The Truro Murders in retrospect: a historical review of the identification of the victims.
Rated among the most bizarre crimes in Australia's criminal history, the Truro Murders, like the Albury "Pyjama Girl" case in 1934, attracted widespread national interest and depended heavily on forensic odontology for the identification of the victims, and the subsequent apprehension of an offender. The serial killings of seven young women from various suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, was revealed after their skeletonised remains were discovered near the rural township of Truro, South Australia, and two other locations, about two years after their disappearance in 1976-77. Prompt identification of the victims permitted an early start to be made on the investigation of these crimes. Comparison with dental records provided positive identification for five of the seven victims, and dental evidence supported the identification of two victims whose dental records previously had been destroyed. Cranio-facial video superimposition was used to complement the identification of all seven. This paper reviews the main events in the context of history, with particular emphasis on the problems encountered in the identification of the victims from dental records and discusses the impact of the case on the development of forensic odontology in Australia.
Brown
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Department of Dentistry, University of Adelaide, Australia.
D000328:Adult; D003792:Dental Records; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans