July 17, lf3 Summer Nebnnkon
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Forensic anthropologist helps police
By Lynn Mongar
Many people hide skeletons in their
closets.
Richard McWilliams displays his.
Because of his interest, he has a few
skulls, and other bones, in his closets and
his garage. McWilliams, a retired UNL
anthropology professor and co-author of
"Forensic Anthropology" has been work
ing with Nebraska law enforcement offi
cers to determine the identities of acci
dent or murder victims.
The physical anthropologist is one of
about 12 persons in the United States
whose work involves recreating likenesses
of faces from skulls.
"It's like reading a diary," he said.
For example, he said, he was able to
determine that one man had been a her
oin addict because of the condition of his
teeth. ,
Douglas County Sheriff Richard Roth
asked McWilliams about a week ago to
construct likenesses of the heads of two
murder victims in order to determine
their identities. Police are paying for
McWilliams' expenses.
The bodies of the two men were found
on a bank of the Elkhom River in April
1973.
Both men, believed by police to be
part of a motorcycle gang, had been shot
repeatedly in the face, McWilliams said.
The bodies of the two were exhumed
July 8, and the skulls were removed. Ef
fort at identifying the two men by den
tal records and other methods were un
successful. Police have not used forensic anthro
pology much because they are unfamiliar
with it and are uncertain how to use it,
heaaid.
However, he said he expects forensic
anthropology to be used more frequently
by police in the future.
He said he has helped Nebraska law
enforcement agents on several cases be
fore. "Probably in every small town police
station, they have bodies, or skulls they
can't identify," he said. "It's a real prob
lem." Usually a physical anthropologist or
medical artist is contacted after police
have tried other ways to identify the vic
tims. As his silent companions stared at
him, McWilliams pointed to 15 to 20
landmarks on the skull, where there is a
known skin thickness that varies accord
ing to gender. McWilliams then glues
pencil erasers of varying thickness on
those 15 to 20 landmarks.
"Hie skull looks like a porcupine after
you're finished putting on the erasers,"
McWilliams said. Then he said he fills in
the gaps between erasers with the proper
amount of clay. He buys wigs from the
Salvation Army for the hair. He adds
glass eyes, he said, because they "make
the skull look like it's alive."
continued on page 8
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Anthropologist Richard McWilliams.
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