The Murder
Yvonne Layne died of an eight inch single slice to her neck. The laceration was 4 inches deep and it severed her carotid arteries and left jugular vein. The wound was so deep that the knife made a mark on her spinal cord. Joe Wilkes confessed to slicing her neck while she was seated on the couch next to him. He said she then stood up, walked over to the sliding glass doors by her patio, turned toward him and said “why?” She then collapsed. Of course, this is the same story that the investigators fed to Joe, which he ultimately used for his confession. However, Brent Turvey, a highly qualified and experienced criminal profiler and forensic scientist, reviewed the case file and determined there was no way the murder could have happened in the manner that Joe confessed. In Mr. Turvey’s professional opinion and experience, the wound had to have been received while the victim was standing in front of the sliding glass doors in her dining room. The blood spatter, which shows on the doors, is consistent with spurts of blood which would have sprayed out immediately upon her arteries being severed.
