The Chauncey Family Crypt, located at Indian Hill Cemetery in Middleton, Connecticut, is a 130 square foot space, which houses 17 bodies of members of the Chauncey family, who were buried from 1821 to 1979. In 1991, the crypt was vandalized and police called in the state's archaeologists to help with the case. According to CRM magazine, "forensic archaeological and anthropological techniques were employed to assist municipal police to understand the nature of the vandalism, to provide information on the sequence of criminal events, to sort skeletal remains disturbed during the vandalism, and to restore the desecrated family crypt as near as possible to its original condition." Along with state archaeologists, archaeology students and professional archaeologists contributed to the collection of evidence and restoration of the crypt.
The Scene
Four crypts were damaged during the vandalism and contents of the crypts were left scattered on the floor, including: burial clothing, bones, and pieces of coffins. Jewelry and other valuables were abandoned by whoever raided the crypt, left on the floor with the rest of the burial remnants. Along with the damage in the crypt, a human skull was discovered in the woods in nearby Cromwell, Connecticut. The skull appeared to be old, as the cortical and periosteal bones were decaying and no remnants of other human material remained on the skull. It also appeared that the skull wasn't laying on the ground for long because there was no damage from weather, animals, or plant growth.
The Techniques
First, lighting was brought in so the archaeologists could better work at the scene. Then, a wooden grid was used to create a systematic way to document where evidence was found. Archaeologists developed a likely order of events using the spacial relationship of the bones, coffin pieces, and coffin contents. The vertical and horizontal arrangement of evidence helped to understand how the vandalism occurred. Next, archaeologists used established procedures to record what was found. Materials were removed from the crypt for further testing. Analysis of the skull was also performed, including comparison of the skull to bones found at the crypt. Unlike many crime scenes, however, the evidence needed to be returned to the scene out of respect for the bodies of the Chauncey family.
The Results
The skull found in Cromwell was studied and it was determined that the person was most likely a white female who died at the age of 45 to 50. Archaeologists were unable to determine cause of death. At the crypt, bones were found to account for all four of the vandalized coffins, except for a skull for one burial. The missing skull was for Lucy Alsop Chauncey, who was 56 when she died in 1855. The bones found at the crypt belonging to Lucy Chauncey were found to be at the same level of decomposition as the skull recovered from the woods. Archaeologists determined that the skull did in fact belong to Lucy Chauncey.
Since many valuables were left in the wreckage of the crypt, it appeared that the vandalism was not a cause of burglary. It also didn't appear that someone was looking to loot historical artifacts because "there was no indication of any systemic search for artifacts." The fact that a skull was taken from the crypt indicates that it could have been taken for use in a ritual of a satanic cult. The reason this presumption came about was because of suspects who were known to be members of a satanic cult in the area of Cromwell and Middleton.
Thanks in part to the work done by forensic archaeologists, an individual who was part of a satanic cult was arrested and "arraigned on four counts of interfering with a cemetery or grave site, one count of each of third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief and sixth-degree larceny." In addition to being able to help arrest the perpetrator, forensic archaeologists also restored the crypt, as closely as possible, to its original state.
The original publication can be found at: http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/19-10/19-10-5.pdf
Since many valuables were left in the wreckage of the crypt, it appeared that the vandalism was not a cause of burglary. It also didn't appear that someone was looking to loot historical artifacts because "there was no indication of any systemic search for artifacts." The fact that a skull was taken from the crypt indicates that it could have been taken for use in a ritual of a satanic cult. The reason this presumption came about was because of suspects who were known to be members of a satanic cult in the area of Cromwell and Middleton.
Thanks in part to the work done by forensic archaeologists, an individual who was part of a satanic cult was arrested and "arraigned on four counts of interfering with a cemetery or grave site, one count of each of third-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief and sixth-degree larceny." In addition to being able to help arrest the perpetrator, forensic archaeologists also restored the crypt, as closely as possible, to its original state.
The original publication can be found at: http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/19-10/19-10-5.pdf