First posted September 3, 2009
Forensic analysis would reveal extensive urine stains on the back of Tammy’s pants legs, as well as a secondary urine stain on the back of her underwear. Note well that the urine on Tammy’s pants and underwear would be of different blood and secretion types, meaning that the two urine stains came from two different sources.1,2,3
(Secretors, who make up 80% of the population, shed DNA with their urine. Non-secretors, who make up the other 20%, do not shed DNA with their urine.)1,2,3
The type of urine on the pants was type O secretor, the most common of blood-urine types. The type of urine found on the back of the underwear was type A non-secretor. 31% of the population has type A blood. 20% of the population carries the gene for non-secretor urine.1,2,3
In other words, the odds of a person carrying type A non-secretor urine is relatively minimal.
Eric Stukel is a carrier of this rare type of urine and blood, but Tammy Haas was not.3
Further, there was no known cross-contamination between the type O secretor urine on the pants and the type A non-secretor urine on the underwear, suggesting that the type O secretor urine got on the back of Tammy’s pant legs at one time, and the second source of urine—the one matching Stukel’s—got on the back of her underwear at another time.3
Helpful to understanding how this could be was the condition of Tammy’s body when it was found in the ravine, with her pants off and her underwear in the proper position.1,2
The position of Tammy’s body on the ravine floor suggested that she was barrel rolled down the steep incline of the ravine, with her shoes and purse being thrown into the ravine from somewhere near the top of the slope.1,2,3
According to pathologists Dr. Brad Randall, with Laboratory Clinical Medicine in Sioux Falls and Dr. Thomas Bennett, Iowa State Medical Examiner, none of Tammy’s injuries were consistent with any type of fall.3
The only injury Tammy incurred having anything to do with Country 121 was an abrasion on her back, broken by the waistband of her underwear. This injury most likely occurred when Tammy was pulled from Eric Stukel’s trunk and dragged by her armpits across County 121.1,2,3
Yellow reflective paint beads on her jeans, consistent with the type of reflective paint used to mark the highway lines on this road also would seem to indicate this was the means by which she was dragged to the top of the ravine. 1,2
Sandburs that had collected on Tammy’s underwear indicated that she had been pulled under the guardrail at the top of the ravine, above where her body was found. This was the only place that the species of flora consistent with these type of bur were found in the vicinity. 1,2,4
The only reasonable way to explain the sandburs caught in her underwear was that Tammy’s pants had become unbuckled and had fallen loose around her hips at some point in the process of her body being moved, probably when she was being dragged across the road. 1,2
When investigators took Stukel to the location of the ravine, they parked some distance away from where the body was discovered. According to Sheriff Dave Hunhoff, “(Stukel) walked up to the area where the body was found. No direction was given to him. He walked very deliberately to the area in line with where the body was found. He made a deliberate right turn, staring over the area where the body was found. There were no (marker) flags to be seen.” 4
When asked why he knew where to go, according to Hunhoff, Stukel claimed he could tell “‘by the grass’ but you couldn’t tell from that point anyone had walked down there…his response was he just knew.”4
(When I attempted to find the ravine when I came back from leave after basic training and jump school, I thought I had found the spot. It seemed to match the pictures in the media I had seen.5 It turns out I was at the wrong ravine, a half mile down the road. I guess the pictures in the newspapers and my military training in tracking were not helpful to me.)
According to friends, the jeans Tammy wore that night were loose fitting and had been safety pinned at the button to keep them in place.
If this were the case, her pants coming unfastened during a struggle or during her transport in the trunk would also seem to make sense.1,2,3
Because Tammy’s feet were clean, we can assume that her shoes were still on her feet when she died and had only come off in the process of her delivery to the ravine.1,2
Why make such a big deal about all these little details?
These little details matter, and may tell the tale of Tammy’s demise.
According the prosecution, the physical evidence indicated that Tammy was assaulted and killed, that she was placed in Eric Stukel’s trunk, that she was dragged and dumped into the ravine.1,2,3
This is what experts had determined, based upon the physical evidence.1,2,3
Back to the troubling matter of those two sources of urine…
The lack of dirt, debris, burs, and paint beads from the road on Tammy’s bare legs, as well as the position and the location of the jeans in relationship to the body where it was discovered in the ravine suggested that somebody had to have tampered with the body after it came to a rest at the bottom of the slope, not during her transport or death.1,2,3
After Tammy’s body came to a rest facedown at the bottom of the slope, somebody returned and yanked her pants down so they were hanging off one leg…but why would anybody possibly want to do this.1,2
WORKS CITED
1. Rothanzl, Lorna. “Testimony Begins in Stukel Trial.” Yankton Press and Dakotan, Sept. 27, 1996
2. Rothanzl, Lorna. “More Evidence Offered In Stukel Trial.” Yankton Press and Dakotan, Sept. 28, 1996
3. Rothanzl, Lorna. “Experts Testify in Stukel Trial: Medical Examiner Says Death Not From Fall.” Yankton Press and Dakotan, Oct. 1, 1996
4. Rothanzl, Lorna. “New Clues Revealed: Sufficient Evidence Binds Stukel Over to District Court.” Yankton Press and Dakotan, Oct. 31, 1995
5. Anderson, Dan. “Clues sought in Tammy Haas’ death.” Yankton Press and Dakotan, Sept. 24, 1992
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