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Home My WebLink About06-5550 IN RE: VESTA BEATRICE HAUFE, IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA A Deceased Person CIVIL ACTION - EQUITY NO. 06 - ;-S-SO CIVIL PETITION FOR EXHUMATION TO THE HONORABLE, THE JUDGES OF SAID COURT: The Petition of MICHAEL L. NORRIS, Coroner of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, by his solicitor, Marlin R. McCaleb, Esquire, respectfully represents as follows: 1. Your Petitioner herein is Michael L. Norris, duly elected Coroner of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, with an office and place of business at 6375 Basehore Road, Suite 1, Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17055. 2. On or about June 11, 2004, in the performance of his duties as Coroner, your Petitioner was called to an area along the shoulder of the Pennsylvania turnpike, near milepost 216.6, in West Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, to view the partially decomposed body of a deceased female. 3. An examination of the decedent's body disclosed blunt force trauma to the head and chest, as the result of which your petitioner ruled her death as homicide (Coroner's Case No. 29- 280) . 4. The decedent was subsequently identified as Vesta Beatrice Haufe, formerly of Knoxville, Tennessee, who was known to be a prostitute who frequented truck stops. LAW OFFICES MARLIN R. McCALEB 5. As the result of the decomposition of the decedent's body, the Pennsylvania State Police laboratory at Greensburg was unable to successfully obtain decedent's DNA. 6. Decedent's body, being primarily skeletal remains as the result of the decomposition of the decedent's body, was interred in Crypt No.5, Section B, of the mausoleum at Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Upper Allen Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. 7. Your petitioner has been in contact with Dr. Arthur Eisenberg, a molecular biologist at the University of North Texas Health Science Center and a consultant to the FBI in DNA testing, who believes it may be possible to extract DNA from the decedent's femur bone. 8. Your petitioner believes and therefore avers that there is a reasonable possibility that DNA testing of the Decedent's femur bone may result in the proper identification of her DNA. 9. Your petitioner believes and therefore avers that evidence of the decedent's DNA may be important in the future if the perpetrator of her homicide is identified and prosecuted. 10. Your Petitioner desires to exhume the decedent's body from its resting place in the mausoleum at the Chestnut Hill Cemetery aforesaid, to remove her femur bone for DNA testing, after which decedent's body will be reinterred in the said mausoleum at the Chestnut Hill Cemetery aforesaid. LAW OFFICES MARLIN R. McCALEB -2- 11. Your Petitioner will deliver the decedent's femur bone to Dr. Eisenberg for DNA testing as aforesaid, after which the femur bone will be returned to and held by your Petitioner, in custody, pending future prosecution of the perpetrator of the decedent's homicide. 12. The expenses of exhumation and reinterment of the decedent's body and of the DNA testing will be paid by the Coroner of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. 13. The decedent's next-of-kin, her daughter, Michele Reno, an adult individual presently residing in Dandridge, Tennessee, has been informed of, and consents to, your Petitioner's request for exhumation and DNA testing (see Exhibit "A"). WHEREFORE, your Petitioner respectfully requests your Honorable Court to order the exhumation and reinterment of the body of Vesta Beatrice Haufe, the DNA testing of the femur bone by Dr. Arthur Eisenberg, of the University of North Texas Health Science Center, and Petitioner's retention of said femur bone pending further proceedings in the death of said decedent. iz~~ Attorney I.D. No. 06353 219 East Main Street P.O. Box 230 Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055 (717) 691-7770 FAX: (717) 691-7772 Attorney for Petitioner LAW OFFICES MARLIN R. McCALEB -3- VERIFICATION MICHAEL L. NORRIS certifies and states as follows: that I am the Coroner of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and the petitioner in the foregoing Petition for Exhumation; and that the facts set forth in the foregoing petition are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. I understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S., Date: September 19 , 2006 Section 4904, relating to ~, Coroner unsworn falsification. LAW OFFICES MARLIN R. McCALEB -4 - Exhibit IIAII I, MICHELE RENO, daughter and next-of-kin of Vesta Beatrice Haufe, the decedent herein, hereby agree and consent to the Petitioner's request to exhume the body of my mother, Vesta Beatrice Haufe, to remove her femur bone for DNA testing, to reinter her body in its original burial place, to deliver her femur bone for DNA testing, and after such testing to retain her femur bone in custody pending further proceedings in her death. Date: ~, 2006 LAW OFFICES MARLIN R. McCALEB -5- ~\ - 0 ~(;""" v<:> '\-' V\ ~ (] ... ~; ~ fri ~ C> ~ '" \: ~ 3- ('0 ("""-. j:' l.'> cs-- N c:::> c::> .:;r> (/) i11 -U N N ~ ~~ :g~ ;:)6 :::';:\-,... -0 fS 6 ::::: ..7' rn - ~ .- :S <:,...) .::<:, ,.n J... I) t .. . srp 2 5 2006~ IN RE: VESTA BEATRICE HAUFE, IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA A Deceased Person CIVIL ACTION - EQUITY NO. 06 - S-~S-O CIVIL ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this ~ day of ~ , 2006, upon consideration of the within Petition and upon motion of Marlin R. McCaleb, Esquire, attorney for Petitioner, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND DIRECTED that Michael L. Norris, Coroner of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, exhume the body of Vesta Beatrice Haufe (Coroner's Case No. 29-280), remove her femur bone, reinter the said body in its original burial place, deliver the femur bone to Dr. Arthur Eisenberg of the University of North Texas Health Science Center for DNA testing and thereafter retain and hold said femur bone in his custody pending further proceedings in the death of Vesta~trice Haufe. .,/ ~ J. ~c~a~l L. Norris, Coroner Petltloner M6rlin R. McCaleb, Esquire vAttorney for Petitioner \Q /)/ ,D~ ,D LAW OFFICES MARLIN R. McCALEB 1:/1 ["[1..'--'<':;::::""1::: I -1...:1-..J ...",,1 I 'V,_ ("F Twr- r;;::-""'-.I.')\ cr!~!JRY <...) .,IC r....J. .....u/'u. 2006 OCT -2 AN if: 26 C., ii'!i l..,._"._. ., I }'."'\I '.e. \.,:.h. ;\1 i I