Burning a Body in the Burn Pit
There's been some discussion on this topic already, but many people may not have been exposed to this information. I hope that this post can be used to compile information about the feasibility of burning a body in an outdoor firepit. More information will be added as it is received.
All the experts at trial agree that it's possible that the body was burned in the firepit.
Forensic Anthropologist Eisenberg believes it to be the primary burn location.
(Avery trial Day 14 page 43)
Forensic Anthropologist Fairgrieve does not rule it out. (Avery trial Day 20 page 143)
Arson Investigator Pevytoe testifies that it would take multiple hours. (He's asked detailed questions in the Dassey trial page 794+)
Here are some examples of backyard body disposal:
from dancemart
DNA reveals bones found in a fire pit were those of a missing Warren, OH girl
It was a minute bone fragment, but it was enough to help solve the case of 18-year-old Alisha Bell
The unanswered question is, were Alisha Bell's remains the only ones in the fire pit behind Brooks' home?
from dancemart
some group members hog-tied Jackson and put his body in a sleeping bag, which was placed in the backyard fire pit and burned for several hours, authorities said.
His ashes were then put into 5-gallon paint cans and disposed of, authorities said.
an account from keepthinking321
The only thing left in the burn pit on his vacation property were bone fragments and a very burned tooth.
Also sarahbeee42
Her body was reduced to ash, small bits of bone, and teeth fragments in the front yard of her killer's cabin/hunting shack.
Photos of the firepit and cremains from ShittingPanda: http://imgur.com/a/Mqhat
From UptownDonkey
Hugo Selenski burned a dozen bodies in his yard
http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/bright-larry.htm
A serial killer who prosecutors say burned some of his victims to ash and bits of bone in his backyard pleaded guilty to killing eight women.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Tynesha_Stewart
Prosecutors believe that he disposed of Stewart's body by burning it on his two barbecue grills on the balcony of his second floor apartment. This reportedly took 2–3 days to complete
Here's a rough energy calculation for tires:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MakingaMurderer/comments/40p459/burning_a_body_with_tires_check_my_math/
And another from shvasirons:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MakingaMurderer/comments/41hb4w/burning_bodies_is_very_difficult/cz2g63x
Some notes regarding the smell:
Dennis Nilsen burnt six decomposing and dismembered bodies at once, in a bonfire topped with a tire, with witnesses standing right there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Nilsen
In the late autumn of 1980, Nilsen removed and dissected the bodies of each victim killed since December 1979 and burned them upon a communal bonfire he had constructed on waste ground behind his flat.[61] To disguise the smell of the burning flesh of the six dissected bodies placed upon this pyre, Nilsen crowned the bonfire with an old car tyre. Three neighbourhood children stood to watch this particular bonfire, and Nilsen later wrote in his memoirs that he felt it would have seemed "in order" if he had seen these three children "dancing around a mass funeral pyre".[62] When the bonfire had been reduced to ashes and cinders, Nilsen used a rake to search the debris for any recognisable bones. Noting a skull was still intact,[62] he smashed it to pieces with his rake.
http://www.sott.net/article/185067-Body-burners-The-forensics-of-fire
One thing DeHaan can't describe is the odour, because he has no sense of smell. For this reason, he pays particular attention to other people's descriptions: "There's a complete range, from 'it smells just like barbequing pork ribs', to 'it is the most revolting odour and it stays with you forever'." DeHaan suspects that it is decaying bodies that smell worse when they burn, although he hasn't tested this theory.
http://www.eltonyoga.com/vajrayogini/varanasi-the-luminous-city-part-3-death-on-the-ganges/
"We’re down wind and can feel the heat of the fires and ash. My eyes sting as the air is heavy with the smells of burning wood, incense, and a somewhat disturbingly sweet aroma. "
from misterid
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2007/03/barbyou.html
" Emergency workers and survivors of war atrocities say charred flesh simply smells like nothing else. The scent is nauseating and sweet, putrid and steaky, or something like leather being tanned over a flame. "
Pictures of the burn pit, tangled steel belt wires, van seat, tools
http://i.imgur.com/IGjgGjn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HqBxLMz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8kmjfXo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/jo7P4Ax.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/noeNYBg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/mTh500W.jpg
Avery burn pit aerial view:
http://i.imgur.com/XQtZqkq.png
Pictures of the bones:
Video of one tire burning thanks DrPhilodox
Video of car seat material burning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JknWtNwgUo8
Further reading on cremation:
http://www.sott.net/article/185067-Body-burners-The-forensics-of-fire
from shvasirons:
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/237966.pdf
Recovery and Interpretation of Burned Human Remains (236 pages)
from calipers_reddit
http://www.eltonyoga.com/vajrayogini/varanasi-the-luminous-city-part-3-death-on-the-ganges/
Fairgrieve uses pigs to "mimic human remains" in his cremation research. (Avery trial Day 20 page 190)
Some notes regarding pig cremation:
Fat content of pigs 9.3% - 24.3% :
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8923180
By chemical analysis, the whole body fat content of the pigs ranged from 9.3 to 24.3%
Fat content of an adult woman 21% - 31%:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage#Typical_body_fat_amounts
"The leanest athletes typically compete at levels of about 6–13% for men or 14–20% for women"
Humans have similar but less bone density than pigs ("porcine").
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9449639
" The lowest bone density and fracture stress values were found in the human samples; porcine and canine bone best resembled these samples. "
Detailed pictures of an actual open fire cremation:
Here is an example of a pig cremation (with photos) originally posted by bugdog1 . The pig was 220lbs, was burnt on an open fire with no accelerants and with minimal agitation. It was reduced to ash and bone fragments in 6 hours, judging by the pictures it was almost complete at 4 hours.
http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol37/tbl2.htm
www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol37/burial.pdf
Again, all the experts at trial agree that the bones could have been burned in Avery's burn pit. It's a simple question of time and fuel.
Regarding time, what was Avery's window of opportunity? If he started the fire around 7pm (or earlier) and Bobby gets home from work at around 6am, that would mean he'd have around 11 hours to get the job done. Blaine testifies that the fire was 5 feet high at 11pm (pg 70), and we don't know if Avery was out there all night. The other point was the smell. Does the smell of a burning body overpower the rank stench of burning tires?
With an energy-dense fuel like tires, addition of accelerants like gasoline, very strong motivation, agitation and manual destruction of the body and bones with the tools at hand, and adequate airflow provided by placing the body on the van seat, I think it's possible that Avery could have destroyed a 135 lb human body in far less time than the 4 to 6hrs it took for the 220 lb pig. He certainly could have completed the task in less than 11 hours.
I'm not saying that Avery is guilty, just that it is clearly possible to burn a body in his burn pit or in any other outdoor fire. It's not impossible, it's been done before. Given enough time it could be done in a fireplace or on a BBQ. There is no crematorium required to get the bones in the condition in which they were found. Look at the pictures of the pig cremains. Avery had both the time and the fuel necessary to burn the body and he can't be eliminated as a suspect simply based on the "impossibility" of this task.
Other than Buting's interview in Rolling Stone magazine, and Zellner's Tweets, I welcome any contradictory information. I haven't read through all of the Avery transcripts yet, so if someone has more information please post with a source. Thanks!
Posted Jan 30, 2016, 5:37 PM UTC · edited