The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

1
- It's getting late, officer.
- Sheriff, you gotta
get down here.
- We got an ID on her?
- No, sir.
No relation to Paul and Carol.
- Who's she?
- Well, for now,
she's a Jane Doe.
You got something?
- Nothing was stolen.
Not a scratch on the outside
of the house either.
Doesn't look like
someone broke in.
To me, it looks like
they were trying to break out.
- Cause of death?
- How about we
skip this part tonight?
- Come on,
this one's a soft ball.
- Smoke inhalation.
- You're telling me
that smoke killed Mr. Howard?
- Well, damaged nasal passage
damaged throat, damaged lungs..
- Damaged lungs, yes.
But incompatible with life.
- So, you're saying
that's not the COD?
- I'm saying
look before you leap.
Where did the police
find the body?
- Uh, in his kitchen.
- House on fire.
Front door is 30 feet away
yet, he's not
trying to get there.
Lungs are damaged
but airways not denuded
nearly enough.
- So, he stopped breathing
before that fire
really got going?
- Open him up.
Now.
Now you see here?
Down below the occipital.
- A fracture.
- That explains the swelling
in his brain.
- Subdural hematoma.
That's what did it.
Not the smoke.
Everybody has a secret.
Some just hide them
better than others.
- Some people are better
at finding them.
- You did good.
You'll get there.
- Nobody's even claimed him yet.
He was all alone,
that's why he died.
- He died because
he fell and hit his head.
You got plans tonight?
- Emma wants to go
see a movie at the strand.
- I thought they'd closed
that place down.
- Uh, no, when was the last time
you even went to go
see a movie, dad?
- Uh, she has Alzheimer's
and he's building her a house.
- The notebook?
- Oh, yeah, your mother made me
go and see it with her
for her birthday.
I fell asleep five minutes in.
Yeah.
Are you alright finishing up?
- Yeah.
What's up, Tilden?
Hematoma.
Stanley.
Oh.
Hey, dad!
Stanley got another one.
Dad?
Jesus Christ!
- It's so easy!
- How'd you get down here?
- The key was in the elevator.
- Oh, my god.
- I gotta say, this is not
what I was expecting.
You said it was old but wow.
- I thought we were supposed
to meet out front.
- Well, I got tired of waiting.
- Where, where are you going?
- I'm having a little look.
- Come back.
- God, the place
just keeps going.
- Well, three generations
of Tildens keep expanding
end up with this
state-of-the-art facility.
Hey, come on.
- What's the rush?
- I've been down here all day.
- You got to see me at my job,
why can't I see you at yours?
- You work at a book store.
- Are these all people?
- Just three tonight.
- Can I see one?
- Well, no. No.
You cannot see one.
- Why not?
- Because there's...
Some things you can't
un-see, okay?
- Come on, I can handle it.
- No. No. And my dad
is way too strict.
- Try me.
So, what'll it be?
- Are you serious?
- Are you?
- Hell yeah.
- Pick one.
- Not that one.
The one next to it.
- A body's a body.
- Yeah, well, I pick that one.
What's that for?
- To make sure he's dead.
There used to be a time
it was hard to tell
a comatose person
from a dead one.
So coroners tied bells
to everybody in the morgue.
So if they heard a 'ting'
they knew somebody down there
wasn't quite ready to go.
- So, why do you have one?
- Well, I'm... I'm a bit
of a traditionalist.
- Why did you cover his face?
- There wasn't much
of a face left to cover.
Point blank gun shot blast
tend to do that.
- Who shot him?
- Angle of entry suggests
he did it to himself.
Until we found strychnine
in his system
and judging by the progress it
made through his bloodstream
he was already dead by the time
somebody blew his face off.
- Why would anyone do that?
- You sound like your boyfriend.
Leave the "why" to the cops
and the shrinks.
We're just here
to find cause of death.
No more, no less.
- You don't wanna see that.
- It's alright.
- Look who's easy now.
You should have seen
the look on your face.
- I can't wait to see
the look on your face
when you're not
getting laid tonight.
- Whoa, whoa. Hold on.
Hold on. Hold on.
Not even if I ply you
with popcorn and sourpatch kids?
- You're lucky you're cute.
How do you get used to that?
- You do and you don't.
Sheriff?
- Where's your dad?
- What happened?
- Bring her back here, Sheldon.
- Dad, if you need me to stay...
- oh, don't worry about it.
You two go have your fun.
- Did you see the look
on Burke's face?
I mean, he wouldn't be here this
late if it wasn't important.
- Here we go.
- Well, my dad...
- There it is.
- I can't ditch him.
- So you're ditching me again.
What's he gonna do
when you leave?
- You haven't told him yet?
- No. It's not that simple.
- Wow.
- Babe.
I'm gonna tell him, okay?
Hey, you think I wanna be here?
Down there?
This isn't my life.
I don't wanna be Austin Tilden,
the morgue worker.
Just, he needs my help
right now.
- Come on, it's been two years.
He can take care of himself.
- Come back in a few hours.
We'll catch the midnight show,
grab a drink at Thornton's..
Two drinks.
11 o'clock, I'm all yours.
I promise.
And don't, you know, don't smile
because a smile
means "yes" you know.
I know it's in there.
Now, you're gonna
blow your whole game.
- Maybe.
- You're hot!
- Found her in the basement
of the Douglas' place.
No ID, no fingerprints
in the system.
No one has a clue who she is.
- I don't suppose you know
how she wound up there?
Stanley.
Damn thing gets meaner
by the day.
- Alvarez there was working
at Paul and Carol's place.
My best bet?
He killed our Jane Doe.
Needed a place to dump the body.
Didn't count the Douglas'
being home
or Paul having a .38.
First thing tomorrow,
I'll bring him in
but for now, she's the priority.
- Oh, still, it would
have been nice
to take a look
at the crime scene
- I got four people dead
and no god damn clue
how any of it connects.
- Nobody's pissin'
in your grits here, Shel.
But we do have protocol.
- Press is gonna need answers
on this in the morning
and I got nothing.
Now they'll buy a 10-79.
I can give them
a b and e gone haywire.
But what I can't sell is her.
- Time frame?
- It's gotta be tonight.
- Okay.
You didn't have to come back.
- I know.
- This is the autopsy
of an unidentified female
henceforth known as "Jane Doe."
Performing the autopsy
will be myself
Tommy Tilden, attending coroner.
I will be assisted
by Austin Tilden
certified medical technician.
This autopsy will be
conducted in four stages
beginning with
an external evaluation
followed by
an internal evaluation
of the heart and lungs,
the digestive organs
and finally, the brain.
- We've got some beautiful
weather here
for the next few days.
- Subject is
in her mid to late 20s.
- Appears to be.
- Subject appears to be
in her mid to late 20s.
Caucasian.
Skin appears normal.
No outwards signs
of bleeding or bruising.
No scarring, no distinctive
external markings.
Hair, brown.
Eyes..
Grey?
- Huh.
You don't see clouding like that
unless a body's been dead
for days.
There's no lividity.
- No rigor mortis either.
When do you think she died?
- Well, she's colder
than the ambient temperature.
- What, conditions at the scene?
- Could be confounding factors.
- Look how small her waist is.
Like it doesn't really fit
the rest of her frame.
- Could be congenital.
We won't know
until we open her up.
Mark it down on the board.
We'll come back to it later.
Her wrists and ankles
are fractured.
- How do you break
your wrists and ankles
without any outward signs?
- Oh, I see it all the time.
Simple fractures.
- Simple? Uh-uh.
Her joints are shattered.
What is that?
What is it? Dirt?
- No, no, this is denser.
Heavier.
It's... this is peat.
Haven't seen this stuff in ages.
- It's under her toenails, too.
- Yeah. There are trace
amounts in the hair.
She's covered in it.
- Like, maybe she was
buried in it?
Where do you even find peat?
- You buy it at a nursery.
But naturally in the ground..
Up north.
Not around here.
Nasal passages,
no sign of inflammation.
No fluid
and no foreign substances
and ear canals are..
Clear.
Oh.
I hadn't expected that.
- Tongue has been...
- severed.
Crudely. Non surgically.
- Well, she could have bitten
it off, you know
she ods on something,
tensed up...
- these aren't bite marks.
See, striations.
Huh?
I've seen something
like this before
about 15 years back.
Human trafficking
around Norfolk.
Two girls
hands and feet
bound tight
to keep them from running.
Cut out their tongues
for making too much noise...
- you think this was some kind
of a prostitution thing?
- Can't rule it out.
Here, she has a molar missing
on the lower left side.
Take some impressions.
- It's definitely
some kind of fabric.
- Bag it.
Send it to the lab.
No external seminal fluid
present.
Give me a swab.
Ah, she's torn up inside.
There are ridges,
grooves in the tissue.
- Abrasions?
- No. Cuts.
Deliberate.
- Severed tongue,
shattered joints
vaginal trauma..
The theory tracks.
- We're barely out
of the external.
We got a ways to go.
We'll now proceed
with the internal examination
starting with the heart
and lungs.
Help me with the block.
- They're not supposed
to bleed like that. Right?
- I've seen it.
But only on a fresh corpse.
An hour dead, maybe two.
It's caused by a build up
of pressure.
- What is that?
Melanoma maybe?
- On the inside?
Possible.
Let's see what the lab
comes back with.
Can you hand me the rib cutters?
Today?
- Shit.
- What did you do?
- Oh, I got it.
- I need you to focus here.
- I got it.
- Well, you were right.
Her waist doesn't fit her frame.
It's not congenital.
- Then what is it?
Well, if you wear one
long enough, a corset...
- didn't those go out of style
a couple of hundred years ago?
- The lungs
severely blackened.
- Wouldn't have taken her
for a smoker.
- She could smoke
ten packs a day for 30 years
wouldn't explain this.
- But that's what killed her,
right?
- No, this amount
of lung damage though
I'd expect the body to be
covered in third degree burns.
It's like finding a...
A bullet in the brain
but with no gunshot wound.
Her heart's marked up.
Almost like it's been cut.
- Well, not just her heart.
What do you think that is?
Genetic defect?
- Probably scar tissue.
- Scar tissue?
From what?
- Imagine all this
internal trauma
was reflected externally.
Shattered ankles and wrists
fire-burned lungs,
scarred organs.
What would she look like?
- She'd be mangled.
Disfigured beyond recognition
but she's not.
I mean, how the hell
do you even do this?
- If you wanna kill someone
you shoot them
or poison them or drown them.
A million easy ways.
You don't go to these lengths
unless you wanna make them
suffer
what the...
- I'll get it.
- So clean.
What happened to you?
What the hell happened?
Are you okay?
- Something's in the vent.
Thanks.
Oh, shit.
- Give me a minute.
What are you doing?
- The drawer..
Must have not closed it
all the way.
- Stanley was a pain in the ass.
But he was your mother's.
One of the few things
of hers I had left.
- Yeah, I miss her, too.
- Right.
Let's keep going.
This is stage three
of the autopsy of Jane Doe.
Beginning with the stomach
and the gastro-intestinal
system.
- Dad, you can talk to me.
- I'm not keeping
anything from you.
- You just... you put up
this act for people...
- I'm fine.
- Alright.
What is that?
A flower?
- Jimson weed.
Paralyzing agent.
Probably explains
the inflammation on her organs.
Hmm.
Here's a weird thing.
That settles it.
She's from up north.
- Yeah, but how did she
end up here?
- One thing at a time.
I'm just trying to make sense
of all this.
- Gusts are now being reported
at up to 60 miles per hour.
Rain is expected to top
three inches within the hour.
This one might be a bigger deal
than we were led to believe.
- Dad, how about we just
finish this in the morning?
- Burke needs a COD tonight.
We're not even close.
When we start something,
we finish it.
You wanna leave..
Leave.
- It looks like
some kind of shroud.
- Hmm. And old.
- Stomach acids should have
dissolved this thing.
I mean, the fact that
it's intact at all is amazing.
Now see, what is that?
Roman numerals?
Okay.
- These numerals.
The order.
T and... and this s.
It doesn't fit.
What are you doing?
- Someone pulled out her tooth
wrapped it in fabric
and forced her
to swallow it.
- And the drawing?
- I don't know. Religious?
Possibly, uh, ritualistic?
- Well, let's play that one out.
Every ritual has its purpose.
What mo have we seen so far?
- First they bound her.
Then they ripped out
her tongue, poisoned her
paralyzed her forced her
to swallow the cloth.
Then, uh, the cuts, the
internal mutilation, stabs.
Then as if that wasn't enough,
they burned her.
Almost like a human sacrifice
- I got to tell you we have
serious weather reports
coming in from all the monitoring
stations across the state.
We've got a flash flood
warning now in full effect
for all of Grantham county.
They've got concerns about..
- You can't kill
someone this way
without leaving a trace
on the outside.
She doesn't even have
a broken nail.
- If we could just find out
why she was tortured...
- down here, if you can't see it
touch it, it doesn't matter.
- Now, these bodies
are not just cods, dad.
This happened to her
for a reason.
- Trust me when I tell you
this is not a storm you
wanna get caught in, folks.
If you're home, stay home.
One thing's for sure.
You're not going anywhere.
- Hey, dad?
I think maybe
we should get out of here.
Help me with this.
- Holy shit.
- What the fuck?
Dad? Dad?
- Here!
Let's get the fuck out of here.
- Come on, come on.
- The generator.
- There's not enough power.
- It's stuck.
Help me with this.
Help me with this!
The old sycamore fell.
- Fuck!
- The office. The landline.
- What the hell was that?
- I don't know.
Oh, thank god.
- Harding county
Sheriff Department.
- This is Tommy Tilden.
It's an emergency. We need help.
- Sorry, I've trouble hearing...
- put Burke on the line.
- This is Burke.
- Sheldon, this is Tommy.
You better get over here now.
- Hello? Tommy, I can scarcely hear you.
Your voice is breaking up.
- Sheldon! Sheldon, we're
trapped down here, godda..
Sheldon, please...
- Tommy.
- What the fuck is going on?
It's her.
Everything was fine until Burke
wheeled her through that door.
- Son...
- Until we cut into her.
- You're talking about a corpse.
- These things we found
inside her
her injuries, those marks.
You can't say she's just a body.
We should have left.
I wanted to leave.
Dad!
Oh.
- No!
Dad! Dad!
Dad?
- Oh, shit. Oh..
- Oh, my god.
Oh, my god.
- Careful, careful.
Oh, god! Ohh.
Help me up.
- Yeah.
- I'm fine.
They were Grey.
Her eyes.
It had her eyes.
- That's what I've been trying
to tell you.
It's her.
- Oh, no, that's not possible.
- No, her body
those things we found inside,
those were impossible.
Whatever the hell
happened in here..
We are way past possible.
It's her.
- So, what do we do?
Rapid decomp.
- Everything we took out of her.
That's almost like her body
was preserving it.
- Must get her
to the crematorium.
- Fuck it.
- Jesus!
Behind you, the extinguisher.
The pin. Pull the pin.
No.
The elevator.
- Come on.
No, no, no, no! Fuck!
Come on. Come on. Come on.
Come on!
Go, dad. Come on.
Come on.
Emma.
Oh, no!
Oh, no, no!
Oh, my god!
Oh, no! No!
No!
- Oh, my god.
- No!
Oh, no, no, no!
- Austin..
Austin, the elevator.
Come on, now. Come on.
Come on, son.
Fuck!
Fuck!
- I told her
to come back for me.
I told her to come back.
- No, you didn't do this.
You shouldn't be here.
All this is my fault.
- You couldn't have known.
- Yeah.
Yeah, that's what
everyone told me..
About your mom.
You know why
I used to call her ray?
Ray of sunshine.
She thought it was corny
as shit.
But it stuck.
If I'd have known,
I would have helped her.
You know that, don't you?
I mean, she was always
so bright.
So happy.
To think she was carrying around
all that
pain, all that unhappiness
every day.
I should've seen it.
But I didn't.
She had to deal with it alone.
All these mistakes..
My mistakes..
And you had to pay for them.
- Why hasn't she killed us yet?
- Well, it's not for
want of trying.
- Well, look what she can do..
If she wanted us dead.
When we cut into her..
She tried to stop us each time.
It's like there's something
she doesn't want us to find.
- You wanna go back in there?
- If we stay here, we're dead.
If we could just figure out
how she died..
Maybe we can figure out
how to stop her.
Dad?
- Right behind you.
Keep moving.
Austin?
Ah!
- Dad?
- No!
- Dad?
Dad. Dad.
Come on. Come on.
Come on.
Okay.
Brain... Is normal.
- There's got to be something.
All her other organs
are scarred.
- What the fuck?
- What is it?
- That's why we couldn't find
cause of death.
- She's still alive.
- Alive?
We lit her on fire.
We took out her heart.
- There's something,
some energy.
Call it what you want, something
is keeping her going.
- What the..
Leviticus.
- Let me see that.
Leviticus.
Twenty. Twenty seven.
- If these are Roman numerals
then they'd be..
- "Any man or woman
"who consults
the spirits of the dead
"shall be put to death
for they are.."
- Dad.
Seventeenth century.
North east.
New England.
"They are a witch
and their blood shall be on
their own heads."
It fits.
- Witches are a myth.
- You can't keep denying.
- There were no witches
in Salem.
They were kids. Young girls.
Falsely accused,
wrapped up in hysteria
one pointing to the next,
who pointed to the next
but they were all, all innocent.
Only... They didn't hang her..
Or burn her at the stake.
They tortured her..
Mercilessly.
- The ritual.
It didn't work.
- What if..
What if
the ritual,
performed on an innocent
accidentally created the very
thing we're trying to destroy?
Everything they did to her.
Everything we've done to her.
She can feel it.
She wants us... To feel it too.
That's why
she's keeping us alive.
This is her revenge.
This is her ritual.
- But why us?
- Why the Douglas'?
Why anybody?
We're on her path, that's all.
We were just stops
along the way.
Those who survived
got rid of her
and buried her
as far away as possible.
- That hasn't stopped her.
- Because no one
got close enough.
No one could see
what we have seen.
She's still suffering..
And it won't stop.
It won't stop until..
- Until what?
Dad, until what?
- I won't fight you.
But please..
Please don't hurt him.
Let me help you.
- Dad!
Dad?
No!
Dad!
Dad.
No.
- Please..
Please..
Please..
- Tommy!
- Austin! Are you there?
- Burke?
- Anyone there?
- Burke.
- Austin!
Austin! Are you down there?
We're sawing down a tree
blocking your door.
We'll be with you
right now, alright.
Austin!
- I'm here!
- Almost there.
You'll be alright.
Just open up the door now.
- It's stuck.
- Try again, son.
- I can't. It won't.
- Should open up now.
- It won't.
- Should open up.
- I'm trying. It's stuck.
- Open up.
- I can't.
- Open up!
- I can't.
- No obvious signs
of forced entry.
Looks an awful lot like he...
- I've known his family
20 years.
Whatever it looks like,
that ain't it.
- Well, it's going to be
another nice one out there.
Today's our fourth
straight day of sunshine.
Looking at a high of 75.
Beautiful outdoor weather
but remember to use
your sunscreen.
- What the hell happened here?
- What do you want to do
with her?
- Get her out of here.
- Already got a car waiting.
There's that, uh, funeral home
over in Ruxton.
- Get her out of my county.
Take her over to VCU.
Let ward Lamon deal with her.
- Now, baby, listen
that was one time.
Hell, yes, that's a promise.
- And you know what Hebrews
chapter four says
"the word of god is powerful."