38: Will Heuermann's Hoarding Connect Him To More Crimes?

In a recent episode of the acclaimed podcast "Hidden Killers," Tony Brueski spoke with Joseph Scott Morgan, a Forensic Scientist and Distinguished Scholar of Applied Forensics at Jacksonville State University, about a chilling topic: a murder case where the key to solving it lay buried within a hoarder's home.

The backdrop is grim. A house that once seemed to tell the tale of an obsessive collector, overflowing with a lifetime of trinkets and mementos, turned out to be a maze of potential evidence in an unsettling murder case. Brueski set the scene, recounting, "This very much looks like a hoarder house… The FBI had to rip through a hoarder house." He posed the immediate question, "What does that say to us about a personality like this and the likelihood of hoarding and if there's this proclivity to kill people?"

Morgan's response, shaped by years in forensics, painted a daunting challenge for investigators. Sifting through decades of items, every piece could either be a mere trinket or a damning piece of evidence. "It is an overwhelming task," he admitted. "Out of all the stuff in here, what's going to have value and what is not going to have value?"

Diving deeper into the psyche of a potential criminal, Morgan pondered on the strategic advantage a hoarder's home would offer. The consistent accumulation of objects could be the perfect hiding place for incriminating items. "If this guy is such a super criminal, did he look around these areas and say, well, I'm gonna hold some stuff back from these adventures that I'm going out on?" Morgan speculated.

The home, it turns out, was more than just a repository of keepsakes. "One of the victims may have met their end in the house," said Brueski, emphasizing the gravity of their discoveries. But this isn't the only case in recent memory to have investigators scratching their heads. Morgan drew attention to another chilling incident – the discovery of a dismembered body found on Fire Island in 1996, with the skull found in a different location in 2010. "Is there any indication that perhaps that skull had been held back for a protracted period of time?" he queried, noting the potential significance of weathering and tool marks on the recovered bone.

Morgan also highlighted the incredible strides in forensic technology over the years. "We did not have the capability in say, 2007 to do the things...we do now in order to put a really fine point on it and begin to try to understand origin," he said, emphasizing the role of DNA evidence in modern forensic investigations. This evolution of techniques has provided a more nuanced view of older evidence, allowing investigators to revisit cold cases with a fresh perspective.

Looking ahead, Morgan foresees even more groundbreaking advancements, particularly in the field of DNA databases and artificial intelligence. He suggested, "There's no telling how far the technology could expand just from a crime-fighting standpoint." Given the rapid pace of technological change, he believes it's only a matter of time before forensic science can draw from an even richer pool of evidence.

Closing on a light note, Brueski and Morgan mused the popular trend of at-home DNA kits, a seemingly innocent gift that could potentially uncover dark family secrets. "We thought Uncle Bernie was so nice. Turns out he killed seven hookers in Los Angeles," Brueski quipped.

Their discussion is a stark reminder of the fascinating, sometimes horrifying intersection of forensics, psychology, and crime. As technology and techniques evolve, the tools at investigators' disposal only grow more powerful, enabling them to unearth long-hidden secrets and bring justice to the fore.
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