Ward Abbott wrote:

> On Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:13:19 -0700, Pennyaline
> > wrote:
>
> > not decapitated in the accident.
>
> I don't think so....made her real dead in a very unflattering pose. It
> was a closed casket...thank Gawd.
>
>
> According to the police report on the accident, "the upper portion of
> this white female's head was severed." Her death certificate notes a
> "crushed skull with avulsion (forcible separation or detachment) of
> cranium and brain." One thinks of a beheading as the neck's being
> sliced through, causing the head to be separated from the body, but
> that is clearly not what happened here. Scalping is perhaps a closer
> description of Mansfield's fate, but even that word does not
> accurately reflect the cranial trauma she suffered, because scalping
> victims at least retain an intact skull. The Angel of Death did not
> afford Mansfield this luxury: Her skull was cracked or sliced open,
> and a sizeable piece of it was carried away.
>
>
> snopes.com


She was indeed scalped and part of the skull detached...

The famous accident pic from _Hollywood Babylon_ which supposedly showed her
decaptitated head on the windshield of the car in actuality shows Jayne's
wig, at that point in her life she was constantly wearing hairpieces...

More on the gruesome crash, including accident scene photos (not for those
of you who are easily oogied out):

http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/m..._mansfield.htm

--
Best
Greg