<![CDATA[Canadian Unsolved Crimes - Septic Tank Sam

    On April 1st, 1977, the remains of an unnamed victim were located in a 1.8 metre deep, covered Septic Tank, from an abandoned farm house not far from Tofield, Alberta (about 60km Southeast of Edmonton). Described as a man around 28 years of age, around 5'6'' to 5'9" tall, between 150 to 180 lbs, with dark hair, wearing a white t-shirt underneath a blue Levis work shirt with snap buttons, blue jeans, grey wool socks and a pair of imitation Clarks Wallabee shoes. http://doenetwork.org/cases/1046umab.html

    Of all the cases I've personally researched, this was by far one of the most horrific examples of how sadistic some humans can be. "Septic Tank Sam" was nicknamed by the officers who described his crime as one of the most vindictive and cruel crime scenes that they had ever encountered, due to the amount of brutality that this man had faced before his death. He had been tied up and beaten, while his torturer/s burnt his body using a small butane blowtorch and cigarettes, which were noticeable on the remnants of his clothing. He was sexually mutilated and an autopsy on his body revealed that he had been shot at least two times in the head and chest before being thrown into the Septic Tank, head first, which was partially filled with water. He was then covered in limestone, in the murderer/s attempt to dissolve the body and any obvious scents associated with it, thinking that this would speed up the decomposition process. Unbeknownst to these criminals, they actually did the opposite. When a body is buried in quicklime which is then slaked with water, only a small degree of superficial ‘burning’ will result, and the intense heat generated by the chemical reaction will simply dry out, or ‘mummify’ a certain amount of the body tissue. When slaking occurs gradually by absorbing the water from the body itself or from the surrounding soil, there will again be partial desiccation (drying out) of the tissues. In both of these instances the effect will be to prevent putrefaction ( something that no murderer wants, especially if trying to dispose of a corpse!) and effectively ‘preserve’ the body against external decomposing agents which would have been at work if quicklime was not used. http://the7thwreck.wordpress.com/2005/12/25/why-not-to-use-quicklime-to-dispose-of-a-corpse/

    It was believed that the criminal/s who viciously murdered Septic Tank Sam, probably knew the area very well, which was located 13km west of Tofield, Alberta, and would've known that this abandoned, derelict farm existed, believing that the body wouldn't be discovered for a very long time. Forensic Pathologists came to the conclusion that Sam had been in the Septic Tank for at least 4 months, but could be up to a year, due to the limestone covering, which slowed down the usual bodies dissolution mechanism to decompose naturally. Since no one had come forward stating that they had a missing family member or friend, within that time frame, it was suggested that Sam had no close relatives and may have been a transient, or just passing through town. The officers had a victim, but no suspects, no motive and no evidence to suggest that he was killed on the farm property, only that the Septic Tank was the body dump site and no answers as to why this man was killed in such a inhumane manner. Judging by what Sam was wearing when he was found, it was thought that he may be a farm labourer or possibly a construction worker.

    In trying to identify who Septic Tank Sam was, his dental records were sent to over 800 dentists within the Alberta area, because Sam still had all of his teeth, some fillings and noticeable recent dental work. Sadly, this information revealed no new leads. Notices were then published in Canadian Dental magazines and bulletins nationwide, but again, no new evidence surfaced as to who Sam could be. Since no one had come forward in determining who Sam was, he was eventually laid to rest in an unmarked, pauper's grave, in an Edmonton Cemetery. It was also noted by examiners that Sam may have suffered from an illness at the age of 5...but no comments as to what the illness may have been. This was possibly revealed from observations made of Sam's bones and teeth, that brought them to this conclusion.

    In 1979, a forensic pathologist named Dr.Clyde Snow from Oklahoma was asked to reconstruct the skull of Sam to help in identifying him, which led to Sam's body being exhumed from the grave he had been buried in. Dr.Snow took 50 measurements of the skull and another 75 measurements of his bones, and fed this information into a computer program. Two conclusions came from Dr.Snow's findings; a) Sam was aboriginal b)Sam was 35 yrs old. However, they didn't want to rule out any possibilities, so Sam was officially listed as most likely Native, but possibly Caucasian, between the ages of 26 to 40 years of age.

    By 1983, after releasing facial recognition pictures of Septic Tank Sam in newspaper articles throughout Alberta, the murder was still unsolved, which prompted the RCMP to release details that they had kept private, for the sake of solving the case. They revealed that Sam had been rolled up in a yellow bedsheet and the sheet was tied with a nylon rope, around his head and body. Detectives had thought that Sam was subsequently tied down to a bed, while being tortured and lying on top of the yellow sheet that was used to eventually dispose of his body. Sam had burn marks on the sleeves of his shirt, the legs of his jeans, and one sock where the murderer/s had burned the sole of his foot. They also noted that the crotch area of his jeans looked as if it had been cut out with shears before sexually mutilating him.

    Over the last 36 years, Septic Tank Sam has had several recreations of facial recognition completed from his skull, with many leads surfacing from family looking for their lost relatives, that seemed promising, but never amounted to his identification. Today, Sam is no closer to being identified then the day he was found in 1977. The case of Septic Tank Sam remains open today and sadly, as every day passes, fewer witnesses or possible suspects are available due to the amount of time that has already passed, which is the reason why I've chosen to write about Sam's case. He and his family deserve to have the closure that most of us take for granted. R.I.P. Sam

Excerpts taken from CSI Alberta: The Secrets of Skulls and Skeletons by Peter B. Smith - http://books.google.ca/books?id=02t7hcfXIOsC&pg=PA51&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

If you have any information about this case please contact;
RCMP TOFIELD DETACHMENT
Agency Contact Person: Sergeant Jim Warren or Chief Medical Examiner
Agency Phone Number: 780-662-3353/ 780-427-4987 or toll-free from anywhere within the province of Albert 310-0000
Please quote Agency Case #7690-77