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[♫]
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Narrator: An international
team of forensic experts
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is flying in to the scene
of a 90 year old crime
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in a far-flung Siberian forest,
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including a leading
forensic anthropologist
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and veteran of the 9/11 investigation,
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Anthony Falsetti.
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Anthony Falsetti:
It's really vast out here.
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So desolate and so
far away from civilization,
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but that's where two
bodies are supposed to be.
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Narrator: It's another case
of huge significance,
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especially for Russia.
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The remains of long lost
members of its royal family
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may have been found at last,
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but nobody knows for sure.
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The truth of what happened to the Romanovs
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has long been blurred by myth and legend.
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Did the royal line of Russia
end in a violent murder
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or did an heir to the
throne escape and survive?
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The investigation team
also includes Dr. Michael Coble,
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a leading forensic DNA expert
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who works for the Pentagon,
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identifying the remains
of American soldiers.
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With the American military's
laboratories at his full disposal,
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he'll attempt to put names
to these mystery bones.
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The team is headed into a remote forest,
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20 kilometers outside the
Siberian city of Yekaterinburg.
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[♫]
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This far-flung industiral outpost
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is where the fate of
Russia's royal family was written.
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Five children,
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born into royalty.
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The grand duchesses Olga and Tatiana,
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the flower of young womanhood.
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Maria and Anastasia are
beguiling teenagers.
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13 year old Crown Prince Alexei
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is the boy born to be king.
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Millions of loyal Russians revere them,
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even worship them.
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A divine family set on
Earth to rule the nation.
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But the Romanov line would end with them.
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1917, the Russian Revolution.
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In its wake, a civil war raged,
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the Bolsheviks against
the Czarist loyalists.
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[explosions/gunshots]
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The royal family was imprisoned,
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exiled to Siberia,
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under house arrest in Yekaterinburg.
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But their popularity among the masses
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presented a problem for
the fledgling Soviet administration.
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The Bolshevik leadership
planned a show trial
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and execution for the Czar.
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Perhaps wary of a Populist backlash,
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some accounts say Lenin
wanted the rest of the family kept alive
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as political pawns.
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From here, forensic
anthropologist Dr. Anthony Falsetti
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and the investigative team
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have to complete their journey on foot,
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to meet the man who may
have made a stunning historical find.
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[indistinct greetings]
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Falsetti: So, what did you find?
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Where did you find it?
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[speaking Russian]
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How deep was the burial?
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Narrator: The remains have been
moved to a morgue for safekeeping.
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Falsetti: What else did
you find with it, any artifcats?
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[translating into Russian]
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[speaking Russian]
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Falsetti: What I'm hearing
from these archeologists
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is they have bones,
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maybe some projectiles.
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What we don't have is any evidence
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of a really controlled excavation,
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and it's quite frankly making me nervous.
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Narrator: So far,
there's not much to go on.
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There's no evidence of the crime scene
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and scant documentation
to support the find.
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The Romanov case has
been plagued by hoaxes
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and coverups over the years
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and this latest find may be no different.
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In the days after the murders,
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newspapers reported only
that the Czar had been killed.
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For eight years, the
Soviet state maintained
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that the rest of the royal
family was alive and well,
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but the coverup failed,
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forcing the Russian
government to change its story
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and make a shocking admission.
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All 11 members of the royal
household had been executed.
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Then came reported
sightings of Prince Alexei
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and Princess Anastasia.
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Were the children dead or alive?
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Sensational rumors kept emerging.
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In Mosow, there was unease
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about the exact fate of the Romanovs.
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An imposter claiming to be Alexei
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was officially investigated.
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Years pass.
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Under Stalin's iron rule,
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it was forbidden to
even mention the royal family.
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In the 1950s, a member
of the original firing squad
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surfaced in the United States.
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Austrian Rudolf Lacher
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claimed he had been left to guard a truck
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carrying the royal bodies.
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When it got stuck in the
mud in the middle of a forest,
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he said he helped a
wounded Anastasia escape.
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[pained breathing]
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The Romanov legend and
rumors of a surviving heir
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were revived.
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After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991,
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local academics armed with
shovels and vital information
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ventured into the
Koptyaki Forest to dig.
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Although the Romanovs
executioners were long dead,
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papers handed down by
the commander, Yakov Yurovsky,
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held clues as to where the bodies
of the royal household might lie.
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The dig revealed a shallow grave,
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skulls, bones, full skeletons,
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but something was missing.
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Peter Sarandinaki: In 1991,
nine sets of remains were found.
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There were 11 people that were killed
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in Yekaterinburg that night.
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Two sets of remains were still missing.
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Narrator: The Czar and Czarina,
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three of their daughters,
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and four attendants are identified,
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but two of the youngest royal children
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aren't among the dead.
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Now, little more than
60 meters from the first grave,
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a second find is being investigated
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by leading American forensic experts.
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Locked away in a
Yekaterinburg city morgue,
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the newly uncovered bones
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will be subject to the most intensive
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21st century forensic analysis.
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[♫]
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Did all of the Russian
royals come to a violent end
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at the hands of Bolshevik executioners?
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Or could the legends be true?
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Did two of Czar
Nicholas's children survive?
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Forensic anthropologist Anthony Falsetti
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and DNA expert Michael Coble
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are about to get their
first look at the bones
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that may answer these intriuging questions
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once and for all.
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Under lock and key
in the Yekaterinburg morgue,
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access to these potentially royal remains
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is tightly controlled.
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In the year 2000, the Romanovs
were canonized as martyrs
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by the Russian Orthodox Church.
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If authenticated, these
bones could become holy relics.
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Anthony Falsetti is on
stranger to these halls.
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He was part of the original team
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assembled in the 1990s
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to investigate the first
set of Romanov bones.
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The investigation and its findings
proved highly controversial,
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sparking a very public row.
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[indistinct speech]
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Russian scientists used
facial reconstruction techniques
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to claim that one of the
bodes was that of Anastasia,
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but others were unconvinced.
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Still more troubling was
the body count discrepancy.
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Man: Two bodies are still missing
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and it is a mystery.
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Narrator: If two bodies were missing,
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was the entire grave
unrelated to the Romanovs?
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There were accusations
of political interference
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and rushed, rash conclusions.
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In the end, the Russian Orthodox Church
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rejected the DNA evidence as tainted
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and refused to
acknowledge that the remains
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were in fact the Romanovs.
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But now this new find
could change all that,
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and this time the team wants
to avoid the storm of publicity
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that engulfed investigations in 1991.
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But the Romanov mystery
is an enduring fascination.
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[♫]
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Man: We arrive into the lab
and there's a massive number of cameras
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and people doing interviews
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while we're trying to look at the remains.
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Narrator: The start of the latest
investigation makes the evening news.
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[speaking Russian]
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But once the cameras have gone,
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a critical story emerges.
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Falsetti: Once the cameras were gone,
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we get down to work
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and what I discover is that
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these 44 fragments,
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many we're not going to
be able to identify as being human.
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Perhaps they're not.
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There's just not enough material here.
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Narrator: These shattered remains
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look nothing like
the nearly complete skeletons
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found in 1991.
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Broken, almost unrecognizable.
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But careful inspection by expert eyes
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reveals the fragmentary remains are human.
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Man: Two people.
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Narrator: But exactly who
are they the remains of?
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Could these be the bones
of Alexei, Maria, or Anastasia,
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or do they belong
to someone else entirely?
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Falsetti: The mystery within the mystery
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is what happened to Anastasia?
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Did she escape?
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Or, is she here?
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Right now, I can't tell
whether I've two females
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or a male and a female,
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or whether these fragments
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are part of the other bones
that were already recovered.
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Narrator: Handling and photographing
what may be the bones of saints
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is a delicate matter.
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Each fragment must be handled
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with the greatest respect and sensitivity.
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[♫]
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Then, after intricate examination,
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a breakthrough.
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Falsetti: It doesn't look like much.
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It is a portion of the pelvis.
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It is our os-cox.
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And, as it turns out,
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it is from a female.
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We can deduce that by the sciatic notch.
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In males, it would be more narrow.
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In females,
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it is quite wide.
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That is critical.
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We know we have two people.
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Now we know that one of them is female.
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Narrator: A male and a female.
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Body parts from two individuals.
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But are they the missing Romanov children?
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Anthony Falsetti and
the forensic anthropologists
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will have to dig deeper.
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For Mike Coble and the DNA team,
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there's another problem.
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These bones show evidence of burning.
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Michael Coble: Looking at the remains,
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I'm beginning to think
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this is going to be a very difficult case.
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When, when the bone is burned,
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there's a lot of heat generated
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which is not very good for DNA.
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Take our sample from down here.
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2.5, 3 centimeter cut.
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Narrator: Michael Coble selects fragments
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most likely to yield readable DNA.
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Minute pieces will be cut off
and sent to his lab in America
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and to other researchers around the world
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for independent analysis.
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Coble: These are the
fragments that we think...
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Narrator: But teasing
out the 90 year old genes
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that may lie dormant in the fragments
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will take weeks
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and the chances that
the DNA has survived intact
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are slim.
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[♫]
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For the forensic team,
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a few pieces of badly damaged bone
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isn't much to go on.
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But, in the town where the
Romanov family met their end,
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there are more leads to pursue.
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[♫]
262
00:13:38,402 --> 00:13:40,551
Local archeologist Sergei Prokofiev
263
00:13:40,551 --> 00:13:41,635
was one of the excavators
264
00:13:41,635 --> 00:13:44,863
who found the second lot of bones in 2007.
265
00:13:46,377 --> 00:13:48,260
He has kept and carefully stored evidence
266
00:13:48,260 --> 00:13:50,399
taken from the grave in the forest.
267
00:13:51,051 --> 00:13:52,630
Among the artifacts he's preserved
268
00:13:52,630 --> 00:13:55,332
are fragments of a wooden crate,
269
00:13:55,332 --> 00:13:56,782
quantities of ash,
270
00:13:56,782 --> 00:13:58,846
and some pieces of pottery.
271
00:13:59,580 --> 00:14:01,329
Each is a clue to what might have happened
272
00:14:01,329 --> 00:14:03,137
when the remains were buried.
273
00:14:03,137 --> 00:14:09,619
[♫]
274
00:14:09,619 --> 00:14:11,501
The ash corroborates with burn marks
275
00:14:11,501 --> 00:14:13,391
found on the bones.
276
00:14:14,757 --> 00:14:17,587
A grim picture is
beginning to materialize.
277
00:14:17,587 --> 00:14:19,086
Falsetti: What kind of container...
278
00:14:22,352 --> 00:14:23,012
[Grunt]
279
00:14:23,012 --> 00:14:26,590
Narrator: The pottery shards are
perhaps the most compelling evidence.
280
00:14:26,590 --> 00:14:29,125
They match similar fragments
found in the nearby grave
281
00:14:29,125 --> 00:14:31,715
uncovered in 1991.
282
00:14:31,715 --> 00:14:32,996
Falsetti: These are the ones from 1991?
283
00:14:32,996 --> 00:14:36,045
Sergei Prokofiev:
Da [continues in Russian]
284
00:14:36,045 --> 00:14:37,362
Narrator: Other pieces of the puzzle
285
00:14:37,362 --> 00:14:39,962
will have to be found
and put together correctly
286
00:14:39,962 --> 00:14:42,376
before a true picture can emerge
287
00:14:42,376 --> 00:14:44,278
of exactly what happened in the forest
288
00:14:44,278 --> 00:14:48,059
outside Yekaterinburg
more than 90 years ago.
289
00:14:48,059 --> 00:14:52,099
[indistinct speech]
290
00:14:52,099 --> 00:14:55,309
The most important pieces to that puzzle:
291
00:14:56,925 --> 00:14:58,825
three bullets.
292
00:14:59,791 --> 00:15:01,037
Exhumed from the grave,
293
00:15:01,037 --> 00:15:02,836
these projectiles may be the very bullets
294
00:15:02,836 --> 00:15:06,190
that killed the heir
to the Romanov throne.
295
00:15:06,190 --> 00:15:07,640
[gunshot]
296
00:15:08,313 --> 00:15:11,963
If they match the bullets
found in the nearby grave in 1991,
297
00:15:11,963 --> 00:15:14,478
a conclusive forensic
connection could be made
298
00:15:14,478 --> 00:15:17,277
between the two graves.
299
00:15:17,277 --> 00:15:25,710
[♫]
300
00:15:25,710 --> 00:15:28,700
The bullets are taken for expert analysis.
301
00:15:30,633 --> 00:15:32,083
When fired from a gun,
302
00:15:32,083 --> 00:15:33,982
a bullet is scored
with distinctive scratches
303
00:15:33,982 --> 00:15:36,429
as it travels through the barrel.
304
00:15:38,578 --> 00:15:42,148
These so-called ball
markings are like fingerprints.
305
00:15:45,915 --> 00:15:49,496
The first of the three bullets found
in the 2007 grave excavation
306
00:15:49,496 --> 00:15:52,760
is too damaged for analysis,
307
00:15:53,794 --> 00:15:56,976
but the other two have survived intact.
308
00:15:59,176 --> 00:16:03,791
Initial tests show the other two bullets
have nearly identical ball marks,
309
00:16:03,791 --> 00:16:07,140
implying that the same
kind of gun was used.
310
00:16:08,025 --> 00:16:09,449
Tech [interpreted from Russian]:
We can determine that the bullets
311
00:16:09,449 --> 00:16:13,154
were shot from the same weapon,
a browning pistol.
312
00:16:13,154 --> 00:16:15,837
Narrator: The type of weapon may
have been identified,
313
00:16:15,837 --> 00:16:20,797
but the results have exposed
yet another twist in the tale.
314
00:16:20,797 --> 00:16:22,530
Tech [interpreted from Russian]:
These bullets are different in caliber
315
00:16:22,530 --> 00:16:25,137
than the ones found in 1991.
316
00:16:26,286 --> 00:16:29,935
Narrator: The bullets don't match those
found in the earlier grave,
317
00:16:29,935 --> 00:16:32,284
meaning a different gun
had to have been used
318
00:16:32,284 --> 00:16:35,694
to kill those buried in
the other grave nearby.
319
00:16:36,494 --> 00:16:39,427
Falsetti: We know that this gun
is from the same time period,
320
00:16:39,427 --> 00:16:44,025
but we don't have
a direct tie to the '91 finds.
321
00:16:45,940 --> 00:16:47,399
Narrator: No link.
322
00:16:47,399 --> 00:16:50,862
A new and previously unknown weapon.
323
00:16:53,811 --> 00:16:57,428
If there's no hard evidence linking
the graves to the same crime,
324
00:16:57,428 --> 00:17:01,727
then perhaps the remains in the
latest grave belong to nameless victims
325
00:17:01,727 --> 00:17:05,092
and have nothing to do with the
slaughter of the Romanov family.
326
00:17:05,092 --> 00:17:10,625
[♫]
327
00:17:10,625 --> 00:17:14,522
So far, forensic investigations
haven't been able to link the graves
328
00:17:14,522 --> 00:17:17,286
or the remains found inside them.
329
00:17:18,918 --> 00:17:24,750
In Russia, the forensic investigator
Anthony Falsetti's trail is running cold.
330
00:17:29,916 --> 00:17:32,015
But the answer to
the lost bones' identity
331
00:17:32,015 --> 00:17:33,947
and to what really
happened to Anastasia
332
00:17:33,947 --> 00:17:35,980
and the rest of the Romanov children
333
00:17:35,980 --> 00:17:38,563
may be inside this box.
334
00:17:41,529 --> 00:17:43,946
These are the samples
DNA expert Michael Coble
335
00:17:43,946 --> 00:17:47,127
selected back at the Yekaterinburg Morgue.
336
00:17:47,127 --> 00:17:50,027
They've made the journey halfway
around the world to the United States,
337
00:17:50,027 --> 00:17:53,452
sealed in contamination-proof containers.
338
00:17:54,284 --> 00:17:58,982
Other samples are on their way to
Austria and other labs around the world.
339
00:17:58,982 --> 00:18:02,780
[♫]
340
00:18:02,780 --> 00:18:05,540
The package is brought
into a sterile room.
341
00:18:07,157 --> 00:18:09,107
At each stage, proper
procedures are followed
342
00:18:09,107 --> 00:18:12,788
to make sure that the samples
aren't damaged or contaminated.
343
00:18:17,906 --> 00:18:21,857
The tiny samples inside
weigh just a few grams each.
344
00:18:21,857 --> 00:18:26,298
Are these the remains of Alexei,
Maria, or Anastasia Romanov?
345
00:18:35,562 --> 00:18:39,044
To find out, viable DNA
will have to be extracted,
346
00:18:39,044 --> 00:18:40,895
then traced back through the generations
347
00:18:40,895 --> 00:18:44,477
to genetic markers shared
by a select group of people:
348
00:18:44,477 --> 00:18:48,077
the intermarried households
of European royalty.
349
00:18:48,077 --> 00:18:50,360
[♫]
350
00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:52,841
The Romanov children,
like the British royal family,
351
00:18:52,841 --> 00:18:55,521
were descended from Queen Victoria.
352
00:18:55,521 --> 00:18:57,421
The DNA in this royal bloodline
353
00:18:57,421 --> 00:19:01,260
bears unique identifying
genetic characteristics.
354
00:19:01,260 --> 00:19:07,329
[♫]
355
00:19:07,329 --> 00:19:11,358
Michael Coble and his team are more
used to dealing with modern remains.
356
00:19:12,157 --> 00:19:14,674
These bone fragments
are nearly a century old,
357
00:19:14,674 --> 00:19:18,274
and teasing viable DNA
out of them won't be easy.
358
00:19:20,139 --> 00:19:25,138
DNA is fragile and easily
damaged by the ravages of time.
359
00:19:27,005 --> 00:19:29,188
They've endured almost
a century below ground
360
00:19:29,188 --> 00:19:32,721
in a climate of extremes,
well below freezing in winter
361
00:19:32,721 --> 00:19:35,653
and swelteringly hot in summer.
362
00:19:35,653 --> 00:19:43,435
[♫]
363
00:19:43,435 --> 00:19:45,384
To extract and test the DNA,
364
00:19:45,384 --> 00:19:48,135
most of the powdered
sample will be used up.
365
00:19:48,852 --> 00:19:51,186
If this first attempt fails,
366
00:19:51,186 --> 00:19:53,085
there might not be
enough material left over
367
00:19:53,085 --> 00:19:56,318
for a second definitive DNA analysis,
368
00:19:58,367 --> 00:20:03,661
and the mystery of Russia's
royal grave may never be solved.
369
00:20:13,809 --> 00:20:15,359
An international effort is underway
370
00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:20,163
to solve the 90 year old murder
mystery of the Russian royal family.
371
00:20:21,795 --> 00:20:25,195
American forensic anthropologist,
Anthony Falsetti, has a lead
372
00:20:25,195 --> 00:20:27,812
that may help him piece together
separate shreds of evidence
373
00:20:27,812 --> 00:20:29,897
recovered from the crime scene.
374
00:20:30,713 --> 00:20:34,213
It's a testimony from a long dead witness.
375
00:20:37,495 --> 00:20:39,861
Years ago, it would
have been unthinkable,
376
00:20:39,861 --> 00:20:41,777
but now an American investigator
377
00:20:41,777 --> 00:20:45,826
has high level access
to Moscow's state archive.
378
00:20:46,576 --> 00:20:50,175
Falsetti: Here I am, an American
scientist, two floors below ground,
379
00:20:50,175 --> 00:20:53,224
a hundred years worth
of communist secrets.
380
00:20:53,224 --> 00:20:56,368
Narrator: The keeper of those
secrets is Dr. Ludmila Levkova.
381
00:20:59,733 --> 00:21:03,764
Giant blast doors designed to protect
the Kremlin's most precious records
382
00:21:03,764 --> 00:21:06,704
from nuclear attacks swing open.
383
00:21:08,587 --> 00:21:09,303
Falsetti: We're down here.
384
00:21:09,303 --> 00:21:13,869
It's 30 feet, walls are two feet
thick, and this is Lenin's archive.
385
00:21:13,869 --> 00:21:17,602
Narrator: If Soviet archives hold
the missing pieces to the Romanov puzzle,
386
00:21:17,602 --> 00:21:19,589
this is where they'll be.
387
00:21:19,589 --> 00:21:22,721
Falsetti: So, these are Lenin's
documents? These originals?
388
00:21:22,721 --> 00:21:26,114
Ludmila Levkova: Telegrama.
[speaking indistinctly]
389
00:21:26,114 --> 00:21:27,782
Falsetti: This one's
from Copenhagen, correct?
390
00:21:27,782 --> 00:21:28,314
Ludmila Levkova: Yeah.
391
00:21:28,314 --> 00:21:29,062
Falsetti: Okay.
392
00:21:29,062 --> 00:21:31,410
Rumor here going that the Czar
has been murdered.
393
00:21:31,410 --> 00:21:33,822
Kindly wire facts.
394
00:21:33,822 --> 00:21:36,004
Narrator: This inquiry was
one of many sent to Lenin
395
00:21:36,004 --> 00:21:38,604
in the weeks and days before the killing.
396
00:21:38,604 --> 00:21:39,918
This was his reply.
397
00:21:39,918 --> 00:21:42,050
Falsetti: "Rumor not true. Czar safe.
398
00:21:42,050 --> 00:21:45,250
All rumors are
only lie of capitalist press."
399
00:21:45,250 --> 00:21:47,615
And it's signed Lenin.
400
00:21:51,047 --> 00:21:52,381
Narrator: When Lenin wrote this reply,
401
00:21:52,381 --> 00:21:56,265
the royal family was alive, asleep.
402
00:21:56,265 --> 00:21:58,593
But they had only hours left to live.
403
00:21:59,022 --> 00:22:01,546
By daybreak on the 17th of July,
404
00:22:01,546 --> 00:22:04,273
the deed had been done.
405
00:22:04,273 --> 00:22:07,881
But exactly what happened in the
cellar is still open to question.
406
00:22:08,632 --> 00:22:10,896
Only the executioners knew,
407
00:22:10,896 --> 00:22:14,370
and their statements are
on file in another basement.
408
00:22:15,488 --> 00:22:19,204
The report filed by the head
executioner, Commander Yakov Yurovsky,
409
00:22:19,204 --> 00:22:21,985
is regarded as the most accurate account,
410
00:22:21,985 --> 00:22:24,000
and makes chilling reading.
411
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,286
Likova [interpreted from Russian]:
Yurovsky said this about
412
00:22:26,286 --> 00:22:28,649
the execution
of the emperor's family.
413
00:22:29,781 --> 00:22:31,731
They stood along the wall,
414
00:22:31,731 --> 00:22:34,913
and here he said the
following words to them:
415
00:22:34,913 --> 00:22:38,145
"The Reign of the Romanovs
has reached its end.
416
00:22:38,145 --> 00:22:40,411
Despite the fact that relatives both outside
417
00:22:40,411 --> 00:22:43,526
and inside the country
are trying to liberate them,
418
00:22:43,526 --> 00:22:48,359
the Euro-Soviet of the workers'
deputies has decreed they must be shot."
419
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,906
[♫]
420
00:22:51,906 --> 00:22:54,472
Gregg King: When the executioners
opened fire,
421
00:22:54,472 --> 00:22:56,338
there were a number of problems.
422
00:22:56,338 --> 00:23:00,105
Amongst them, they were in a
basement room with stone walls,
423
00:23:00,105 --> 00:23:04,124
which sent the bullets sort
of ricocheting around the room.
424
00:23:05,375 --> 00:23:07,641
Likova [interpreted from Russian]:
The firing, Yurovsky says,
425
00:23:07,641 --> 00:23:10,140
becomes ever so confused,
426
00:23:10,140 --> 00:23:12,174
and when this confused fire ended,
427
00:23:12,174 --> 00:23:15,407
the shooters saw the
daughters were still alive.
428
00:23:16,073 --> 00:23:18,474
They shot the girls, but nothing happened.
429
00:23:18,474 --> 00:23:20,900
They weren't able to kill them.
430
00:23:20,900 --> 00:23:23,216
Narrator: Incredibly,
eyewitness accounts agree
431
00:23:23,216 --> 00:23:25,113
that the duchesses seemed to be protected
432
00:23:25,113 --> 00:23:29,771
by jewel-filled corsets that
acted like bulletproof vests.
433
00:23:33,521 --> 00:23:35,795
Statements by surviving
firing squad members
434
00:23:35,795 --> 00:23:39,195
recorded in the 1960s confirmed this.
435
00:23:41,578 --> 00:23:44,736
[Recording] It appeared they'd
sewn diamonds into their bras,
436
00:23:44,736 --> 00:23:47,481
a variety of necklaces, pearls, etc. etc.
437
00:23:47,481 --> 00:23:48,712
Bullets were bouncing off.
438
00:23:48,712 --> 00:23:50,962
There was somebody, well, so to say,
439
00:23:50,962 --> 00:23:53,196
as if they are not finally killed.
440
00:23:53,196 --> 00:23:56,299
This woman, Anastasia.
441
00:23:56,982 --> 00:23:58,880
Narrator: A botched execution.
442
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,866
Anastasia may have
survived the initial gunfire.
443
00:24:01,866 --> 00:24:03,415
Could she really have cheated death
444
00:24:03,415 --> 00:24:05,938
with a gem-laden corset?
445
00:24:08,221 --> 00:24:09,727
And if that was true,
446
00:24:09,727 --> 00:24:11,927
then what else might be possible?
447
00:24:11,927 --> 00:24:14,027
Falsetti: All the accounts
go on to say that
448
00:24:14,027 --> 00:24:18,595
everyone was finally killed with
a gunshot wound to the head.
449
00:24:18,595 --> 00:24:20,329
But what if that's a lie?
450
00:24:20,329 --> 00:24:22,965
What if there were co-conspirators?
451
00:24:24,197 --> 00:24:27,213
Narrator: Co-conspirators
that could've helped her escape.
452
00:24:27,213 --> 00:24:30,063
It's another unsubstantiated story.
453
00:24:30,063 --> 00:24:32,696
[girl crying]
454
00:24:32,696 --> 00:24:35,396
The forensic investigator decides
to stage an experiment,
455
00:24:35,396 --> 00:24:38,533
to put the first part
of the story to the test.
456
00:24:39,699 --> 00:24:43,146
Falsetti: Could jewels stop a bullet?
457
00:24:45,312 --> 00:24:46,457
Narrator: Diamonds are the hardest
458
00:24:46,457 --> 00:24:49,189
naturally occurring
substance known to man,
459
00:24:49,189 --> 00:24:50,438
but aren't practical
460
00:24:50,438 --> 00:24:52,825
or within the budget of this experiment.
461
00:24:53,525 --> 00:24:55,347
Scoring a respectable 8 out of 10
462
00:24:55,347 --> 00:24:57,215
on the gem hardness scale,
463
00:24:57,215 --> 00:25:00,730
zirconias are
a more realistic alternative.
464
00:25:01,546 --> 00:25:02,690
The replica corset is finished
465
00:25:02,690 --> 00:25:05,754
with rose quartz and carnelian.
466
00:25:06,370 --> 00:25:10,052
Bullets will smash into it
at 1,000 feet per second.
467
00:25:10,052 --> 00:25:12,402
Will they be deflected?
468
00:25:17,951 --> 00:25:20,216
Interior Ministry
Colonel Vladimir Solovyov,
469
00:25:20,216 --> 00:25:23,011
is the leader of
the Romanov investigation.
470
00:25:23,011 --> 00:25:24,343
He's got special permission
471
00:25:24,343 --> 00:25:29,123
to handle the actual guns fired
by Yurovsky and his execution squad.
472
00:25:31,390 --> 00:25:35,272
Col Solovyov [interpreted from Russian]:
Czar Nicholas II was killed with this pistol.
473
00:25:35,272 --> 00:25:38,754
This second pistol was also
in the basement of the Ipatiev House
474
00:25:38,754 --> 00:25:43,086
and it may have been used to kill
other members of the Czar's family.
475
00:25:43,086 --> 00:25:48,636
This pistol was also used in
all the events in the Ipatiev House.
476
00:25:50,377 --> 00:25:51,829
Falsetti: It's a grotesque feeling,
477
00:25:51,829 --> 00:25:54,838
to be in the presence,
to hold the weapons,
478
00:25:54,838 --> 00:25:56,967
that killed this family.
479
00:25:59,150 --> 00:26:01,965
Narrator: The original guns
can't be used in the experiment,
480
00:26:01,965 --> 00:26:04,164
but the investigation
has provided duplicates,
481
00:26:04,164 --> 00:26:05,764
guns from the same era
482
00:26:05,764 --> 00:26:08,365
but with less iconic value.
483
00:26:09,431 --> 00:26:11,046
The reconstructed jewel corsets
484
00:26:11,046 --> 00:26:14,059
are placed on a mannequin.
485
00:26:15,391 --> 00:26:19,543
For safety, only the shooter
is allowed in the room.
486
00:26:23,191 --> 00:26:25,155
[gunshot]
487
00:26:28,755 --> 00:26:29,629
[gunshot]
488
00:26:29,629 --> 00:26:32,021
Could a diamond corset
have shielded Anastasia
489
00:26:32,021 --> 00:26:34,749
from a hail of bullets?
490
00:26:39,597 --> 00:26:42,113
Falsetti: We had different
powered weapons.
491
00:26:42,113 --> 00:26:44,181
They were fired sequentially,
492
00:26:44,181 --> 00:26:47,028
and what we have on the first two
493
00:26:47,028 --> 00:26:48,472
is clearly some fragmentation.
494
00:26:48,472 --> 00:26:50,622
There was, these projectiles
495
00:26:50,622 --> 00:26:52,900
did not pass through on these first two.
496
00:26:52,900 --> 00:26:56,415
There's an impact site
here from the second.
497
00:26:56,415 --> 00:26:58,632
But none of these were
what we would consider
498
00:26:58,632 --> 00:27:01,597
penetrating gunshot wounds.
499
00:27:01,597 --> 00:27:04,710
This acts like a bulletproof vest.
500
00:27:06,726 --> 00:27:09,605
Maybe the legend is true.
501
00:27:11,872 --> 00:27:13,689
Narrator: Perhaps the bones
found in the forest
502
00:27:13,689 --> 00:27:17,454
aren't from people killed
in the basement that night after all.
503
00:27:17,454 --> 00:27:19,586
A gunshot aimed at the heart,
504
00:27:19,586 --> 00:27:23,452
deflected by jewels sewn
beneath the clothes.
505
00:27:25,052 --> 00:27:27,202
The accounts that bullets ricocheted,
506
00:27:27,202 --> 00:27:29,116
that Maria or Anastasia and Alexei
507
00:27:29,116 --> 00:27:31,547
perhaps survived the initial gunfire
508
00:27:31,547 --> 00:27:33,851
are becoming plausible.
509
00:27:34,434 --> 00:27:35,858
For almost a century,
these accounts have been
510
00:27:35,858 --> 00:27:40,196
the basis for many spurious claims
to the Russian throne.
511
00:27:47,662 --> 00:27:50,861
Anna Anderson's claim was the most famous.
512
00:27:50,861 --> 00:27:54,786
She went to her grave claiming
to be the last Grand Duchess Anastasia.
513
00:27:55,702 --> 00:27:57,534
She convinced many people,
514
00:27:57,534 --> 00:28:00,232
including the family of Peter Sarandinaki
515
00:28:00,232 --> 00:28:03,383
whose ancestors were part
of the Czar's inner circle.
516
00:28:03,383 --> 00:28:08,382
[♫]
517
00:28:08,382 --> 00:28:11,465
Peter Sarandinaki:
My mother-in-law, to her dying day,
518
00:28:11,465 --> 00:28:17,534
to her last day believed
that Anna Anderson was Anastasia.
519
00:28:18,268 --> 00:28:22,266
For instance, she had
a triangular injury on her foot
520
00:28:22,266 --> 00:28:25,501
which was probably a bayonet stab.
521
00:28:25,501 --> 00:28:27,782
She also had the same
522
00:28:27,782 --> 00:28:30,969
stubbed toe problem as Anastasia.
523
00:28:32,101 --> 00:28:36,396
She had the same ear as Anastasia.
524
00:28:37,178 --> 00:28:40,214
There were a lot of
similarities between the two.
525
00:28:42,530 --> 00:28:44,857
Narrator: Despite her persuasive story,
526
00:28:44,857 --> 00:28:46,573
DNA testing after her death
527
00:28:46,573 --> 00:28:48,878
revealed her true identity.
528
00:28:49,677 --> 00:28:51,263
She was not a royal,
529
00:28:51,263 --> 00:28:54,246
but a former factory worker from Poland.
530
00:28:58,626 --> 00:29:00,459
But determining whether the latest remains
531
00:29:00,459 --> 00:29:02,259
are those of the Romanov family
532
00:29:02,259 --> 00:29:04,942
or simply another case
of mistaken identity
533
00:29:04,942 --> 00:29:07,142
will take time.
534
00:29:07,142 --> 00:29:08,641
The DNA is so degraded
535
00:29:08,641 --> 00:29:10,960
that it must be copied or amplified
536
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,300
to recover and identify
any surviving fragments
537
00:29:13,300 --> 00:29:15,850
of genetic information that remain.
538
00:29:19,465 --> 00:29:21,800
At his lab outside Washington D.C.,
539
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,898
DNA expert Michael Coble and his team
540
00:29:23,898 --> 00:29:26,564
are using a process called PCR,
541
00:29:26,564 --> 00:29:29,710
or Polymerase Chain Reaction.
542
00:29:30,056 --> 00:29:32,665
By exposing the faint traces
of DNA that remain
543
00:29:32,665 --> 00:29:34,527
to a bacterial enzyme,
544
00:29:34,527 --> 00:29:36,891
a single piece of DNA can be multiplied,
545
00:29:36,891 --> 00:29:39,384
generating millions of copies.
546
00:29:43,340 --> 00:29:45,125
But even after amplification,
547
00:29:45,125 --> 00:29:47,439
there are no guarantees
that any readable DNA
548
00:29:47,439 --> 00:29:50,819
will emerge to
make identification possible.
549
00:29:50,819 --> 00:29:53,935
For now, the identity of
the two individuals in the grave
550
00:29:53,935 --> 00:29:56,249
remains a mystery.
551
00:29:56,249 --> 00:30:03,400
[♫]
552
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,066
While the search for viable
DNA continues in America,
553
00:30:06,066 --> 00:30:09,081
in Russia the search for clues
has come to an end.
554
00:30:16,821 --> 00:30:18,668
Forensic expert Anthony Falsetti
555
00:30:18,690 --> 00:30:20,689
is going back with
more questions than answers
556
00:30:20,689 --> 00:30:22,206
about the most recent grave.
557
00:30:23,134 --> 00:30:25,160
In the 1991 excavation,
558
00:30:25,377 --> 00:30:27,745
nearly intact, full skeletons were found.
559
00:30:29,062 --> 00:30:30,660
But in the grave uncovered in 2007,
560
00:30:30,660 --> 00:30:32,410
only fragments were unearthed.
561
00:30:33,510 --> 00:30:35,176
Why were there so few bones?
562
00:30:35,176 --> 00:30:38,956
Less than 10% of
a full skeleton was found.
563
00:30:41,489 --> 00:30:42,805
But even these scant remains
564
00:30:42,805 --> 00:30:44,839
can reveal more than DNA.
565
00:30:53,381 --> 00:30:56,666
The degraded condition
of the most recently discovered bones
566
00:30:56,666 --> 00:30:58,563
might actually be a clue in itself.
567
00:31:00,883 --> 00:31:02,928
Anthony Falsetti is about
to take another look
568
00:31:02,937 --> 00:31:04,260
at the information he's collected
569
00:31:04,260 --> 00:31:06,957
at his laboratory at
the University of Florida.
570
00:31:06,957 --> 00:31:11,508
[♫]
571
00:31:11,508 --> 00:31:12,575
Drawing on his long experience
572
00:31:12,575 --> 00:31:14,456
of bringing stories of
the dead back to life,
573
00:31:14,456 --> 00:31:16,606
he's looking for any patterns
574
00:31:16,606 --> 00:31:18,555
or links with other evidence.
575
00:31:25,865 --> 00:31:28,435
He'll come through
the accounts of the executioners
576
00:31:28,435 --> 00:31:31,830
and see if the history
and bones tell a common story.
577
00:31:35,869 --> 00:31:38,664
He already knows that
this will be a harrowing tale.
578
00:31:39,846 --> 00:31:40,829
The savagery did not end
579
00:31:40,829 --> 00:31:42,564
when the shooting stopped.
580
00:31:49,681 --> 00:31:51,945
Firing squad leader Yakov Yurovsky wrote
581
00:31:51,945 --> 00:31:53,375
that after the killing was done,
582
00:31:53,375 --> 00:31:56,809
he feared that Loyalist troops
might catch them red-handed.
583
00:31:56,809 --> 00:32:01,524
The plan was for a quick
and clean disposal.
584
00:32:01,524 --> 00:32:04,356
But as the bodies were
being loaded into a truck,
585
00:32:04,356 --> 00:32:06,241
the plan unraveled.
586
00:32:06,241 --> 00:32:10,255
King: As they were lifting up
one of the bodies,
587
00:32:10,255 --> 00:32:12,304
she sat up and screamed.
588
00:32:12,304 --> 00:32:14,205
It was either Maria or Anastasia.
589
00:32:14,205 --> 00:32:16,754
We know that two of the grand duchesses
590
00:32:16,754 --> 00:32:18,312
left that room alive.
591
00:32:20,257 --> 00:32:22,916
Ermakov grabbed a nearby rifle
592
00:32:22,916 --> 00:32:26,025
and ended up smashing them
repeatedly in the face
593
00:32:26,025 --> 00:32:27,608
until they stopped screaming.
594
00:32:36,498 --> 00:32:37,978
Narrator: The bodies were then transported
595
00:32:37,978 --> 00:32:40,123
a dozen miles outside Yekaterinburg,
596
00:32:40,123 --> 00:32:41,888
to the Koptyaki Forest,
597
00:32:41,888 --> 00:32:44,870
to an area of abandoned mineworks.
598
00:32:46,168 --> 00:32:48,452
Falsetti: So here's what we know.
599
00:32:48,452 --> 00:32:50,902
The bodies were taken into the forest.
600
00:32:50,902 --> 00:32:55,283
They were thrown down a mineshaft.
601
00:32:55,283 --> 00:32:58,400
Grenades were thrown after them
602
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,181
in an attempt to collapse the walls.
603
00:33:02,801 --> 00:33:05,349
[explosion]
604
00:33:08,129 --> 00:33:10,073
Narrator: The bodies were
only partially hidden.
605
00:33:10,073 --> 00:33:14,591
As dawn approached,
Yurovsky returned to Yekaterinburg
606
00:33:14,591 --> 00:33:16,224
to report to his superiors.
607
00:33:19,204 --> 00:33:21,098
Misfortune struck again.
608
00:33:21,098 --> 00:33:24,339
Yurovsky's men got drunk
and bragged to locals,
609
00:33:24,339 --> 00:33:26,621
telling them how they killed the royals
610
00:33:26,621 --> 00:33:29,053
and the location of the bodies.
611
00:33:29,869 --> 00:33:32,085
Their commander insisted
on keeping the burial secret.
612
00:33:32,085 --> 00:33:34,702
The corpses had to be moved.
613
00:33:38,702 --> 00:33:40,502
Falsetti: The next day,
the bodies were retrieved
614
00:33:40,502 --> 00:33:42,351
and Yurovsky has his men
615
00:33:42,351 --> 00:33:44,534
looking for a new location.
616
00:33:46,754 --> 00:33:48,140
Narrator: But after the bodies
were exhumed,
617
00:33:48,140 --> 00:33:50,973
summer rain turned
the ground to a gluey mud.
618
00:33:52,391 --> 00:33:53,922
The truck got stuck.
619
00:33:53,922 --> 00:33:55,440
The corpses had to be offloaded.
620
00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:01,819
Commander Yurovsky was exhausted
621
00:34:01,819 --> 00:34:03,637
and his men became mutinous.
622
00:34:04,578 --> 00:34:07,409
He decided to try burning
two of the bodies.
623
00:34:07,409 --> 00:34:09,275
To make the process easier,
624
00:34:09,275 --> 00:34:12,307
his men were ordered
to dismember the corpses.
625
00:34:16,807 --> 00:34:19,289
Physical damage to fragment #147
626
00:34:19,289 --> 00:34:21,164
supports the dismemberment story.
627
00:34:22,313 --> 00:34:23,997
The royal remains were allegedly subject
628
00:34:23,997 --> 00:34:25,295
to another indignity,
629
00:34:25,295 --> 00:34:27,728
but the evidence wouldn't be visible.
630
00:34:36,396 --> 00:34:39,343
Yurovsky claimed that his men
poured acid over the corpses,
631
00:34:39,343 --> 00:34:41,708
to disfigure them beyond recognition.
632
00:34:47,998 --> 00:34:50,746
Chemical composition tests
on the bones conducted in Russia
633
00:34:50,746 --> 00:34:53,592
revealed faint traces of sulfuric acid.
634
00:34:55,158 --> 00:34:58,441
According to Yurovsky,
it was then that his men
635
00:34:58,441 --> 00:35:00,608
burned what was left of the two bodies.
636
00:35:22,518 --> 00:35:24,070
It's another element of the story
637
00:35:24,070 --> 00:35:26,356
that can be put to a forensic test.
638
00:35:27,296 --> 00:35:29,378
As an alternative to human flesh,
639
00:35:29,378 --> 00:35:31,729
pork is a good substitute.
640
00:35:33,162 --> 00:35:34,578
The composition and structure of the meat
641
00:35:34,578 --> 00:35:36,111
is similar to its human equivalent
642
00:35:36,111 --> 00:35:39,511
and pigs are often used
in forensic comparisons.
643
00:35:45,381 --> 00:35:46,715
Falsetti: We know that they had
644
00:35:46,715 --> 00:35:48,397
between and hour
and a half and three hours
645
00:35:48,397 --> 00:35:51,063
to completely consume two human bodies.
646
00:35:51,063 --> 00:35:54,345
Narrator: Three hours later,
647
00:35:54,345 --> 00:35:57,279
the pig carcass is charred
but still intact.
648
00:35:57,279 --> 00:35:59,194
Falsetti: What we've demonstrated here
649
00:35:59,194 --> 00:36:01,511
is it's not possible to consume
a body in a fire,
650
00:36:01,511 --> 00:36:03,327
certainly not one for three hours,
651
00:36:03,327 --> 00:36:05,227
relatively low temperatures.
652
00:36:08,837 --> 00:36:10,985
Narrator: Yurovsky's plan
to incinerate the corpses
653
00:36:10,985 --> 00:36:12,243
was more than a failure.
654
00:36:12,243 --> 00:36:13,876
It was a fiasco.
655
00:36:15,326 --> 00:36:18,793
Dawn was breaking and there
were still nine bodies in the truck.
656
00:36:18,793 --> 00:36:22,123
A drastic change in tactics was in order.
657
00:36:22,123 --> 00:36:25,023
He claimed his men dug a second pit,
658
00:36:25,023 --> 00:36:26,338
further to the west.
659
00:36:26,338 --> 00:36:29,738
That they threw the remaining
nine bodies into the pit,
660
00:36:29,738 --> 00:36:31,271
poured acid on them,
661
00:36:31,271 --> 00:36:34,387
and then covered them
with planks and soil.
662
00:36:38,877 --> 00:36:40,140
Falsetti: What we know about history
663
00:36:40,140 --> 00:36:42,276
is being reflected by the evidence.
664
00:36:45,644 --> 00:36:48,168
Narrator: But circumstantial
evidence will not be enough
665
00:36:48,168 --> 00:36:50,505
to put the legend of
Anastasia's escape to rest.
666
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:57,687
To prove that the remains
are not part of some elaborate hoax,
667
00:36:57,687 --> 00:37:01,720
historical accounts must be
corroborated by the irrefutable:
668
00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:04,134
DNA.
669
00:37:06,237 --> 00:37:10,219
Do these new bodies belong
to Russia's royal bloodline?
670
00:37:13,606 --> 00:37:16,886
By most accounts, Czar Nicholas II
and his royal family
671
00:37:16,886 --> 00:37:18,794
were a close, tight-knit group,
672
00:37:18,794 --> 00:37:20,347
frequently seen together,
673
00:37:20,347 --> 00:37:27,230
filmed here on a cruise when
the children were still very young.
674
00:37:33,101 --> 00:37:36,011
Then, playing tennis while
on holiday a few years later.
675
00:37:39,769 --> 00:37:43,300
And, parading together
in this 1913 celebration
676
00:37:43,300 --> 00:37:45,449
of 300 years of Romanov rule,
677
00:37:45,449 --> 00:37:49,049
starring the nine year old
Crown Prince Alexei
678
00:37:49,049 --> 00:37:56,731
and the four daughters about
to bloom into womanhood.
679
00:37:58,333 --> 00:38:00,563
But were the Romanovs
as inseparable in death
680
00:38:00,563 --> 00:38:02,029
as they were in life?
681
00:38:03,030 --> 00:38:04,795
DNA evidence gathered from the second
682
00:38:04,795 --> 00:38:06,527
and most recent grave attributed to them
683
00:38:06,527 --> 00:38:07,928
will tell the story.
684
00:38:12,414 --> 00:38:15,112
Five months after first selecting
the bone samples for analysis,
685
00:38:15,112 --> 00:38:18,762
DNA expert Mike Coble is now
ready to share his findings.
686
00:38:19,522 --> 00:38:20,728
Falsetti: Let's see what you've got.
687
00:38:20,971 --> 00:38:23,328
Coble: The first thing that
we should look at is here.
688
00:38:23,328 --> 00:38:25,593
This is the marker that determines sex.
689
00:38:26,290 --> 00:38:27,473
And, sample 146,
690
00:38:27,473 --> 00:38:29,389
there's an XY,
691
00:38:29,389 --> 00:38:32,003
which means this is a male sample.
692
00:38:32,003 --> 00:38:32,752
Falsetti: Right.
693
00:38:32,752 --> 00:38:35,649
Coble: And then 147 has one X peak
694
00:38:35,649 --> 00:38:38,116
and this is what we see with females.
695
00:38:40,527 --> 00:38:42,487
Narrator: So far, the DNA
only demonstrates
696
00:38:42,487 --> 00:38:44,515
that there were two bodies in the grave,
697
00:38:44,515 --> 00:38:46,731
one male, one female.
698
00:38:52,057 --> 00:38:53,688
Mike Coble's next step
699
00:38:53,688 --> 00:38:55,171
was to compare the male sample
700
00:38:55,171 --> 00:38:57,970
with DNA from Czar Nicholas
and his wife, Alexandra.
701
00:38:59,271 --> 00:39:01,520
Coble: So, what we have here on top,
702
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,686
this is a profile from the Czar.
703
00:39:03,686 --> 00:39:07,801
And this on the bottom
is a profile from the Czarina.
704
00:39:07,801 --> 00:39:12,084
And here is the male sample
from the second grave.
705
00:39:12,733 --> 00:39:16,250
We expect that this particular profile
706
00:39:16,250 --> 00:39:20,949
is going to be a combination
of the Czar and the Czarina
707
00:39:20,949 --> 00:39:23,181
if this is truly Alexei.
708
00:39:24,006 --> 00:39:29,288
This male, got this 25
repeat peak from the Czar
709
00:39:29,872 --> 00:39:33,853
and this 23 peak was passed to him
710
00:39:33,853 --> 00:39:35,788
from the Czarina.
711
00:39:36,604 --> 00:39:38,921
And here is the male sample...
712
00:39:39,166 --> 00:39:42,085
Narrator: That makes 17
out of 17 possible matches.
713
00:39:42,399 --> 00:39:43,786
Coble: The evidence is overwhelming.
714
00:39:43,786 --> 00:39:45,168
Falsetti: Yeah, absolutely.
715
00:39:45,168 --> 00:39:46,700
That's their son.
Coble: Exactly.
716
00:39:46,700 --> 00:39:48,035
Falsetti: And they had one son,
717
00:39:48,035 --> 00:39:49,734
and that's Alexei.
Coble: Exactly.
718
00:39:49,734 --> 00:39:50,667
Falsetti: Right.
719
00:39:50,667 --> 00:39:53,250
Narrator: Finally there's compelling
forensic evidence
720
00:39:53,250 --> 00:39:55,489
that 13 year old Crown Prince Alexei
721
00:39:55,489 --> 00:39:56,634
was executed,
722
00:39:56,634 --> 00:39:58,132
along with the rest of his family,
723
00:39:58,132 --> 00:40:00,332
though not buried with them.
724
00:40:05,098 --> 00:40:07,464
But what about the female
found in the second grave?
725
00:40:07,464 --> 00:40:10,729
Mike Coble compared Alexei's
DNA with hers.
726
00:40:11,046 --> 00:40:12,845
Coble: What's interesting though
727
00:40:12,845 --> 00:40:16,329
is that notice, they both share 23.
728
00:40:16,983 --> 00:40:19,012
They both share this marker,
729
00:40:19,012 --> 00:40:21,927
which is a 33.2 repeat.
730
00:40:21,927 --> 00:40:25,710
Narrator: Once again, one genetic marker
after another is shared.
731
00:40:25,710 --> 00:40:28,426
Coble: ...147 has 17 repeats,
732
00:40:28,426 --> 00:40:30,608
23 repeats...
733
00:40:30,608 --> 00:40:35,107
Narrator: Leading to another
overwhelming statistical probability.
734
00:40:35,107 --> 00:40:37,205
Coble: It's over a million times
more likely
735
00:40:37,205 --> 00:40:39,889
that these remains are siblings
736
00:40:39,889 --> 00:40:43,187
than if they were completely unrelated.
Falsetti: Okay.
737
00:40:43,187 --> 00:40:44,587
Coble: Very strong evidence here
738
00:40:44,587 --> 00:40:46,570
that we have a brother and a sister.
739
00:40:47,650 --> 00:40:49,369
Yeah.
740
00:40:53,084 --> 00:40:55,186
Narrator: That sister was either Maria
741
00:40:55,186 --> 00:40:56,551
or Anastasia.
742
00:40:57,586 --> 00:41:00,567
But beyond that, the DNA evidence
has nothing else to suggest.
743
00:41:02,058 --> 00:41:03,766
Coble: Of course,
there is a limitation here.
744
00:41:03,766 --> 00:41:04,998
The DNA can't tell us
745
00:41:04,998 --> 00:41:08,115
exactly which child is Anastasia
746
00:41:08,115 --> 00:41:09,815
and which child is Maria.
747
00:41:09,815 --> 00:41:12,080
Falsetti: The bottom line is really
it doesn't matter anymore
748
00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,112
because they're all
present and accounted for.
749
00:41:15,112 --> 00:41:15,911
Coble: Yeah.
750
00:41:20,581 --> 00:41:22,864
Narrator: After almost an entire century,
751
00:41:22,864 --> 00:41:25,497
the final chapter of the Romanov dynasty
752
00:41:25,497 --> 00:41:26,813
can be written at last.
753
00:41:28,380 --> 00:41:31,281
Anastasia, the youngest Romanov daughter,
754
00:41:31,281 --> 00:41:33,513
did not escape the firing squad.
755
00:41:35,036 --> 00:41:36,462
Like her mother,
756
00:41:38,902 --> 00:41:40,412
her father,
757
00:41:42,342 --> 00:41:43,727
her baby brother,
758
00:41:46,857 --> 00:41:48,671
and her three older sisters,
759
00:41:49,361 --> 00:41:52,457
Anastasia was shot to death in July 1918,
760
00:41:52,457 --> 00:41:55,641
one month after her 17th birthday.
761
00:41:57,973 --> 00:42:00,406
She was buried along with the others
762
00:42:00,406 --> 00:42:02,289
among the towering birch trees.
763
00:42:07,999 --> 00:42:10,821
It was surely not the end
any of them expected
764
00:42:11,976 --> 00:42:13,275
or des--
765
00:42:16,240 --> 00:42:17,890
But the DNA evidence makes it clear,
766
00:42:17,890 --> 00:42:19,591
that's what really happened.
767
00:42:19,591 --> 00:42:22,739
On the night when Russia's
longest lived dynasty
768
00:42:22,739 --> 00:42:24,023
came to its abrupt
769
00:42:24,023 --> 00:42:26,756
and bloody end.
770
00:42:26,756 --> 00:42:47,341
[♫]