MovieChat Forums > Ghosts of Mississippi (1997) Discussion > The corpse was in near-perfect condition...

The corpse was in near-perfect condition!?


...25 years later? Is that possible??

See, this is what the holidays are all about. Three buddies sitting around chewing gum.

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Certain Saints have incorruptable bodies that are on display in some churches. I think that might have been the implication.

I haven't killed a man since 1984

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Southern Baptists rise again after three days.

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Chromium_5:

Brian could be right about the saint-like reference, but I have another idea. If we can believe anything a character from the "CSI" show says, then that nearly perfect condition is the mark of "an excellent embalmer".

:)

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Yes, it is possible. There are a lot of factors involved, such as how the body was prepared, what kind of coffin and soil they were buried in, the weather conditions, etc.

My father helped move a cemetery in Indiana back in the 1960s, because a large dam and reservoir were being built in the area, and he has told the story many times about how one of the coffins broke open as he was moving it with a crane and the lady who fell out was perfectly preserved, although she was hard, like stone. She had long red hair and he said the only sign on her body of anything wrong with her was an ulcerous sore on her leg.

He said they had to call the county coroner to come out and oversee her re-burial and they had a heck of a time finding guys willing to touch her corpse.

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That's a cool story. Thanks for telling it.

You're spending too much time in the water, Bruce!

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it's a true story, I was watching AUTOPSY on HBO and DR. Baden I believe was the coroner who did the 2nd autopsy when he was exumed

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You're absolutely correct hackerman6731; I saw the same program. Do not quote me on this but I THINK the name of it was something like "When the Dead Speak". It was about the criminalistics work that Dr. Baden did when working with fresh or preserved corpses. It was a very educational program when viewed objectively. I was just as amazed as some of you were when I saw the well-preserved body of Medgar Evers. His body was in perfect condition as Dr. Baden pointed out. Also, Medgar's son oversaw the second autopsy as Dr. Baden pointed out. Dr. Baden also noted the striking resemblance between Medgar and his son and how surreal the whole experience was. If I'm not mistaken (and I could be, so correct me if I'm wrong); the son wanted to be at the 2nd autopsy because, at the time I Medgar's murder, he (the son) was too young to really recall his martyred father.

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Yep, actually it was 28 years later.

Have you ever seen HBO'S "Autopsy" series with Dr. Michael Baden?

Well Baden was the pathologist who handled Evers' remains in 1991 when he was exhumed. It actually happened. Just a freak occurance of nature, I guess. All the elements lining up just right - a perfectly sealed casket, a good embalming job, the soil being just right.. who knows.

I think it would've been interesting if Baden or some other expert had elaborated some theories on how it may have happened.

But it really did. "Autopsy" even showed a photograph of the actual body. The corpse really did look very good. Well enough for his family to see. Crazy, I know.

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This was very true. My best friends father has been a undertaker for Arlington, Va for 30 some years. He was one of the people that exhumed the body for the trial. He said the only thing missing was Medgar's fingernails. It just shows what goes around comes around, point blank.

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Apparently so. As I recalled reading (and seeing) one of his sons who did not remember him and also resembled him got to see his father. He was perfectly preserved.

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Sure. Kind of describes my boss.

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I suppose if Lennin's doing ok after all these years, why not Medgar Evers?

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