Valerie Tieman’s body was wrapped in a patterned blanket and buried in a shallow grave of freshly turned soil in the woods behind the house in Fairfield where she and her husband had been living.

Beneath her body were a bag of potato chips, a bottle of perfume and a note that “reportedly has an apologetic tone,” according to an autopsy report by the state Medical Examiner’s Office that was obtained Monday by the Morning Sentinel under a public records request.

Police say Valerie Tieman, whose body was found Sept. 20, was shot in the head and neck by her husband and he then buried her near the house where they had been living with his parents.

A police affidavit in support of a murder charge against Luc Tieman made no mention of the items and the state Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the criminal case, wouldn’t comment on the new details in the autopsy report.

A toxicology report accompanying the autopsy report also revealed that buprenorphine and tramadol were found in Valerie Tieman’s system.

Buprenorphine is a “Schedule III controlled synthetic opioid that has both analgesic and opioid antagonist effects,” the report said. It is used in medication assisted treatment to help people reduce or quit their use of heroin or other opiates, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Tramadol is a “synthetic opioid receptor agonist used for the management of moderate to moderately severe pain,” the toxicology report said.

Valerie Tieman

The Medical Examiner’s Office did not return a call and email seeking comment about the autopsy report.

Timothy Feeley, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said in response to a request for comment that Luc Tieman had not yet undergone a psychological examination and that the defendant hadn’t requested a hearing to determine bail. Tieman remains at Somerset County Jail in East Madison.

“The next step is to seek an indictment from a grand jury,” Feeley said via email Monday.

Stephen Smith, Luc Tieman’s defense attorney, did not return a call Monday placed to his office at Lipman & Katz of Augusta.

According to the autopsy report, Valerie Tieman’s cause of death was “gunshot wounds of head and neck,” and she was “shot by other person(s).”

When her body was found, it was “clad in damp clothing consisting of brown boots, bright yellow/green socks, a gray T-shirt, blue jeans and a navy shirt,” according to the report dated Oct. 5. The report was signed by Clare Bryce, a medical doctor and deputy chief medical examiner who performed the autopsy Sept. 21, the day after Tieman’s body was found.

Sept. 21 also is the day that Luc Tieman was arrested and charged with murdering her and burying her about 400 yards from where they had lived with his parents at 628 Norridgewock Road in Fairfield.

Valerie Tieman, 34, had been reported missing by her parents in South Carolina Sept. 9.

Luc Tieman, 32, later told police he had last seen her Aug. 30 in their pickup truck in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Skowhegan. He said he went into the store and she was gone when he came out. He told police he suspected she had run off with another man, but police never uncovered evidence supporting that claim.

The day her body was found, Luc Tieman then told police his wife had overdosed on heroin as he watched.

At the same time, friends and family came forward, saying Luc Tieman had been courting other women and telling them that his marriage was ending.

Valerie Tieman, 5-foot-9-inches tall and 123 pounds, had been shot twice, according to the autopsy report. She suffered a perforating gunshot wound of the head with an “indeterminate range entrance wound of the right parietal scalp” with an exit wound in the region of the right forehead, according to the autopsy report. She also suffered a “penetrating gunshot wound of the right posterior neck,” according to the autopsy.

The report did not say what caliber of gun was used.

Memorial and funeral services were held in both Fairfield and South Carolina, where her parents live. At the Fairfield memorial, held Oct. 2 at Fairfield United Methodist Church, she was remembered as a vivacious woman who loved theater, acted with the Recycled Shakespeare Company and was deeply religious. Her funeral was the previous day in Taylors, South Carolina.