While firefighters tended to the log cabin fire, a deputy noticed smoke coming from the north side of the adjacent three-car garage. A short time later an orange glow was noted from the garage. At 8:25 pm. firefighters extinguished the fire inside the garage. When a firefighter noticed human feet protruding from underneath a tarp, firefighters backed out of the garage and police entered.

Police confirmed the body of a woman, face down under a partially melted green tarp. A bloody crowbar was found next to the woman’s body. The officer also found a deceased dog with a gunshot wound to the head, in the middle stall inside the garage. The woman, later identified via fingerprint comparison, was that of Christina Anderson.

Police were able to confirm that on August 3, 2013, Christina attended her son Ethan’s Pop Warner football practice, but unable to attend both Ethan’s practice and her daughter Hannah’s cheerleader camp, she asked long-time friend, Jim DiMaggio, to take her daughter to cheerleader camp. However, police could NOT confirm that Hannah attended cheerleader camp. August 4th Christina and Ethan did not attend his practice, and Hannah Anderson’s whereabouts was unknown.

Law enforcement has ascertained the fire was arson, and the Medical Examiner stated, “death due to known or suspected homicide.”

Christina and Ethan were last seen alive on the afternoon of August 3, 2013.

Christina was only 44 years old when she was brutally beaten to death. Due to the extent of her injuries, her murder was not only overkill, but it was “personal,” and probably the first murder committed by whoever killed her. The motive for such a brutal attack usually stems from extreme anger, hatred and/or extreme frustration.

Note: We already know that Hannah was mad at her mother and blamed her mother for running off her father, Brett Anderson. So many questions remain. Here are just a few questions for my readers to ponder on until the continuation on Monday: Was Hannah angry enough to brutally kill her mother? At that particular moment, did Hannah hate her mother enough to pick up the crowbar and bash her mother’s head in?

Was James DiMaggio that angry at Christina to pick up the crowbar and bash her skull, multiple times? If so, what was the stimuli to make him furious enough to commit cold-blooded murder? DiMaggio had been friends with the family for years. What could have changed to make him hate Christina Anderson so much that he would brutally beat her to death?

Jim DiMaggio, without proof, was convicted from the start for killing Christina and her son Ethan, and the family dog, kidnapping Hannah, and setting his home on fire.

But, could there be another person lurking out there who actually committed this heinous crime and set DiMaggio’s house on fire to cover up what had happened?
It is possible…

Unfortunately, and so convenient for the actual killer, DiMaggio was shot and killed before he could be questioned. What would his story have been? How would it differ from what Hannah has been telling?

This next part is very disturbing as it is taken from the official autopsy report of Christina Marie Anderson. Since most of us are not doctors or medical students, the medical lingo is a bit overwhelming. I’m trying to get an appointment to talk to a coroner because some of the information contradicts itself (based on what I can find out about what happens to the body after death) but, with the help of my medical dictionary, I will try to put at least part of this in layman’s terms.

The autopsy was performed on August 6, 2013 documented blunt force injuries of the head and extremities, an incised wound of the neck, and thermal burns of the head, torso, and extremities. A minimum of 12 blunt force impact sites were on the head.

Blunt force injury of head included abrasions (scrapes), contusions (soft tissue damage), and lacerations (jagged tears, cuts or gashes) of the face and scalp, with a minimum of 12 impact sites.

Comminuted (pulverized) skull fractures with subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages (bleeding), and cerebral contusions. (This is saying that the 12 blows to the head broke, splintered and/or crushed or pulverized the skull into a number of pieces, and that there was bleeding around the brain.)

The wounds were concentrated on the left back of the head with several on the right forehead and the bridge of the nose. Several abrasions, contusions, and lacerations were on the right arm and left leg with fractures of the right radius and ulna.

Multiple layers (at least 3) of silver metallic duct tape were wrapped around the face, mouth and neck. Portions of the tape layers were resting over the lower lip and teeth with the upper dentition (teeth) exposed. The tape wrapped around the cheeks to the back of the head and an additional loop was across the neck.

There were cuts in the tape along the left side of the neck overlying a gapping incised wound (sharp forced injury to the neck) of the anterior (front) left part of the neck. The wound extended to the thyroid cartilage with superficial incisions of the left common carotid artery and internal jugular vein. There was a minimal amount of blood associated with the wound. The incised wound of the neck was most likely inflicted postmortem/perimortem and was not contributory to her death. (This means her throat was cut either after death or near the time of death).

Her right arm was across the chest, flexed at the elbow with the hand next to her face. Her left arm was flexed at the elbow with the hand near her head. (The positioning of the arms could mean she had her arms up trying to protect herself from her attacker).

Full and partial thickness thermal burns (caused by an external heat source) were on the left side of the head and neck, right upper back, and hands covering approximately 7% of total body surface area.

Partial and full thickness burns with charring were on the left side of the head, neck, upper back, and arms.

No soot was identified in the airway, so the thermal burns most likely occurred after death.

The body was in an early state of decomposition.

The melted green tarp lifted easily off her legs and torso but was tightly adhered to the left neck, shoulder, and head area. Portions of singed hair and skin came off with the tarp as it was removed.

She had on a red tank top with “Mickey” and “Minnie Mouse” logo, blue denim jeans, with the zipper all the way up and button fastened. (This indicates that she was not sexually assaulted).

Located in the right back pocket of the jeans was a bank ATM card bearing the decedent’s name. Three U.S. $1.00 bills were in the left back pocket.

Rigor mortis was overcome with minimal force.
POSTMORTEM CHANGES: Rigor mortis has passed in the upper and lower extremities, neck, and jaw. (In most cases, rigor mortis begins 1 - 2 hours after death, and begins to pass after 24 hours. Rigor dissipates due to decomposition in about 36 to 48 hours). NOTE: From the time Christina's body was discovered inside the garage, it was SIXTEEN hours before she was examined.

Multiple flies were on the body and clusters of fly eggs were noted on the face.

Livor mortis was anterior, purple-red, and nonblanching to pressure, meaning that she was not moved after death. (Livor mortis begins 1 to 3 hours after death and is fully developed in 10 - 12 hours. Livor mortis is the settling of blood under the force of gravity after the heart stops pumping, producing purple-red discoloration of the skin on the lowest areas of the body, but this discoloration does not occur in the areas where the body is resting on the ground or on other objects. Nonblanching means livor is fully developed, or set, and will not shift with movement.)

There were green putrefactive changes (early stages of decomposition) along the dependent portions of the body and also along the neck. There are putrefactive changes including skin bleb formation (blisters) with skin slippage, vascular marbling, and gas artifact (bloating).

A laceration was on the right forehead and a gaping wound with exposed thyroid cartilage was on the anterior neck. The right wrist had palpable fractures.

There were blunt force injuries of the head and extremities, sharp force injury of the neck, and thermal burns of head, torso, and extremities. There are no abrasions, contusions, or lacerations on the left arm or the right leg.

BURNS: There are full and partial thickness thermal burn with charring along the left side of the face and head. The burns extend anteriorly to the forehead and left cheek, and posteriorly to the occipital scalp. The left external ear has marked heat artifact contracture. There is partial and full thickness thermal burn with charring along the mid and right upper back over an area 5 x 3 inches. There are partial and full thickness thermal burns with charring along the dorsal and palmar (palm) aspects of the right thumb and fingers. The nails are burned. There is full thickness thermal burn without charring along the palmar surface of the hand. There are partial and full thickness thermal burns of the dorsal surface of the left hand, wrist, and forearm, with only a small amount of charring along the distal aspect of the thumb and index finger.

A small amount of greasy, yellow decompositional fluid is in the pleural (membrane around the lung) cavities. A small amount of greasy, yellow decompositional fluid is present in the peritoneal (abdominal) cavity. The organs have generalized softening and discoloration and gas artifact, consistent with early putrefaction (decay).

The right radius and ulnar (forearm) are fractured.

The eyes have opaque corneas and dark appearing irides. There is a bulbar conjunctival hemorrhage of the left eye at the 3 o’clock position.

There is softening and discoloration of the brain parenchyma (tissue), consistent with early decomposition.

The trachea and larynx are patent and lined by smooth mucosa with a small amount of green postmortem artifact. There is no soot in the airway.
All of the nails are burnt. A small amount of dried blood is present in the nares (nostrils).

Heart, Lungs, Liver: shows autolysis (digestion of cells by their own enzymes), postmortem bacterial overgrowth, and gas artifact.

Kidney: Section shows autolysis and postmortem bacterial overgrowth. There is no glomerulosclerosis (capillaries which remove body waste/urine. The bladder was empty.

The abdomen is mildly distended by putrefactive gas.

There is no trauma to the genitalia or anus. (Means she was not raped).

No drugs or alcohol were detected.

Based on the autopsy findings and the circumstances of the death as currently understood, the cause of death is listed as blunt force injury of head, and the manner of death is classified as homicide.

This next part basically wraps up most everything above, but there are parts about some injuries and the sizes of some wounds not included above.

Located on the left side of the head along the inferior margin of the tape layers is a 1/2 inch incision. Multiple additional parallel incisions are noted on the row of tape along the anterior left neck. There is drying artifact of the lips.

Parallel, linear, repeating compression marks are along the right cheek, ranging from 3/16 inch in length up to 3/4 inches in length. They all measure 1/8 inch in width and are separated by 3/16 inch of intact skin (pattern corresponds to plastic hose underneath the body at the scene).

A horizontally oriented, gapping incised wound is across the front and left side of the neck.

There is postmortem green discoloration of the exposed soft tissues. The thyroid cartilage is visible in the depth of the wound and has several superficial incisions on the surface with no surrounding hemorrhage.

There are compound fractures of the distal right radius and ulna. A patterned compression
mark composed of linear, parallel, repeating lines is on the dorsal surface of the right upper arm. The dorsal surfaces of the fingers of the right hand are charred. There is a small amount of thermal burn along the palmar surface of the right hand.

POSTMORTEM CHANGES: There are putrefactive changes including skin bleb formation with skin slippage, vascular marbling, and gas artifact. The putrefactive green discoloration is most prominent around the face, neck, left upper chest, shoulder, and on the abdomen and left inguinal line.

Monday's post will be Part Five, the autopsy report on Ethan Anderson.

Stop on by my website and check out my books, and I'll see you right here again on Monday night.

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