The Girl in the Leaves (7 page)

TWELVE

A Scene of Horror

Special Agent Gary Wilgus of BCI&I met with Agents Ed Lulla and Ed Carlini at Tina’s
residence at 1:00
PM
on Friday, November 12, 2010. Sheriff David Barber was there also, along with Detective
Sergeant Roger Brown and several deputies who were securing the scene. The BCI&I agents
and Detective Sergeant Brown put protective coverings over their shoes and entered
the house.

Wilgus was briefed by the other agents, and his job would now be to examine the blood-spatter
patterns while Agents Lulla and Carlini processed Stephanie Sprang’s Jeep Cherokee,
which was still parked in the garage.

Agent Wilgus was a bloodstain expert, and early in his report he defined the terms
he would be using to describe his findings. A “bloodstain” was a deposit of blood
on a surface. An “altered stain” was a bloodstain with characteristics that indicated
a physical change had occurred. A “blood drop” was a volume of blood of sufficient
weight to overcome its surface tension and fall free from the mass of blood from which
it was formed.

Wilgus defined a “drip stain” as a bloodstain resulting from a falling drop that formed
due to gravity. And an “impact pattern” was a bloodstain pattern resulting from an
object striking liquid blood. A “perimeter stain” was an altered stain that consisted
of the peripheral characteristics of the original stain. A “saturation stain” was
a bloodstain resulting from the accumulation of liquid blood in an absorbent material.

A “spatter stain” consisted of a bloodstain resulting from a blood drop dispersed
through the air due to an external force applied to a source of liquid blood, as might
result, for example, from someone being struck by a heavy object. A “swipe pattern”
was a bloodstain pattern resulting from the transfer of blood from a blood-bearing
surface onto another surface, with characteristics that indicated relative motion
between the two surfaces. “Transfer patterns” were contact bloodstains created as
a result of compression or lateral movement of a bloody surface against a second surface.
And a “wipe pattern” was an altered bloodstain pattern resulting from an object moving
through a preexisting wet bloodstain.

The different types of bloodstain patterns had important meaning to someone as trained
as Special Agent Wilgus. The patterns could tell him to a great degree what had happened
in certain locations, and enabled him to reconstruct a chain of events.

Agent Wilgus went to the vinyl foyer floor inside the front door and began to note
different bloodstains there. He carefully looked at “several patterns of interest”
on the vinyl floor area at the entrance. The first, and largest, of the stains was
a transfer pattern found immediately in front of the door, and there were perimeter
stains located at the southeast corner of the vinyl floor. He also picked up a wipe
pattern after using Leuco Crystal Violet, or LCV.

The transfer pattern was consistent with a bloodstained object having come into contact
with the floor. The pattern was ten inches long and six inches wide. Also scattered
on the vinyl floor were blood drops that appeared to be altered or diluted, more transparent
than typical blood drops.

Moving on to the carpeted area of the living room, just south of the front door, Wilgus
noticed a large saturation stain of suspected blood and possibly motor oil. Surrounding
this were drops of blood and motor oil on the perimeter. The saturation stain was
large, covering a two-by-two-foot area. “The saturation stain was sufficiently large
enough to suggest that the bleeding individual remained at that location for a period
of time before being moved,” Wilgus noted.

In addition to the blood and motor oil, Wilgus noticed that bleach appeared to have
been used on some areas of the carpet. Cleaning bottles left nearby suggested that
the attacker had attempted to clean up or hide the blood on the carpet but had eventually
given up. The area of the carpeting with the saturation stain was cut out and collected
as evidence.

Wilgus also noted several spatter stains on the west wall of the living room. Their
height ranged from forty-five inches to six feet above the floor, and stretched across
the wall for about forty-eight inches.

Leading from the large saturation stain on the living room carpet was a swipe pattern
consistent with an object, such as a body, being dragged. This pattern led from the
saturation stain, down the hallway, to the entrance of the bathroom.

Moving on to Tina’s bedroom, Wilgus found another saturation stain of blood covered
over by motor oil, on the carpet. Wilgus noted, “The saturation stain was large enough
to suggest that the bleeding individual remained at the location for a period of time
before being moved.” The wording was the same for this next supposed victim as it
had been for a supposed victim in the front room. This carpeting was also cut out
and collected as evidence.

In this bedroom there was also a comforter with a blood saturation stain, again covered
over by motor oil. It was found lying on the floor near the northeast corner of the
bed. An apparent impact pattern was spattered on the dresser and closet doors of the
bedroom. The pattern radiated from the south to the north, and originated somewhere
near the nightstand between the dresser and bed.

A swipe pattern consistent with a bloodstained object being dragged and motor oil
being poured over the swipe stain led from the bedroom, down the hallway and into
the bathroom.

In the hallway the transfer pattern and swipe patterns were consistent with bloodstained
fabric, most likely from a gloved hand, coming in contact with the wall. The pattern
was about fifty-eight inches above the floor.

In Sarah’s bedroom Wilgus found yet another large saturation stain. From the saturation
stain a swipe pattern led through the bedroom, down the hallway, to the bathroom.
This too was consistent with an object being dragged, perhaps a body. And on the west
side of the swipe pattern, there were shoe prints consistent with tennis shoes, left
in motor oil. These may well have been impressions left by an assailant.

On the north wall of Sarah’s bedroom, an impact pattern covered one wall and curtain.
The pattern radiated from west to east, and the impact occurred close to the wall,
approximately twenty to forty inches above the floor. On Sarah’s bedroom door, someone
had left blood transfer patterns on the exterior of the door.

It was in the bathroom, however, where Wilgus discovered the most bloodstains in various
forms. “The bathtub and shower walls of the main bathroom on the first floor of the
home exhibited a large amount of blood,” he reported. “The stains consisted of transfer
patterns and spatter stains. A significant amount of the blood appeared to be altered
by water. Intermixed within the patterns were pieces of apparent body fat. On the
top edges of the tub and the toilet, which was also blood covered, were apparent fabric
prints in blood.”

Given the scope of all these bloodstains and spatter, it would take Special Agent
Wilgus and later BCI&I Special Agent Daniel Winterich, who joined him, a great deal
of time to tabulate and categorize every stain.

Moving on, Wilgus noted on the east wall of the stairwell to the basement, a spatter
stain above the third step from the bottom of the stairs. This blood was not altered
or diluted with anything.

At the bottom of the basement stairs, however, on the vinyl floor, there were circular
drops of blood that were altered or diluted. And near the Jeep in the garage were
blood drops with “spines” that indicated that the blood drop had a lateral movement
toward the west wall of the garage. Spines on blood drops generally notated some kind
of movement by an individual.

Other blood drops were found here and there on the garage floor. Some had been altered
or diluted, and others had not. On the inside of the garage door was a blood transfer
pattern where it appeared that someone’s gloved hand had made the transfer.

* * *

One of Wilgus’s most important findings was the shoe-print patterns that had been
left, in blood, motor oil or a combination of both, throughout the house. One set
of patterns was very distinctive: the prints were shaped like “lobster claws.” Wilgus
noted, “The pattern was repetitive and consistent in size and shape. Believing they
were from a lug of a shoe or boot, we identified some of the most well-defined patterns
and cut them from the carpeting.” These prints were a key piece of evidence because
they might have come from the assailant’s shoe or boot.

The best of these patterns was found near the doorway of the northwest bedroom and
in the hallway just outside that bedroom door. In addition to these shoe prints, there
were also similar shoe prints left in blood near the toilet of the main bathroom.
The pattern of the sole appeared to have solid circles connected by a line. These
shoe prints were photographed, and the agents even collected the actual vinyl flooring
near the toilet as evidence.

Using magnetic fingerprint powder, Wilgus and Winterich discovered even more of this
distinctive shoe pattern leading from the bathroom to the garage. From the master
bedroom the agents collected and catalogued an acetate sheet with hair on it, as well
as bloodstained bedding and comforters, and a shoe box. From Sarah’s room the agents
lifted a shoe impression on the carpet, unknown tissue found on a toy bear, and what
looked to be an impression left by the perpetrator in some blood.

A shoe print also thought to be from the perpetrator was found in the hallway, and
cloth gloves were found in the living room. The agents surmised that the perpetrator
may have used these gloves since there were indications of blood and other material
on them.

In another of the shoe impressions, the agents were able to discern the brand name
“Airwalk.” It was from a size seven-and-a-half shoe. A further search of the house
revealed that all the women’s shoes in the master bedroom closet were size eight.
All the shoes in Sarah’s closet were size seven and a half. It was deduced that the
shoe impression came from Sarah.

One of the agents wrote in his report, “Due to the impressions being in the oil-like
substance, it was believed that the wearer of the shoes was upright and walking through
the crime scene, stepped in the oil and then walked onto the linoleum floor.” In other
words, it looked as if the girl in the residence, Sarah Maynard, had not been killed
there but had instead walked on the linoleum surface to the garage area. Just what
happened to her after that, however, they did not know. But this was a very important
bit of information—there was a possibility she was still alive.

A second person’s shoe-impression design was also revealed as a result of the magnetic
fingerprint powder being applied to the linoleum floor. This caused a problem. Had
there been a second assailant in the house, or had that impression been left by one
of the detectives who had been in the house earlier in the day? Or could it have even
been from Valerie Haythorn, who’d first entered the house? This second “suspect” shoe
impression was covered with craft paper to preserve it until all of the KCSO officers’
shoes, and Valerie Haythorn’s, could be examined and ruled out.

In addition to the many, many bloodstains covering the bathroom, especially around
the toilet and tub, the detectives found and seized a Nokia cell phone and case from
the bathroom floor. There were also gloves found in the bathroom sink as well as a
box of trash bags. This was a second set of gloves in addition to the pair already
found. These gloves were cloth as well. Other items in the bathroom included Clorox
bathroom cleaner, a bottle of Shout left in the bathroom sink, and Solutions cleaner,
as well as four toothbrushes. Two more partial shoe impressions were lifted from the
bathroom floor. Shoe impressions were also lifted near the front door and near the
top of the stairs.

The agents took swabs from all over the house in hopes of picking up fingerprints
and other key evidence. These included swabs from the bathroom sink handles, the basement
doorknob, two Samsung cell phones, the hallway wall, the spatter on Sarah’s bedroom
wall, and the side of the bathtub.

A break in the processing came for Agents Winterich and Wilgus at around 9:45
PM
. They, along with Detective Sergeant Brown, went up the street on Magers Drive to
check on a tip about Stephanie Sprang’s boyfriend Ronald Metcalf having recently dug
a hole in their yard.

From a neighbor’s yard, all three men saw a freshly dug area that was approximately
twelve inches in diameter. Winterich noted, “Metcalf was interviewed about the hole
and stated [that one of the children’s] pet rabbit had died and that he buried it
in a cardboard box. He completed a written consent form, and Agent Wilgus and I dug
up the box and confirmed that it was a rabbit. We cleared, returned back to the crime
scene, and continued to assist with the crime scene investigation.”

Stephanie’s Jeep Cherokee, which had been found in Tina’s garage, was also thoroughly
searched and catalogued, including swabs from stains on the edge of the front seat,
rear passenger seat, passenger-side rocker panel and doorknobs. It was the garage
itself, however, that gave up some of the most important clues yet.

The first was a bloody shoe impression in the garage that was determined to have most
likely
not
come from the perpetrator. It was small in size and probably the shoe imprint of
a child. The investigators wondered whether this shoe imprint had been left there
by Kody or by Sarah; if so, one of them might still be alive.

The second clue was a sudden flash of good police work. Detective David Light noted
that, “In the garage, officers located a Walmart bag that contained several tarps
and an opened bag of 55 gallon heavy duty trash bags.” The detectives surmised that
the perpetrator might’ve brought those items himself to the crime scene. Judging by
the amount of blood in the bathroom, especially in the bathtub, the detectives posited
that the perpetrator might have carved up one or more bodies in the bathtub and then
placed the body parts within the heavy trash bags. Then he might have driven away
with the body-filled bags to some unknown location, while leaving the unused trash
bags behind in the garage.