Forensic Dentistry, Second Edition

(Barré) #1
Bitemarks 307

14.1.1.1.2 1692, Salem Witch Trials, Reverend George Burroughs Rev-
erend George Burroughs was accused of practicing witchcraft involving,
in part, the biting of the subjects he was allegedly inducing into the craft.
Although he was in prison at the time of the alleged attacks, the bitemarks
were judged to have been made by Burroughs’s specter. A specter is defined
by Merriam-Webster as a visible disembodied spirit.^2 “Biting was one of the
ways which the Witches used for the vexing of the Sufferers, when they cry’d
out of G. B. biting them, the print of the Teeth would be seen on the Flesh of
the Complainers, and just such a sett of Teeth as G. B’s would then appear
upon them, which could be distinguished from those of some other mens”
(Cotton Mather in Burr^3 ). Burroughs’s mouth was reportedly pried open in
court and his teeth were said to match the bitemarks. Burroughs was con-
victed, sentenced to death, and hanged.
The above examples notwithstanding, there were other early cases that
indicate that bitemark evidence was recognized and utilized in Europe, Asia,
and North America, with cases cited in France, Belgium, England, Scotland,
Japan, Canada, and the United States. These cases included bitemarks in
foodstuffs, other inanimate items, and human skin. Many of the same argu-
ments that are offered in modern cases were argued by both prosecution and
defense teams in those cases.^4

14.1.1.2 Twentieth Century
Presaging a later, more well-known case, a 1906 burglary case in County
Cumberland in northern England featured a piece of cheese allegedly bitten
by one of two accused burglars. Impressions were made and casts compared
to the cheese. The teeth of one of the two accused men were judged to “fit” the
bitemark in the cheese, leading to a conviction.^5 Although there were rela-
tively few bitemark cases reported in the first half of the century, the latter half
of the twentieth century saw a rapid increase in the number of criminal cases
for which the analysis of bitemarks played an important role as an element
of the prosecution’s case. Some of the most note worthy twentieth-century
cases are listed here in chronological order and will be discussed in more
detail in the next sections: Doyle v. State (Texas), 1954—burglary; Public
Prosecutor v. Torgersen (Oslo, Norway), 1958—murder of Rigmor Johnsen;
Scotland v. Hay (Biggar, Scotland), 1967—murder of Linda Peacock; People
(Illinois) v. Johnson, 1972—rape and aggravated battery; People (California)
v. Marx, 1975—murder of Lovey Benovsky; People (Illinois) v. Milone,
1976—murder of Sally Kandel; People (Florida) v. Stewart, 1979—murder of
Margaret Hazlip; People (Florida) v. Bundy, 1979—murder of Lisa Levy and
Margaret Bowman; People (Florida) v. Bundy, 1980—murder of Kimberley
Leach; People (Oklahoma) v. Wilhoit, 1987—murder of Kathryn Wilhoit;
People (Michigan) v. Moldowan and Cristini, 1991—kidnapping and rape

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