing but there are isolated fragments of bones from the arms and ribs. Left forearm and hand are present. Dismemberment said to be caused by fire damage. Marc Krause performed the autopsy and said death was caused by "suffocation due to overlay and burial in structural collapse." As above: If Dr. Krouse believed the concrete structure collapsed on Rachel and suffocated her, how did he think the body was incinerated? Fire cannot burn through concrete. No questions asked. Dr. Ubelaker did the anthropology examination. Date of Autopsy: May 11, 1993 (Unidentified) (Mt. Carmel Doe 67-7), two and a half year old child: "The body is presented to the county morgue secured in a black body bag ..." Remains consist of pelvis, legs, and feet. Sex is impossible to determine due to advanced decomposition. Autopsy by Marc Krouse. Cause of death is undetermined. Anthropology examination conducted by Douglas Ubelaker. Date of Autopsy: May 11, 1993. (Unidentified) (Mt. Carmel Doe 67-8), infant: There is no explanation about how these remains found their way to the morgue. The remains consist of fragmented skull bones, left side. Teeth in jawbone reveal age to be about 13 months. Autopsy was performed by Marc Krouse Cause of death is said to be gunshot wound. No indication of anthropology examination. Date of Autopsy: May 11, 1993. Visitors to the Museum's website will find many other anomalies analyzed and noted. These include: Mt. Carmel Doe 58, found buried beneath the surface and allegedly recovered on April 27-29, was identified as the unborn fetus of Aisha Summers (Mt. Carmel Doe 31A). Aisha Summers was found near the surface on April 22. How did the mother and the fetus become so separated? Mother found near the surface, fetus buried beneath the surface--and five days apart in recovery. (Mt. Carmel Doe 58 eventually reclassified as Mt. Carmel Doe 31B.) Mt. Carmel Doe 31F is a "Negroid hair braided into small loose dreadlock style, 1" to 2" long with attached scalp; focal charring," which received a dental examination and an FBI fingerprint examination. Unidentified, Mt. Carmel Doe 51A. Skull only, almost completely defleshed in less than ten days, buried, in cool spring weather. Isaiah (?) Martinez, Mt. Carmel Doe 53. Body is female, but identified as Isaiah, a boy. Body in pieces and markedly decomposed. Missing bones suggest disintegration of body not due to decomposition (bones would be present) but to dismemberment. Next: Excerpt 20, But Who Would Do Such a Thing? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Entire set of text excerpts from the Museum available with anonymous ftp from ftp://ftp.public-action.com/wm2-0txt.zip Excerpted by Carol Valentine. Images omitted. Visit the Museum at http://www.Public-Action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum. SkyWriter@Public-Action.com Copyright 1996-2000 by Carol A. Valentine, on loan to Public Action, Inc. All commercial rights are reserved. Full statement of terms and conditions for copying and redistribution is available in the Museum Library. "Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum," "SkyWriter," and the skywriting logo are trademarks of Public Action Inc.