Ocean, I don't see how a fire on top of a grave can cause such damage to a body. The baby's hand was burned completely off which meant the fire had to burn through Maria's abdomen, muscles, uterus, and the placenta to reach that baby. I don't see how heat from a bonfire can do that much damage. I think there had to be an open flame directly on her body. (Sorry for the graphics.)
I understand that SS but I don't want to be too graphic either but that really doesn't have to happen.
I think as Gabriel decomposed and was charred by the trapped heat.... the little hand came loose at the wrist and fell away from the arm. If there were open flames then poor Gabriel's very soft and plyable hand would have burned up quickly since it is so tender. For that little hand to survive there was no open flames in that pit only on top of the ground imo.
If one builds a raging bonfire above ground it heats the ground below and any cavity where the heat becomes trapped. Now the earth wasn't packed like originally and it is very hard to get dirt back in as solid as it was before the hole was dug even if it is put back in and packed down. I dig holes all the time for my plants and think I have enough dirt but as the dirt settles I have to go back and add more because no matter what unless packed by some type of equipment it will have air pockets of some kind and is never as packed tight as the original undisturbed earth.
If there had been a flame on top of an open grave there is absolutely no way that any recognizable clothing could be unidentified. Yet the
plastic bag which we all know burns quickly and will instantly go poof without any effort even if close to a flame, was found along with being able to identify the shirt color, a bra etc. and the size of the baby outfit was still identifiable. They even took a sample of Maria's hair and hair is the first to burn up quickly if it comes in contact with an open flame. With Maria being placed on her side it brought her body up closer to the above heat from the fire than if she was placed in a totally prone position laying flat.
Heat of any kind can cause this even when the heat is not directly placed. For example if we cut our ovens down to a low 250 degrees but left it on for hours and hours when cooking .........well you know what I am saying..and like I said I dont want to be too graphic either. Now a bonfire has a much higher temperture than 200 degrees.
The ME has seen these bodies and so have LE yet LE still maintains that they believe that he did not have intent to burn the bodies and he continued to add dirt as the grave settled. CS said it is their belief that he meant to camouflage where he had buried Maria. If they thought he had intended to do that they would have had no qualms in charging him with desecrating their bodies. If they can tack on a misdemeanor charge for the attempted use of her card they certainly would attach this charge as that offense would be more severe.
Don't get me wrong....it is a sad and horrible thing what happened to them to start with and to their bodies but I truly feel it was not done as some plan to burn them in an open flame pit...... if that were the case there would be nothing but ashes and maybe bone fragments left. The ME said that Maria's body when recovered was 95 pounds. She had shrunk for her original weight of 140 pounds due to the vast decomposition and charring.
imoo