Septic Tank Sam Identified After 44 Years
Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan
CrimeOnline and iHeartPodcasts
4.7 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2024
⏱️ 49 minutes
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Summary
April 1977, an unidentified body is pulled out of a septic tank and given the name, "Septic Tank Sam". The body had been burned before being wrapped in a yellow bed sheet and tied up with a nylon rope.
Today, Joseph Scott Morgan explains how it was possible that over four decades passed before "Sam" got his real name back. Attempts were made to find out the name of the man they called "Septic Tank Sam," but it wasn't until the scientists at Othram Labs got involved in the case that an answer was found.
Using genetic genealogy, Othram Labs was able to change the name of "Septic Tank Sam" and provide answers for the community that wondered, "whatever happened to Gordie?" "Septic Tank Sam" was actually Gordon "Gordie" Sanderson. Please check out Othram: A Revolution in Cold Case Resolution.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:05.95. Introduction - waste
00:04:14.33 The story of Septic Tank Sam
00:07:23.77 A couple looking in a septic tank finds a body
00:12:40.12 The body is protected
00:17:17.25 Environment helped preserve body
00:21:43.62 Discussion of desiccation
00:24:29.47 Body misidentified as caucasian
00:30:01.26 Cause of death, gunshot wound
00:35:04.01 Defining prone and supine
00:40:00.92 Identification of bodies
00:45:40.95 Identifies body as indigenous
00:47:11.38 Conclusion, Othram providing answers
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Body Facts with Joseph Scott Moore. |
| 0:06.0 | We hear the term waste, and I don't mean that thing which are belt in circles. I mean waste, W-A-S-T-E. It's got many connotations. You know, we can talk about, well, what a waste of talent. How many times have you heard that over the years? What a waste of my time. I think I may |
| 0:38.8 | have said that a couple of times in the last week, I'm not sure. But there's another kind of waste and in polite |
| 0:46.7 | company we generally don't want to speak about it but I've got to tell you |
| 0:50.8 | something. I've got a considerable amount of experience with it because it's |
| 0:57.4 | amazing what turns up from a forensics perspective in areas where human waste might actually be found. |
| 1:10.0 | Today's case in particular caught my attention and first off it's because of my friends at |
| 1:18.9 | Othram that did an incredible job of getting this individual identified, but it also has to do with the tragic life story of a man who for years and years was simply known as |
| 1:40.4 | septic Tank Sam. |
| 1:49.0 | I'm Joseph Scott Morgan and this is body bags. Dave, I have used the analogy that, you know, sometimes you, in death investigation, you think you've taken the elevator all the way to the |
| 2:05.6 | basement but yet when you get there you realize there's more depth there's further |
| 2:12.3 | you can go and the things that you behold before you are quite striking things that most people would not normally think of. |
| 2:20.0 | I got a quick tail to tell you. |
| 2:29.0 | Toward the end of my career in Atlanta, I got called out to |
| 2:35.0 | Solid Waste, Solid Waste processing plant. |
| 2:38.5 | Most people don't really understand how these big water treatment, sewage treatment places work. |
| 2:46.1 | And it's quite disgusting but it's the reality of what we do |
| 2:55.0 | when human waste the stuff that comes out of the sewer, is processed. It literally, they have separation process that occurs, where all of the liquid is |
| 3:00.3 | essentially drained off and down a big conveyor belt and into these bins |
| 3:06.1 | drops all that remains and you would be shocked at the things that you would find in there. |
| 3:15.0 | And unfortunately if you're a medical legal death investigator |
| 3:19.0 | when you show up at the scene and there is a human remain in this bin. There's nobody there |
... |
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