Judy Burgin's Remains At The Samovar Inn

On August 28th, 1993, the decomposing remains of a person were discovered in Anchorage, Alaska. The remains were hidden in the woods, discovered by a group of cyclists months after the person’s death. The body had been wrapped in a white bed sheet with orange stitching, and the skull of the body was caved in badly. A small red fiber of unknown origin was found within the white sheet as well. The remains were identified as Judy Burgin, a woman who had gone missing in April of that year. Up until the discovery of her remains, Burgin was last seen at a local bar, O’Toole’s Restaurant located at the Samovar Inn. At that time, she had confessed to the bartender that she was carrying a large amount of cash and a ticket to Hawaii and was planning

This sheet had a notable unique property: its orange stitching, despite the rest of the sheet being white. Strange stitching such as this is common with hotel sheets; sheets from hotels are often sent to a commercial laundromat where the sheets of many different hotel chains are washed at the same time. In order to differentiate sheets from those of other hotels, a hotel often owns sheets that have unique colored stitching. Police initially suspected the sheets to have originated from the Samovar Inn where Burgin had been seen last before her disappearance, but the sheets used by the Inn did not have orange stitching. After further investigation, a match was finally located. The only hotel that could be found to have orange stitching was the Sheraton Hotel in Anchorage. The police soon after found out that this hotel was a place where Carl Brown used to be employed. This was not conclusive proof against the man, as there are many other people who could have stolen the sheets from the hotel, but it was still a notable connection between the body and

This time, he was caught in a lie, admitting to knowing the cause of death of Burgin despite the fact not having been given to any news outlets. Brown was arrested and sent to trial, where he was convicted for first-degree murder and sentenced to 85 years in prison. Burgin’s remains, the white sheet, and the red fiber were all important pieces of evidence that led to this case’s conclusion. The red fiber was an especially important piece of evidence, as without it the case would likely have gone cold and never been properly solved. The murder of Judy Burgin shows just how important fiber analysis and microscopy can be as a forensic investigative