Defense calls its first witnesses

Good Friday morning. Well, things officially got started around 10:10. Attorneys had to take care of some evidence business. The first defense witness was (surprise) Maj. Jeff Stafford. If you recall, Stafford finished his testimony with the defense Tuesday afternoon, but the state did not re-direct. I wonder if the defense had more questions to ask him. Robert Campbell asked just a few questions, mostly about phone numbers. Apparently someone from the dairy called Duke Energy, a friend in Tennessee, McCombs Oil and a dairyman in Statesville in the morning hours of Dec. 29, 2005. Still, though, we have not heard of any calls between 9 and 10 - when employees testified Jerry and Emily were gone. Maybe that will come or maybe that will remain unanswered. The prosecution did not have any questions for Stafford.
Dr. Murray Marks was the next to take the stand. What an impressive guy. He is a forensic anthropologist. He is an associate professor at the University of Tennessee and works at the Body Farm. (Check out the article in Newsweek. I can't remember the date, but it was in the issue with America after Bush. I'm sure it's online. It's a great article about the Body Farm and other coming farms.) Basically, Dr. Marks studies decomposing bodies. He testified signs of a body that has been dead for a while - slipping skin, changes in internal discoloration and insect infestation. He said a little over a year ago, he was asked to review the pathologist report and photos of Emily Anderson. He has never seen the body. He hasn't really gotten the Anderson investigation. We braked for the mid-morning break before he was going to show jurors of photos of skin slippage, discoloration and slight bloating... This might be really interesting or really gross. I will try to pay attention to the jurors reactions. Be back around lunchtime.