Autopsy Report - 13 Fatal wounds ***DISCUSSION***

I can't find the actual autopsy report, but found this information from KJRH:

Autopsy results released Friday on two girls who were gunned down while walking on a country road show one had five gunshot wounds and the other had eight.

Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, and her friend, Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, were shot on June 8 a half-mile north of Taylor's home in the small town of Weleetka, 70 miles south of Tulsa. No arrests have been made.

The state Medical Examiner's office said the younger girl had eight wounds to the arms, chest, abdomen and neck, and the older girl had five gunshot wounds to the head, groin and hand.

Investigators say two different guns were used, leading to the presumption at least two people were involved. The isolated nature of the crime scene has led investigators to theorize local people might have been involved. No motive has been identified.

The autopsies did not indicate any sexual trauma to the girls.

and this from NewsOK:
Taylor was shot a total of five times, three of which were in the face, one was in the groin and once in her right hand, but according to the report, the shot to the hand could have been one of the same shots that struck her in the head. Two of the shots were ruled potentially fatal.

Skyla was shot a total of eight times, including one shot to the neck, and seven spread out widely around the arms and torso.
 
Sorry I am quite ignorant of this case, but if I may ask, if anyone knows, who carved the "Z" on the child's upper leg in the back? Is was "scabbed", so obviously it was done at least within a few days of the murder. I don't think she did that to herself, as it would have been very awkward to reach.

This may be common knowledge, so again, sorry to jump in with questions. I'll keep reading as I have time.
 
Okay, I've looked at both autopsies, as best I can, and just wish someone professional could read it for us in lay terms. The "backward" and "forward" information about the shots confuses me. I'll have to look that up.

What I can ponder is the gunshots were mostly from the front, as far as I can tell. The 13 year old, Taylor, who was shot three times in the face and once in the neck, seems to have been closer to one shot than any of the others and closer to her killer's gun than the other child, Skyla, was to the shots fired at her. Well, that may or may not be true, as I can't really read an autopsy report, obviously, but I'm THINKING this because one shot had stippling from the gun powder, IF I'm reading this correctly. This makes me wonder, with the shots being to the face and her being the older, if possibly her attack was more personal--in the face.

Also, I can't make out what would have caused the abrasion on Taylor's cheek. Did she get that falling on something, or did she get hit by one of the assailants? With the gun butt--the size of the abrasion being small but the M. E.'s drawing makes it look brutal? Surely they'd have found traces of metals or oils, or a pattern of some kind from the shape or texture of the gun if that was the case...? Maybe not, just some thoughts.

So the killers just shot these children like dogs. No sexual assault at all. That's a bit odd, too, considering a killer, particularly more than one, would seem to have no boundaries that would stop two of them from further abusing the girls. So that leads me to wonder if the killers were immature and new at this kind of crime, afraid of getting caught if they lingered too long or tried to kidnap the girls to take them somewhere private first? Or perhaps they had nowhere to take them, being minors or living with relatives?

Most adult males who are this depraved would have thought of securing a location for sexual abuse, it would seem to me, if they were experienced criminals before killing the girls. Unless this was a random attack, which came out of the blue, somehow provoked during a chance encounter, asking for directions or something.

Of course, no one knows the actual pathology of a killer until you know the killer, but no sexual assault makes me wonder if one or more of the assailants was a female. Just thinking...nothing more.

One thing that I'm also wondering: if the killer hit Taylor on the face, were there footprints? She seems to have dropped to her left knee--abrasions there, and that would seem to come from being hit on the right side on her upper cheek. I wonder what the positions of the bodies were when discovered. LE might not know, as the family who found them might have moved them, naturally enough, of course. God help them.

The other child, Skyla, seems to have been shot rather impersonally, mostly in the chest and abdomen area.

The thing is, were these children trying to run away? Skyla has a couple of shots that may have been her turning around, or maybe she was whipped around by the shots, I don't know. Taylor had her hand up to protect herself, which is when she was shot through the hand, but that's about all the time she seems to have had to react before she was dead. So it would seem there were two killers. Otherwise, one at least would have begun to run, it seems to me. And that would have meant one killer would have used the same gun on the one running, to stop her? Could have, I can't remember if the autopsy specified exactly what caliber bullets were used on each shot, so I'll have to look at that again.

Let's say Taylor was shot first: in the face, relatively small target zone, three or four quick shots; then one in the groin as she lay there, it seems, the bullet traveling upward through her body all the way to her lungs and torso, if I remember correctly. So it would take a second or two for the body to fall backward, when that last shot was fired, unless the killer came back to shoot that one, which is possible. (This is where the issue is important of which gun was used on which child, or both? I don't know, I'm just winging it here.) It would take a few seconds at least to get off five shots that hit your target, I'd think. Those shots were none of them point blank, gun to face, and only one had any stippling from one shot, so the killer had to be a couple of feet or more away, right? So what was Skyla doing once the shots started?

She might have been too scared to run. It happened fast, it appears. But she was hit by a small caliber bullet in at least one shot, if I am remembering my quick read of the autopsy. So that would be the second gun, because Taylor had a medium size bullet found in her, right? So this has me wondering if both girls were shot at about the same time, giving neither a chance to react.

But there was no fighting other than the abrasion on Taylor's cheek and knee that I can see. Though there were abrasions on the back of Skyla's legs and buttocks...or am I misremembering this? Sorry, I'll have to go back to study these and do some research when I have more time. Unless someone else has done this already and if so, thanks in advance and can you tell me where to find it?

I guess what I'm wondering is, did they know their killers? Or did they simply trust strangers who stopped and shot them so brutally, not thinking to run, not panicking, not suspecting strangers could be so wantonly monstrous?

Surely LE has evidence of tire tracks, footprints, blood spatter, bullets and therefore knows the models of the guns used.

Well, don't pay too much attention to what I'm speculating on, because I haven't looked at this more than the short news bites before today. I hope it's just a matter of time before these killers are caught. If there were two of them, they may turn on each other. Or one of them may not be able to keep it quiet, may brag or repent...or let it slip while drunk. I hope....
 
Wow KK -- You are quite quick on interpreting this case. Everything you have stated is basically true. Everyone on here have reviewed and gone over everything you have stated. This has all been disgusted and agreed upon. The only problem is, we have no facts from OSBI or local LE. Your questions are our questions. You will probably need to read the original posts from everyone and review the TV publications. That may also add some insight.

I don't know where everyone else is tonight but they could enlighten you and bring you up to speed a little more than I can. There is a lot of family involvement as well that you would have to research on here. I'm sure you would find it very interesting.

Take care. Good luck on your research. You seem to know exactly what you are talking about.

Please excuse the typing errors. LOL
 
KoldKase~
Thanks for your input!
 
Wow KK -- You are quite quick on interpreting this case. Everything you have stated is basically true. Everyone on here have reviewed and gone over everything you have stated. This has all been disgusted and agreed upon. The only problem is, we have no facts from OSBI or local LE. Your questions are our questions. You will probably need to read the original posts from everyone and review the TV publications. That may also add some insight.

I don't know where everyone else is tonight but they could enlighten you and bring you up to speed a little more than I can. There is a lot of family involvement as well that you would have to research on here. I'm sure you would find it very interesting.

Take care. Good luck on your research. You seem to know exactly what you are talking about.

Please excuse the typing errors. LOL

Thanks for the encouragement. I know others have been at this case for months now, so I hope I don't offend anyone. I don't know "exactly" what I'm talking about, but I have spent 12 years learning about LE and crime scene investigation from the "armchair detective" perspective, mostly studing the JonBenet Ramsey case, so that's where I've learned what I do know.

Thanks again. And not to worry about typing errors, we all make 'em!
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I know others have been at this case for months now, so I hope I don't offend anyone. I don't know "exactly" what I'm talking about, but I have spent 12 years learning about LE and crime scene investigation from the "armchair detective" perspective, mostly studing the JonBenet Ramsey case, so that's where I've learned what I do know.

Thanks again. And not to worry about typing errors, we all make 'em!
Oh, I don't think you would offend anyone. It is nice to see someone else's perspective since all of us have looked at these murders over and over again. You may see something new. We all appreciate your input.

Gertie
 
I am very new to autopsy reading and am also a little befuddled by the backward and forward but I think that the backward means shot from the back and forward from the front.

I just re-read the reports and it seems Skyla has a number of shot entrances in the back and the exit is in the front. Can't get to the notes at this moment to count how many but I wonder was she running? Skyla has an Atypical exit wound. Anybody know what that means exactly? Also Skyla has gray powder on her face down her neck. NOT soot or stippling, the report says. What?:confused:
 
Hi GiGi~
imo~ the reason that Skyla has gun shot entrances in her back is because Taylor was shot first. When Skyla realised the danger, she turned to run. Hence the entrance wounds from the back. I also think that maybe the force of the gun shots, propelled her body, sideways and probably somewhat backwards. I have a lot of notes on the autopsies. A retired LE helped me w/ them. I will get back to you on this. I am headed out the door. Snow / ice on the ground this morning. I have to leave earlier than usual.

Flossie
 
I believe that is true about Skyla trying to run. The autopsy definitely appears to show that. I get that image in my mind's eye.
 
Sorry I am quite ignorant of this case, but if I may ask, if anyone knows, who carved the "Z" on the child's upper leg in the back? Is was "scabbed", so obviously it was done at least within a few days of the murder. I don't think she did that to herself, as it would have been very awkward to reach.

This may be common knowledge, so again, sorry to jump in with questions. I'll keep reading as I have time.

I've felt from the very beginning that the markings on the girls bodies could hold some important clues.
 
Yellow Dog, the markings were all about Zac Efron and High School Musical. They were trying to give themselves Zac tattoos. They had Zac and Zanessa written on themselves with markers. They were the ultimate fans. They died with their hero's name on their bodies! :(

That's why I put the two HSM 3 magazines at the memorial.
 
Yellow Dog, the markings were all about Zac Efron and High School Musical. They were trying to give themselves Zac tattoos. They had Zac and Zanessa written on themselves with markers. They were the ultimate fans. They died with their hero's name on their bodies! :(

That's why I put the two HSM 3 magazines at the memorial.

Well, maybe, but I'm not convinced of that.
 
Yellowdog, what do you think the reasons might be for the markings?
I just assumed it was a connection to High School Musical and never really considered much else.
I would be interested in your theory.
 
I am very new to autopsy reading and am also a little befuddled by the backward and forward but I think that the backward means shot from the back and forward from the front.

I just re-read the reports and it seems Skyla has a number of shot entrances in the back and the exit is in the front. Can't get to the notes at this moment to count how many but I wonder was she running?

Skyla has an Atypical exit wound.

Anybody know what that means exactly? Also Skyla has gray powder on her face down her neck.
NOT soot or stippling, the report says.... What?:...confused:.....

ArizonaZ...Good find and good questions, was the girls running from someone?

Could the GRAY Powder on Skyla's face and neck be a clue to where and what the girls was doing immediately before the shooting....does the autopsy say it isn't soot from a truck tail pipe? What about weed/brush spray, from power-line spray? Would it be some type tattoo powder? What about camp-fire ashes?

I assume it isn't finger-print powder....so what is the gray powder on Skyla's face and neck.?.
 
Yellowdog, what do you think the reasons might be for the markings?
I just assumed it was a connection to High School Musical and never really considered much else.
I would be interested in your theory.

Well, some of them were in awkward places that would be hard to place yourself. I was wondering if someone had more or less "branded" them as in a possessive sort of way.
 
Skyla has the letter "Z" scab on the back of her leg and that would be impossible for her to do to herself but I wonder if Taylor didn't do it for her?
They both loved Zac from High School Musical. But that's just my guess.
 

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