Chapter 9 Section 9

Next witness: Francis Tucker, Chief of the Local Police Department.I learned of the disappearance of Dr. George Peckman on Saturday, November 24th... On Friday, November 30th, when I heard that a severed body had been found, I immediately took a revolver and went to Mr. Robert Shaw's house to meet Evren Littlefield before going to Harvard Medical School together. When we arrived at the medical school, we first went down the drawer door to the basement, and walked about 60 feet hunched over the tunnel until we reached the back wall, or the north wall.There was a hole cut in the wall of the pipe across there, about 18 inches in diameter, just big enough for a person to get through.We brought a kerosene lamp and looked at the entrance of the cave. There were several human limbs inside.

I let Sergeant Trinomon and Yveren crawl in and hand out the severed limbs.We got a board and put the limbs on it one by one, a pelvis, a thigh and a calf.I asked Ifzhin if there was any other entrance to the sewer besides this hole, and he said no. At this time, we heard a voice upstairs, thought it was Professor West, and rushed out of the cellar.I waited in the warehouse next to the main entrance of the lab with a gun in my hand until the officers came back and reported that they had searched and found no one. I went up to the smelting furnace, and saw Inspector Colap holding in his hands some ashes, or slag, on which a bone had formed.I immediately ordered Clapp, Spoor, and Stilwell to go to Cambridge and arrest Professor West.

I have brought some bones that I found in a laboratory furnace, and I am presenting them in court as exhibits. ………… Next in court were two 12-year-old boys, Moore and Pruitt, who both lived near Harvard Medical School. Between 1:30 and 2:00 on November 23, they saw Dr. Peckman go to medical school.Moore and Pruitt said they could remember the time because they had just returned from lunch, so it was before 2 p.m. 75 feet from Harvard Medical School, three brothers in a blacksmith's shop on the Jolls River gave a similar testimony.Elia Fleur, the eldest of the three brothers, said: "I knew Dr. George Peckman, we saw him a lot and had some business dealings with him. The last time I saw him was at Friday, November 23rd, between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m. I was standing on the sidewalk outside the shop with my brother Abbott when Dr. Nodded to us. He was walking towards Harvard Medical School, but I didn't turn around to see if he had gone in. He was walking fast and in a hurry. He was wearing a black tight coat, black vest, black A cravat, of silk or satin, and a black top hat."

Mr. Paul Holland's food store is two blocks from Harvard Medical School.He told the jurors that between 1 and 2 p.m. on the 23rd, Dr. Peckman came to his store and asked for some sugar and cream. Before leaving, he left a glass lettuce and said he would "be back in a few minutes." .But Dr. Peckman did not return.The glass lettuce remained in the store until Mr. Joss Kensley came to inquire about the doctor the next afternoon, and took it away. Dr. Jabez Pratt, the coroner, testified that he found "a human jaw with false teeth and other teeth in Professor West's smelting furnace. Slag and concretions of bone. I knocked them out one by one with a bent iron chisel. Then I found two or three scattered false teeth. The police picked the broken bones out of the ashes one by one, Wrapped it in paper and handed it to me. I later gave it to Dr. Geoff Wyman, because I was going to inform my forensic jury members to come to Harvard Medical School for an autopsy the next day."

While calling the jury, Dr. Pratt appointed a "Medical Committee" of three medical experts, Dr. Winslow Lewis, Dr. Jozzy Gay, and Dr. James Stowe, whose representatives presented to the court Submitted the committee's report: Winslow Lewis, Ph.D.I went to Harvard Medical School on the Saturday afternoon after Professor West's arrest to examine the human body parts the police had found there.Joining us on this work is Dr. Geoff Wyman. Later, Dr. Guy, Dr. Stowe, and myself drafted a very detailed autopsy report. First, we examined the ribcage and the bones and viscera attached to it.All bones are present except the sternum.The chest cavity contained two damaged lung lobes.Between the sixth and seventh ribs at the lower left chest, there was a wound or hole with a diameter of 1 to 1.5 inches that was torn and penetrated.No heart and diaphragm, left kidney still in its natural position but shrunken, no liver, no right kidney, no stomach, no pancreas, and no intestines.

We then examined the abdominal cavity, which contained the pelvis, two lumbar vertebrae, genitals, and other viscera and a 6-inch section of rectum. Third, the right thigh, muscular and very little fat. Fourth, a two-and-a-half-foot rope was wrapped around the left thigh, but was not knotted; some parts of the skin and flesh had been artificially removed or artificially shrunk; there was evidence of intense fire and the use of caustic agents traces of. In the end, the truncated calf was basically in its natural state. I noticed that the hair on the back of the limb was very thick and sandy gray in color.The hair on the left chest has been flame-burned or scorched, so its original length cannot be judged.

The head and body were sawn off below the Adam's apple, and the stomach and intestines were removed.In my opinion, severing the thigh from the hip does not necessarily indicate how much anatomical knowledge the surgeon has, but separating the sternum from the clavicle does require a considerable degree of anatomical skill. I have known Dr. George Peckman for many years, and it should be said that those human limbs were not different from the corresponding body parts of Dr. Peckman. Clearly, none of the parts were dismembered in a manner intended for anatomical study or teaching purposes.The severed limbs themselves were not intended for use in anatomical research or teaching.If it is an anatomical specimen, there should be traces of treatment with embalming agents used to preserve the corpse.