CODY WARD
My name is Cody Ward and I live at 42 Chimel Road in Driftwood City. I am 17 years old, and I graduated from Driftwood City High School in August, after completing summer school. I tool Larry Molina’s Honors English Literature course in the spring. Both Anne Marcus and Beck Martin were also in the class. I had studied hard all semester, because I had applied to a number of schools and I awaited hearing about scholarship information. Among the colleges I had been accepted to was Empire University, which honored scholarships from the Distinguished Writers Foundation. I knew that in the past, the top three grades on the honors literature exam received these scholarships and received honors at the graduation ceremony too. My older brother had received the award two years ago, and my sister received the award last year. I really felt like I had to follow in their footsteps. The whole atmosphere of the class was competitive. The students compared their quiz and essay grades with each other. It was intimidating. I know I am a good student, but I still felt
the pressure.
Maybe that explains why I agreed with Beck to cheat on the exam. Beck had a school volunteer service job working in the English department and snooped around to find the extra keys to Molina’s cabinets. One day, probably in early May, Beck came up to me after school and showed me a copy of Molina’s exam. There were
multiple choice and essay questions. I could not believe my eyes. Beck was angry that there were no answers written on it, but told me that the questions gave us an opportunity to prepare in advance. At first, I told Beck to put the exam back. I had already been caught the year before for plagiarism. I had learned my
lesson, or so I thought but Beck was insistent, telling me that I had to go along with it because now I knew too much. I guess I ought not blame Beck. It was my stupid decision to go ahead with Beck’s plan. So, we prepared our answers before the exam and did very well. I suppose we were pretty bold, because on June 6, we started talking about it in the hall at school. Beck was handing me the prepared exam and telling me to get rid of it. I said it was not my job to do that, when Anne Marcus came over to us and grabbed the exam paper. She looked at it and then at us and said, “I can’t believe this!” You guys cheated.” We pleaded with her to keep it quiet and give us the paper back, but she refused. She said she was going to tell the principal about it on Monday if we did not turn ourselves in by then. Then she stuffed the papers in her backpack and threw the backpack into her locker right there. She locked it up and walked away. I felt like we were doomed.
On Sunday, June 8, Beck asked me to drive us down to Ballena Beach to talk with Anne. I thought that would be a complete waste of time, because I knew Anne would not change her mind. But I had nothing else to do, and Beck insisted that we go. On the way there, Beck talked about Anne and became more and more agitated. Beck called Anne a “backstabber” for threatening to turn us in. I was afraid of getting in trouble, but I could see that Anne risked getting in trouble for nut turning us in. I asked Beck what good it would do to
talk to Anne, but Beck would not listen to me.
When we arrived, we hiked up the ridge of the rock face where Anne was climbing. We waited for a couple of minutes, and when Anne reached the ridge, Beck just snapped. Anne was standing there, gathering up the rope when Beck lunged forward and grabbed Anne’s collar. Beck muttered something and made a noise. Then I saw Anne swinging her arms, like she was trying to keep her balance. She yelled and had this terrified look on her face. Before I could do anything, Beck let go of her collar, and the two of them stood there for a few seconds. Anne did not move. Beck dusted off her shoulder and said, “We don’t want you to get hurt, do we?”Then Anne coiled up her rope and said she wanted to leave.
Beck mentioned the exam to her. Beck said, “Let’s go talk about this at the cove.” Anne did not say anything, but just stared at Beck. They started walking together in the direction of the cove, and I followed. I had second thoughts at this point about trying to convince Anne. She seemed determined to turn us in. But before I knew it, the two of them started screaming at each other. I am not sure who screamed first, but it startled me. Beck’s face turned red, and Beck grabbed Anne’s arm. Anne tried to get out of Beck’s grip, but could not do it. So Anne just punched Beck in the shoulder and screamed, “Let me go!” By this time, we were at the tip of the promontory where the trail curved around toward the cove. The two of them would not stop screaming at each other. Beck let go of her arm, but stood there on the ridge between her and me. Beck then pushed her shoulder, and she pushed back. I said, “This is a total waste of time, Beck.” I told them I was going back to my car, rather than watch them beat each other up. They ignored me and walked toward the cove. I turned and headed back to my car. I walked slowly, being careful on the rocky trail.
When I got back, the clock on my dashboard said it was 7:50. I sat in the car and turned on the radio. I sat in the car and turned on the radio. I only got out of the car to go to the restroom once or twice over the next hour or so while I waited for Beck. It was very dark when Beck finally showed up at the car at 9:00 p.m. I asked where Anne was. Beck said, “At least I got one more day out of her.” I assumed this meant that Anne
was not going to tell on us. That seemed odd because the two of them had been fighting so fiercely. Beck seemed angry, and we argued. Beck accused me of ditching them on the ridge, and I accused Beck of keeping me waiting for so long. WE got in the car, and I drove us back to the city. On the way back, I turned on my car’s interior lights to look for something and I noticed a small spot on the inside of Beck’s right wrist. It looked like dried blood. I did not think anything of it at the time. We did not talk at all during the ride home.
Beck still seemed angry and ignored me. I was also fed up with Beck. That kid was always getting me in trouble.
I arrived at school the next day at 11:00 after my doctor’s appointment. A little later, the principal announced Anne’s death. I was shocked and I almost fainted. Just after lunch, around 1:15, I got a note to go to the office. There I saw Officer Kripke and the principal but the principal left the room. The officer talked with me for a few minutes and told me that Anne had turned us in for cheating. I thought I had my college plans all wrapped up, but at that moment I realized my plans were destroyed. I explained that Beck and I had been with Anne at the beach the night before. I told the officer about Beck and Anne’s fight, and that Beck was with her for a long time alone. I remembered the strange stain on Beck’s wrist, and I told the officer about it and that it looked like dried blood. Then the officer thanked me and let me go back to class.
OFFICER LOREN KRIPKE
the pressure.
Maybe that explains why I agreed with Beck to cheat on the exam. Beck had a school volunteer service job working in the English department and snooped around to find the extra keys to Molina’s cabinets. One day, probably in early May, Beck came up to me after school and showed me a copy of Molina’s exam. There were
multiple choice and essay questions. I could not believe my eyes. Beck was angry that there were no answers written on it, but told me that the questions gave us an opportunity to prepare in advance. At first, I told Beck to put the exam back. I had already been caught the year before for plagiarism. I had learned my
lesson, or so I thought but Beck was insistent, telling me that I had to go along with it because now I knew too much. I guess I ought not blame Beck. It was my stupid decision to go ahead with Beck’s plan. So, we prepared our answers before the exam and did very well. I suppose we were pretty bold, because on June 6, we started talking about it in the hall at school. Beck was handing me the prepared exam and telling me to get rid of it. I said it was not my job to do that, when Anne Marcus came over to us and grabbed the exam paper. She looked at it and then at us and said, “I can’t believe this!” You guys cheated.” We pleaded with her to keep it quiet and give us the paper back, but she refused. She said she was going to tell the principal about it on Monday if we did not turn ourselves in by then. Then she stuffed the papers in her backpack and threw the backpack into her locker right there. She locked it up and walked away. I felt like we were doomed.
On Sunday, June 8, Beck asked me to drive us down to Ballena Beach to talk with Anne. I thought that would be a complete waste of time, because I knew Anne would not change her mind. But I had nothing else to do, and Beck insisted that we go. On the way there, Beck talked about Anne and became more and more agitated. Beck called Anne a “backstabber” for threatening to turn us in. I was afraid of getting in trouble, but I could see that Anne risked getting in trouble for nut turning us in. I asked Beck what good it would do to
talk to Anne, but Beck would not listen to me.
When we arrived, we hiked up the ridge of the rock face where Anne was climbing. We waited for a couple of minutes, and when Anne reached the ridge, Beck just snapped. Anne was standing there, gathering up the rope when Beck lunged forward and grabbed Anne’s collar. Beck muttered something and made a noise. Then I saw Anne swinging her arms, like she was trying to keep her balance. She yelled and had this terrified look on her face. Before I could do anything, Beck let go of her collar, and the two of them stood there for a few seconds. Anne did not move. Beck dusted off her shoulder and said, “We don’t want you to get hurt, do we?”Then Anne coiled up her rope and said she wanted to leave.
Beck mentioned the exam to her. Beck said, “Let’s go talk about this at the cove.” Anne did not say anything, but just stared at Beck. They started walking together in the direction of the cove, and I followed. I had second thoughts at this point about trying to convince Anne. She seemed determined to turn us in. But before I knew it, the two of them started screaming at each other. I am not sure who screamed first, but it startled me. Beck’s face turned red, and Beck grabbed Anne’s arm. Anne tried to get out of Beck’s grip, but could not do it. So Anne just punched Beck in the shoulder and screamed, “Let me go!” By this time, we were at the tip of the promontory where the trail curved around toward the cove. The two of them would not stop screaming at each other. Beck let go of her arm, but stood there on the ridge between her and me. Beck then pushed her shoulder, and she pushed back. I said, “This is a total waste of time, Beck.” I told them I was going back to my car, rather than watch them beat each other up. They ignored me and walked toward the cove. I turned and headed back to my car. I walked slowly, being careful on the rocky trail.
When I got back, the clock on my dashboard said it was 7:50. I sat in the car and turned on the radio. I sat in the car and turned on the radio. I only got out of the car to go to the restroom once or twice over the next hour or so while I waited for Beck. It was very dark when Beck finally showed up at the car at 9:00 p.m. I asked where Anne was. Beck said, “At least I got one more day out of her.” I assumed this meant that Anne
was not going to tell on us. That seemed odd because the two of them had been fighting so fiercely. Beck seemed angry, and we argued. Beck accused me of ditching them on the ridge, and I accused Beck of keeping me waiting for so long. WE got in the car, and I drove us back to the city. On the way back, I turned on my car’s interior lights to look for something and I noticed a small spot on the inside of Beck’s right wrist. It looked like dried blood. I did not think anything of it at the time. We did not talk at all during the ride home.
Beck still seemed angry and ignored me. I was also fed up with Beck. That kid was always getting me in trouble.
I arrived at school the next day at 11:00 after my doctor’s appointment. A little later, the principal announced Anne’s death. I was shocked and I almost fainted. Just after lunch, around 1:15, I got a note to go to the office. There I saw Officer Kripke and the principal but the principal left the room. The officer talked with me for a few minutes and told me that Anne had turned us in for cheating. I thought I had my college plans all wrapped up, but at that moment I realized my plans were destroyed. I explained that Beck and I had been with Anne at the beach the night before. I told the officer about Beck and Anne’s fight, and that Beck was with her for a long time alone. I remembered the strange stain on Beck’s wrist, and I told the officer about it and that it looked like dried blood. Then the officer thanked me and let me go back to class.
OFFICER LOREN KRIPKE
My name is Loren Kripke. I am 32 years old and I have been an officer in the Driftwood City Police
Department for five years. In addition to investigative and other police duties, I have been the School Resource Officer (SRO) at Driftwood High for the past three years. I investigated Anne Marcus’ death.
As SRO, I know that most Driftwood High graduates go on to attend college and honor students in advance classes tend to be accepted at some of the country’s top schools. Image is important and classes are competitive. Students are known to taunt, even sabotage, each other to get good grades.
The administration tries to keep a lid on cheating which has become rampant over the past couple of years. An honor system was developed two years ago to educate students about the pitfalls, discourage would-be cheaters, and require students to report incidents of cheating. In the spring of 2002, Cody Ward and Beck
Martin were among the students caught cheating. Both of them received the punishment for a first offense, knowing that a second offense would get them into more serious trouble.
Beck and Cody stood out among the students in their class for both academic and athletic honors. Beck is on the crew team, trained hard and lifted weights. Beck has leadership qualities too, but was known to use them negatively and tended to be sarcastic. Cody has a similar personality, though Cody’s hostility was known
to go beyond sarcasm at times with other students. At the beginning of last year, Cody was stopped from taunting a transfer student. Cody was uncooperative to the point that when the teacher’s back was turned, Cody punched the other student in the chest. Cody was suspended for a day from school, and there was a
parent conference. That year, Cody was disciplined one other time for a similar incident.
Students in Cody or Beck’s type of situation know that if they got in any more similar trouble, they could fail a class and have to repeat the course over the summer. They would not walk across the stage at graduation, and they would lose their chance of receiving the DWF scholarship. All of these factors would probably jeopardize their chances to go to a prestigious college, even if they had been accepted already.
On the morning of Monday, June 9, at approximately 7:00 a.m., I received a call from dispatch that someone had found a body washed up on the shore at Ballena Beach. When I arrived on the scene a few minutes later, I found out that the body was not on the main beach, where I had assumed it would be, but was in a little cove just south of the main beach. When I saw the body, I knew it was just a kid, a girl maybe 16 or 17 years old. There was a small crowd of onlookers that had gathered in the cove, and I had to clear them out of there up to the ridge until the coroners arrived.
I conducted a search of the cove and visually examined the body. One of the first things I noticed were some reddish marks on her wrists. The first thought I had was that she had been bound. She was wearing climbers’ clothes and still had her belt on with utility pouches and some small metal rings, which are called
carabiners. I noticed that there was a ledge of rock a few inches above the sand at the foot of the southern cliff face in the cove. The ledge was about four feet wide, and sparsely covered with sand. It had no tide pools or moisture on it, so it was above the level of high tide that had covered a large portion of the sand early that morning. On this ledge, I also found a small rock that was just big enough to fit into my hand, and it had dried blood on it.
At about 11:30 a.m., the medical examiner (“M.E.”) called me to give a report. The M.E. told me that the deceased was Anne Marcus and that the cause of death was drowning. The M.E. also told me that a forensics test showed that the blood on the rock I had found positively matched the blood of the victim, and that there
was a laceration on the side of her head that was consistent with receiving a blunt force blow to the head.
I was officially assigned to investigate the case and called the high school around 11:30 a.m. and said that Anne Marcus’s body had been found that morning at the cove. I said that the matter was being investigated but that I had no other facts at that time, and made an appointment for 1:00 p.m. in order to get more information about Anne Marcus.
I arrived at the high school and learned about Anne’s school friends and possible enemies by asking routine questions. I learned that Anne was a studious and popular girl. I also learned that Anne had confidentially reported to the administration that an incident of cheating the previous Friday. The cheaters were Beck Martin and Cody Ward and that they both believed that Anne was going to report them on Monday. I also learned that Anne’s locker had been vandalized that morning.
In my conversations with administrators and staff, I learned that everything looked normal at 6:30 in the morning. But during first period Anne Marcus’ locker was found open with the door bent in the middle, and with a cracked combination lock. Papers were reportedly strewn on the floor of the locker, and a backpack inside was turned over and unzipped. Additionally, at about 7:00 a.m., before school started, Beck Martin was seen near the school entrance.
I decided it was a good idea to talk to Beck and Cody about what they knew. Cody arrived first. I asked Cody a few questions. I said that I knew about the cheating and asked if s/he could tell me anything special about Anne. Cody told me that s/he and Beck had talked to Anne at Ballena Beach the previous evening. Cody also mentioned that Beck and Anne had been fighting there, that Cody had left them alone on the trail to the cove, and that Beck did not return until around 9:00 p.m. Cody also mentioned that Beck had a stain on the inside of Beck’s right wrist that looked like blood.
When Cody left the room I asked for Beck. I also said that I wanted to talk to Beck alone. Beck soon arrived and I told Beck that I needed to ask a few questions. I told Beck to sit down and I read the Miranda rights just in case. I used a conversational tone and sat in the principal’s chair so that I would not be standing over Beck. I asked if Beck and Anne Marcus were friends. Almost immediately, Beck said how sad it was that Anne hit her
head and died. I knew that no one else beside myself and the M.E. knew anything about Anne’s head wound. I had not told anyone, even Anne’s parents.
Based on the information I had from the M.E. and conversations with Cody Ward, Beck Martin, and others around school, I had enough evidence to present to a judge for an arrest warrant. I knew that Beck had been alone with Anne Marcus for a substantial time and was the last known person to see her alive. With the
warrant, I arrested Beck Martin later that day.
DR. AIDAN HOBBES
My name is Aidan Hobbes. I earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Middle State University and then went on to Jefferson University Medical School. I graduated from Jefferson with distinction in 1990 and did my residency training at Driftwood City Hospital’s pathology lab before taking a position as an Assistant Coroner for Ocean County. During my first year as a coroner, I was assigned to be director of the forensics serology lab. I am now assistant chief
coroner and have been appointed chairperson to the State Committee for Professional Standards in Forensic Pathology for the last three years. I am also the medical examiner in the death of Anne Marcus.
As part of my initial examination of the body on the beach, I observed several things. Marcus was wearing climber’s garb, a short-sleeved T-shirt, shorts, and shoes. There were ligature marks on her wrists. There was also an injury on her head, just above the left temple, which looked like a laceration. The area around her left eye was swollen, which appeared to me to be the result of some kind of trauma, like getting punched in the eye. At 7:30 p.m. when I examined the body, she was in an advanced state of rigor mortis. Her whole body was stiffened, except for the large muscles in her lower legs. There were some small cuts and bruises, consistent with her being bumped around in the rock surf.
Back at the medical examination lab, I discovered saltwater in Marcus’ lungs. I surmised that Anne had drowned. By the state of rigor mortis of the body, I estimated that she had died sometime between 8:00 p.m. and midnight on June 8. Rigor mortis is a process by which the compounds in the body’s muscles that provide muscular energy are lost. As the heart stops beating and respiration ceases, these compounds lose a necessary supply of exygen and nutrients, and the muscles stiffen. The process starts with the small muscles in the head and neck, and progresses downward to the toes over the course of 8-12 hours for a body of average weight and musculature like that of Anne Marcus. Also, it can take longer in cold temperatures. Marcus died in the ocean and at night when the air temperature drops significantly. Assuming she died at about 8:30 p.m., then she would be in full rigor by 8:30 a.m. the following day. Yet probably because of the cold, her legs generally remained flaccid at the time of my laboratory examination. If she had died only eight hours before her body was found, far fewer of her muscles would be in a state of rigor.
While conducting the autopsy at my lab, I looked more closely at the ligature marks on Marcus’s wrists. In the course of rock climbing, it would be highly unusual for a climber to sustain virtually congruent injuries to both wrists. I would mean the climber would have to hold on to the rope with both hands and then to fall, sustaining almost identical rope burns on both wrists. The chances for this happening are very small, as there is no reason for an experienced climber to make such a gesture. I have seen congruent marks like these in only nine or ten other cases I have dealt with, both as a pathologist and as a student intern. In each of those cases, the victim was tied up by someone else.
I also examined the wound above Marcus’s left temple. I believe the only way she could have sustained this wound would be from some blunt force instrument or object. There is a five centimeter laceration, which tapers at one end. Directly underneath, her skull has a hairline fracture. This is consistent with Marcus’ falling onto the rocks. To sustain a falling injury to the head like this, she would have had to tilt her head dramatically toward her right shoulder in order to connect her temple squarely against the rocks. No one in a falling motion, even from the 25-foot height of the particular cliff in the cove, would have the time or the presence of mind to do so. Moreover, the small rock on which Officer Kripke found the dried blood itself could not have caused the injury if Marcus fell on it unless it was tightly wedged in to a larger rock, which from the officer’s report was not the case.
Therefore, it is in my professional opinion that Anne Marcus was struck on the side of the head and perhaps knocked unconscious as a result, before or after being bound with rope. Her body was thrown or pushed into the surf where she subsequently drowned.
Department for five years. In addition to investigative and other police duties, I have been the School Resource Officer (SRO) at Driftwood High for the past three years. I investigated Anne Marcus’ death.
As SRO, I know that most Driftwood High graduates go on to attend college and honor students in advance classes tend to be accepted at some of the country’s top schools. Image is important and classes are competitive. Students are known to taunt, even sabotage, each other to get good grades.
The administration tries to keep a lid on cheating which has become rampant over the past couple of years. An honor system was developed two years ago to educate students about the pitfalls, discourage would-be cheaters, and require students to report incidents of cheating. In the spring of 2002, Cody Ward and Beck
Martin were among the students caught cheating. Both of them received the punishment for a first offense, knowing that a second offense would get them into more serious trouble.
Beck and Cody stood out among the students in their class for both academic and athletic honors. Beck is on the crew team, trained hard and lifted weights. Beck has leadership qualities too, but was known to use them negatively and tended to be sarcastic. Cody has a similar personality, though Cody’s hostility was known
to go beyond sarcasm at times with other students. At the beginning of last year, Cody was stopped from taunting a transfer student. Cody was uncooperative to the point that when the teacher’s back was turned, Cody punched the other student in the chest. Cody was suspended for a day from school, and there was a
parent conference. That year, Cody was disciplined one other time for a similar incident.
Students in Cody or Beck’s type of situation know that if they got in any more similar trouble, they could fail a class and have to repeat the course over the summer. They would not walk across the stage at graduation, and they would lose their chance of receiving the DWF scholarship. All of these factors would probably jeopardize their chances to go to a prestigious college, even if they had been accepted already.
On the morning of Monday, June 9, at approximately 7:00 a.m., I received a call from dispatch that someone had found a body washed up on the shore at Ballena Beach. When I arrived on the scene a few minutes later, I found out that the body was not on the main beach, where I had assumed it would be, but was in a little cove just south of the main beach. When I saw the body, I knew it was just a kid, a girl maybe 16 or 17 years old. There was a small crowd of onlookers that had gathered in the cove, and I had to clear them out of there up to the ridge until the coroners arrived.
I conducted a search of the cove and visually examined the body. One of the first things I noticed were some reddish marks on her wrists. The first thought I had was that she had been bound. She was wearing climbers’ clothes and still had her belt on with utility pouches and some small metal rings, which are called
carabiners. I noticed that there was a ledge of rock a few inches above the sand at the foot of the southern cliff face in the cove. The ledge was about four feet wide, and sparsely covered with sand. It had no tide pools or moisture on it, so it was above the level of high tide that had covered a large portion of the sand early that morning. On this ledge, I also found a small rock that was just big enough to fit into my hand, and it had dried blood on it.
At about 11:30 a.m., the medical examiner (“M.E.”) called me to give a report. The M.E. told me that the deceased was Anne Marcus and that the cause of death was drowning. The M.E. also told me that a forensics test showed that the blood on the rock I had found positively matched the blood of the victim, and that there
was a laceration on the side of her head that was consistent with receiving a blunt force blow to the head.
I was officially assigned to investigate the case and called the high school around 11:30 a.m. and said that Anne Marcus’s body had been found that morning at the cove. I said that the matter was being investigated but that I had no other facts at that time, and made an appointment for 1:00 p.m. in order to get more information about Anne Marcus.
I arrived at the high school and learned about Anne’s school friends and possible enemies by asking routine questions. I learned that Anne was a studious and popular girl. I also learned that Anne had confidentially reported to the administration that an incident of cheating the previous Friday. The cheaters were Beck Martin and Cody Ward and that they both believed that Anne was going to report them on Monday. I also learned that Anne’s locker had been vandalized that morning.
In my conversations with administrators and staff, I learned that everything looked normal at 6:30 in the morning. But during first period Anne Marcus’ locker was found open with the door bent in the middle, and with a cracked combination lock. Papers were reportedly strewn on the floor of the locker, and a backpack inside was turned over and unzipped. Additionally, at about 7:00 a.m., before school started, Beck Martin was seen near the school entrance.
I decided it was a good idea to talk to Beck and Cody about what they knew. Cody arrived first. I asked Cody a few questions. I said that I knew about the cheating and asked if s/he could tell me anything special about Anne. Cody told me that s/he and Beck had talked to Anne at Ballena Beach the previous evening. Cody also mentioned that Beck and Anne had been fighting there, that Cody had left them alone on the trail to the cove, and that Beck did not return until around 9:00 p.m. Cody also mentioned that Beck had a stain on the inside of Beck’s right wrist that looked like blood.
When Cody left the room I asked for Beck. I also said that I wanted to talk to Beck alone. Beck soon arrived and I told Beck that I needed to ask a few questions. I told Beck to sit down and I read the Miranda rights just in case. I used a conversational tone and sat in the principal’s chair so that I would not be standing over Beck. I asked if Beck and Anne Marcus were friends. Almost immediately, Beck said how sad it was that Anne hit her
head and died. I knew that no one else beside myself and the M.E. knew anything about Anne’s head wound. I had not told anyone, even Anne’s parents.
Based on the information I had from the M.E. and conversations with Cody Ward, Beck Martin, and others around school, I had enough evidence to present to a judge for an arrest warrant. I knew that Beck had been alone with Anne Marcus for a substantial time and was the last known person to see her alive. With the
warrant, I arrested Beck Martin later that day.
DR. AIDAN HOBBES
My name is Aidan Hobbes. I earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Middle State University and then went on to Jefferson University Medical School. I graduated from Jefferson with distinction in 1990 and did my residency training at Driftwood City Hospital’s pathology lab before taking a position as an Assistant Coroner for Ocean County. During my first year as a coroner, I was assigned to be director of the forensics serology lab. I am now assistant chief
coroner and have been appointed chairperson to the State Committee for Professional Standards in Forensic Pathology for the last three years. I am also the medical examiner in the death of Anne Marcus.
As part of my initial examination of the body on the beach, I observed several things. Marcus was wearing climber’s garb, a short-sleeved T-shirt, shorts, and shoes. There were ligature marks on her wrists. There was also an injury on her head, just above the left temple, which looked like a laceration. The area around her left eye was swollen, which appeared to me to be the result of some kind of trauma, like getting punched in the eye. At 7:30 p.m. when I examined the body, she was in an advanced state of rigor mortis. Her whole body was stiffened, except for the large muscles in her lower legs. There were some small cuts and bruises, consistent with her being bumped around in the rock surf.
Back at the medical examination lab, I discovered saltwater in Marcus’ lungs. I surmised that Anne had drowned. By the state of rigor mortis of the body, I estimated that she had died sometime between 8:00 p.m. and midnight on June 8. Rigor mortis is a process by which the compounds in the body’s muscles that provide muscular energy are lost. As the heart stops beating and respiration ceases, these compounds lose a necessary supply of exygen and nutrients, and the muscles stiffen. The process starts with the small muscles in the head and neck, and progresses downward to the toes over the course of 8-12 hours for a body of average weight and musculature like that of Anne Marcus. Also, it can take longer in cold temperatures. Marcus died in the ocean and at night when the air temperature drops significantly. Assuming she died at about 8:30 p.m., then she would be in full rigor by 8:30 a.m. the following day. Yet probably because of the cold, her legs generally remained flaccid at the time of my laboratory examination. If she had died only eight hours before her body was found, far fewer of her muscles would be in a state of rigor.
While conducting the autopsy at my lab, I looked more closely at the ligature marks on Marcus’s wrists. In the course of rock climbing, it would be highly unusual for a climber to sustain virtually congruent injuries to both wrists. I would mean the climber would have to hold on to the rope with both hands and then to fall, sustaining almost identical rope burns on both wrists. The chances for this happening are very small, as there is no reason for an experienced climber to make such a gesture. I have seen congruent marks like these in only nine or ten other cases I have dealt with, both as a pathologist and as a student intern. In each of those cases, the victim was tied up by someone else.
I also examined the wound above Marcus’s left temple. I believe the only way she could have sustained this wound would be from some blunt force instrument or object. There is a five centimeter laceration, which tapers at one end. Directly underneath, her skull has a hairline fracture. This is consistent with Marcus’ falling onto the rocks. To sustain a falling injury to the head like this, she would have had to tilt her head dramatically toward her right shoulder in order to connect her temple squarely against the rocks. No one in a falling motion, even from the 25-foot height of the particular cliff in the cove, would have the time or the presence of mind to do so. Moreover, the small rock on which Officer Kripke found the dried blood itself could not have caused the injury if Marcus fell on it unless it was tightly wedged in to a larger rock, which from the officer’s report was not the case.
Therefore, it is in my professional opinion that Anne Marcus was struck on the side of the head and perhaps knocked unconscious as a result, before or after being bound with rope. Her body was thrown or pushed into the surf where she subsequently drowned.