10x06 - Headquarters

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: what can a skull
tell you about a person's life,

And can their bones reveal how
they died?

A forensic artist, an
anthropologist, and a

Global positioning satellite
would tell more about this

Victim than anyone could ever
imagine.

Yellow house canyon is 200 acres
of very rough terrain just

Outside the city limits of
lubbock, texas.

In 1870, it's where the
comanche indians exchanged their

Prisoners for horses.


Known for something else when

Some hunters found what looked
to be a human skull.

We treat it as a crime scene,
making the assumption that it is

Going to be a homicide.

Narrator: nearby were bits of
clothing and a woman's shoe.

Police sifted through the dirt
and found some smaller bones and

A strand of hair.

Forensic anthropologist
dr. Harrell gill-king estimated

The bones had been exposed to
the elements for over a year.

One piece of bone at the bottom
of the spine called the sacrum

Indicated the victim was female.

The shape of the sacrum in
females is distinctive.

It's much more flared.

It's all part of the birth --
difference between females

Giving birth and males not.

Narrator: the shape of the
skull suggested the victim was

Caucasian, and the cranial
sutures were not yet closed,

Meaning the victim was young,
between 18 and 24.

The anthropologist also found
evidence of knife wounds.

I think we had one to the
shoulder blade, six to the

Vertebra, and then another 4 or


Discovered and mapped into the
cut map.

Narrator: dr. Gill-king ruled
the manner of death to be

Homicidal v*olence.

When word got out that a young
woman had been m*rder*d in

Yellow house canyon, calls
started to pour in.

One woman came up and said
that she knew her husband had

Done it because he was a knife
freak and said, "oh, by the way,

We're having a custody battle
tomorrow.

Can you give me a copy of this
report for my lawyer?"

Narrator: investigators
checked the dental records of 64

Young women reported missing
throughout the united states,

And none of them matched.

So investigators asked forensic
artist karen taylor to try to

Put a face on the skull.

Granted, it's a sort of a
last-ditch effort when the

Forensic artist is called in.

The job of the forensic artist
is to trigger interest, to

Create that link.

I often refer to it as being the
middleman.

At that point, she was my
best hope.

In fact, she was about our only
hope.

We were just about out of things
to do.

Narrator: taylor pioneered a
technique called "2-dimensional

Facial reconstruction," which is
part science and part art.

Each race has facial skin which
is different than other races.

Using known scientific data,
taylor applied rubber markers to

Approximate the facial-tissue
thickness of a caucasian.

The tissue thickness varies
on our faces.

If you feel on your own face,
it's much thicker down in this

Cheek or chin area and much
thinner up on the forehead, so

We cut and apply rubber markers
to those landmarks, and that

Helps give a guideline as a
starting place to create the

Contours of the face.

Narrator: taylor then
photographed the skull and

Placed a piece of translucent
vellum on top of the picture.

She then used her talent and
forensic expertise to illustrate

Her most prominent features.

The average human eyeball is
about 25 centimeters in

Diameter.

It just so happens to be the
size of a u.s. Quarter, so i,

In drawing, will lay a quarter
down within the aperture and

Trace around it.

Narrator: the nose and ears
are more difficult to

Approximate since they are made
of cartilage and had decomposed,

But research shows that a
caucasian female's nose has skin

That extends roughly 1/5 of an
inch to each side of the nasal

Cavity.

The nose particularly struck
me because I could see a marked

Asymmetry at the base of the
nasal aperture, the nasal

Opening.

It slanted to one side at the
bottom, and I learned through

Experience of previous cases
that that would probably show up

In life.

Narrator: investigators found
a single red hair in the soil

Near the bones, which taylor
used as her guide.

That was a very good clue for
me, but I made it

Interpretable -- not blond blond
and not dark dark but somewhere

In the middle, and I made a
similar decision with the eye

Color.

Narrator: when finished, the
drawing was released to the

Media throughout the state of
texas.

Investigators hoped someone
would recognize her.

Narrator: it was like most
other days in beverly tillery's

Life -- having her morning cup
of coffee and scanning the

Newspaper before going to work.

But the forensic drawing of the
unidentified woman found in

Yellow house canyon immediately
caught her eye.

If you'll look at the
pictures of my children, you'll

See that they all have
practically the same jawline and

The same cheek structure.

It's kind of a square-type
thing.

Narrator: beverly was
convinced it was her 17-year-old

Daughter, belynda, who had been
missing for more than a year.

She showed me the paper, and
she asked me if I thought that

Looked like belynda, you know,
and the more I sat there and

Looked at it, I said, "yeah,
it's got a lot of her

Characteristics."

Narrator: dental records
confirmed what the family

Suspected.

The skull was belynda's.

At the time of her
disappearance, belynda worked as

A dancer at a local nightclub
owned by a g*ng called

The bandidos.

They're an outlaw motorcycle
g*ng.

They're into everything.

The people that frequent their
clubs are generally the same

Type of people, so the fact that
belynda tillery was working

There would not be a good thing.

After I heard belynda's name,
I drove down to the bar where

She worked to see if anyone
would talk to me about who she

Was so I'd have more than just a
name to go on 6 inches of

Newsprint.

Narrator: but no one at the
club was willing to talk.

Man selling tickets -- he
certainly didn't know anyone

Named belynda.

If this wasn't bleak enough, a
woman came from the back, also a

Staff member at the
establishment, and began to say

The same thing he had said, just
in a much more emphatic way.

Narrator: according to
belynda's family, belynda danced

At the club on the night she
disappeared.

Her brother had given her a ride
home.

The last time I spoke to my
sister, she wasn't feeling well.

I just assumed she went to
sleep, so I just went upstairs,

And I'd had a couple of drinks
myself earlier in the evening,

So I was feeling kind of good,
too, so I went upstairs to lay

Down.

Narrator: but the next
morning, belynda was gone and

Hadn't left a note.

Belynda's family told police why
she hadn't been feeling well

Lately.

She kept getting sick, and we
took her to the doctor and found

Out that she was pregnant, and
in the very beginning, you know,

Like, the first week or so, she
was kind of stunned about it,

But, like I say, that's what
caused her to change and want to

Settle down and be the daughter
her mother wanted to raise, you

Know?

Narrator: belynda had plans
to return to school, get her

Diploma, find a better-paying
job so she could raise her child

Properly.

Belynda's family believed the
baby's father was her

Ex-boyfriend, troy armstrong.

Drank too much.

He was much older.

He was 10 years older than her.

I wasn't really enthused with
him.

He was older than me.

I'm like, "this can't be right.

And, of course, I didn't want to
openly criticize belynda --

"What are you thinking?"
He had a long history of just

Small, petty crimes -- very
transient, lived in his cars,

Lived with friends, had a
narcotic habit.

Narrator: when police tried
to interview armstrong, they

Discovered he had left town
months earlier.

He was reported to be living
in roswell, new mexico.

I drove to roswell, spent two
days looking for him, and was

Not able to find him.

Narrator: but they were able
to track down his current

Girlfriend, angela allen.

She said she loved him.

As they stayed together awhile,
he became more and more abusive,

And eventually he beat her up a
couple of times, best I recall.

Narrator: angela said she
knew all about belynda.

I'd heard a couple of
messages on an answering

Machine.

One of them was that she was
pregnant and she needed to talk

To him about it.

Narrator: angela told police
that she and armstrong ran into

Belynda in a local bar shortly
before she disappeared and there

Was a confrontation.

She wanted to see him to
clarify the fact that she was

Gonna raise this child herself
and it was hers no matter who it

Belonged to.

Narrator: angela told
investigators she ended her

Relationship with armstrong when
she learned belynda was

Pregnant.

I told him that he needed to
go talk to her.

If she wanted an abortion, he
needed to pay for it.

If she wanted to have the baby,
he needed to support her in

That, you know -- no matter what
her decision was, that he needed

To be a part of it and help her
take care of the problem he was

Involved in or else I really
didn't want anything to do with

Him.

He needed to get the hell out of
my life.

Narrator: angela gave police
several items armstrong had left

With her before he left the
area, among them a large knife.

Police asked forensic experts
whether this was the m*rder

w*apon.

The answer was, "maybe."

In my experience, people who
attempt to match a particular

Knife to an injury venture a
little too far from the shores

Of sanity.

Over time, the bones tend to
warp, and the wounds change a

Little bit.

Narrator: nevertheless,
investigators needed to find

Troy armstrong to ask what he
knew about belynda's

Disappearance.

Narrator: forensic artist
karen taylor was able to put a

Face on the skull found in
yellow house canyon, which, in

Turn, led to the discovery that
it was 17-year-old

Belynda tillery.

Her ex-boyfriend, 27-year-old
troy armstrong, was the prime

Suspect, but investigators had
no idea where he was.

Angela allen had dated armstrong
after belynda did and was

Initially reluctant to help
police.

I had to talk to angela two
or three times, and every time

I'd talk to her, I'd get a
little more information.

I knew the second that I
started helping the police I was

Putting myself in danger.

Narrator: eventually, angela
told police that when armstrong

Learned about belynda's
pregnancy, he invited belynda to

Go camping with him in
yellow house canyon so the two

Could discuss the pregnancy.

Angela said armstrong acted
suspiciously when he returned

From yellow house canyon.

He showed up on my doorstep
on his return trip, and he had

Blood on his hands, and there
was a cut on his hand.

Narrator: armstrong said he
accidentally cut his hand during

The camping trip.

There was no reason for me
not to believe it, you know?

He was telling somebody else
without using the exact words

That he k*lled her.

You have the location where the
body was found, you have a

Method that he had blood on his
hands, which obviously means

That she wasn't shot.

It means it had to be a close
physical attack as with a knife.

He was pretty cocky about the
whole thing -- pretty much did

Not make it any big secret that
he had k*lled her.

Narrator: when angela learned
that belynda's body was

Discovered in yellow house
canyon, she knew the truth.

I think it was one of the
first things that came out of my

Mouth was, "he really did k*ll
her, didn't he?"

That was whenever it all hit --
that everything was real, and he

Really could have done
something, you know, to me, my

Family, anybody.

Narrator: as the
circumstantial evidence mounted,

Police issued a warrant for
armstrong's arrest, but they

Didn't know where he was.

Angela allen told police that
troy's best friend worked in

California for a trucking
company and suggested they look

For him there.

I wanted to make sure he was
caught.

I was very much up on that.

Narrator: police asked
trucking-company officials for

The location of troy's friend.

Fortunately, they knew exactly
where he was because every one

Of their trucks was equipped
with a global positioning

System, or gps.

When detective watson heard
that the truck had a gps in

It, back then, you know, he was
like me -- "g.p. What?

What does that do?"
Narrator: 24 satellites orbit

The earth, tracking vehicles,
boats, and even airplanes that

Are equipped with a gps
receiver.

It's just like leaving a
trail of bread crumbs behind so

That when you look at it on a
map, you see a trail of dots

Representing the path of travel
of that vehicle.

Narrator: the gps satellite
tracked the moving truck driven

By armstrong's friend as it made
its way through nebraska.

They were giving me the
information in real time.

Kept him on the phone.

I notified
the nebraska highway patrol what

I was doing -- asked them if
they could attempt to locate

This truck as it was approaching
york, nebraska.

Narrator: within a few hours,
nebraska police set up a

Roadblock and stopped the truck.

They asked the driver if he knew
of armstrong's whereabouts.

Much to their surprise, they
found armstrong hiding in the

Truck's sleeper compartment.

I had no concrete evidence.

I just knew that he was an
acquaintance of this driver and

That he had been riding with him
at some point.

Narrator: troy armstrong was
arrested and charged with

Belynda's m*rder.

He's got these beady little
eyes that makes you feel uneasy.

Looks like a rat, smells like a
rat -- pretty much gonna be rat,

And he had "rat" written on him
from the beginning.

Narrator: armstrong insisted
he had nothing to do with

Belynda's m*rder, but among
armstrong's possessions was the

Key to a storage locker.

Inside that storage locker were
items armstrong couldn't

Possibly explain why they were
there.

Narrator: when troy armstrong
was arrested for

Belynda tillery's m*rder, he had
a key to a rental storage locker

In new mexico.

Inside were belynda's personal
belongings.

They were the type of
personal items that she most

Likely would have been carrying
the night that she was k*lled --

A driver's license and other
things that she would have had

In her possession after leaving
her employment at the nightclub.

Narrator: prosecutors
believed troy armstrong had no

Interest in supporting
belynda tillery's baby.

They say he was angry that his
new girlfriend, angela allen,

Ended their relationship when
she learned of belynda's

Pregnancy.

Prosecutors uncovered evidence
that armstrong borrowed sleeping

Bags and camping equipment from
a friend, then asked belynda to

Go camping with him so they
could discuss her pregnancy.

Later that night, troy picked up
belynda at her home and went to

Yellow house canyon.

Once there, prosecutors believe
they argued and the situation

Turned violent.

The forensic evidence suggests
belynda was stabbed over a

Dozen times in her back and left
for dead in yellow house canyon.

Later, armstrong went to
angela's apartment, telling her

He had cut his hand.

Troy armstrong -- extremely
violent individual -- somebody

That had no regrets in stabbing
a teenage girl that was pregnant


Knife and leaving her in a

Field.

Narrator: at the trial,
angela allen revealed a

Devastating piece of
information.

He told me that he'd k*lled
her and if I ever said anything

About it and about the blood on
his hands -- all that stuff --

That he'd k*ll my kids and my
dad, too.

Narrator: after a 4-day
trial, a jury deliberated for

Only two hours before finding
troy armstrong guilty of

First-degree m*rder.

My final argument was, "give
him a life sentence unless you

Can find anything decent about
him."

You know, in less than an hour,
they came back with a life

Sentence, and I think that says
a lot about troy armstrong.

Narrator: even angela thinks
he got off too easy because

Armstrong k*lled two people that
day.

I believe that he should have
gotten the death penalty because

Nobody considers that baby.

Little man with a big ego.

He's violent.

Um...that's really him in a
nutshell.

He's a violent little man.

She wasn't famous.

It wasn't a high-profile case,
but it's a case that took a lot

Of people to put together, it
took a lot of effort, and it's

Something that you sometimes
don't see in somebody that is

Forgotten about.

Narrator: belynda tillery's
family still mourns the loss of

Their daughter, but because of
forensic facial reconstruction

And forensic anthropology, they
know the truth.

When karen taylor put the
face on the skeleton, that's

What broke the case.

No doubt forensic art is
art/science.

We use all the scientific inputs
possible, but there is a point

Where art kicks in and
supplements science.

That forensic art allowed the
dead to speak, and I think

That's a really good thing.