wounds is from front to back. The deepest penetration measures 3".”
Because of the obvious similarities, the ME opined they had been made by the same, unknown instrument.
“There are nine transverse and oblique stab wounds to the left side of the chest, between the left clavicle and nipple line. Two of the stab wounds range in size from 1 /8" to ½" in length. They are similar to the above described stab wounds. Some have a slightly irregular outline. The direction of the stab wound is front to back. The deepest penetration measures 3".”
Three inches may not sound like much, but in the case of Margaret Ann Pahl’s chest, that meant the sharp instrument penetrated through her chest cavity, right into her heart. If it hadn’t stopped beating by then, it most certainly would have immediately. Perhaps it was the very brutality of the crime that caused the ME to miss the most important evidence of Margaret Ann’s murder. It was staring him right in the face.
Fazekas’s autopsy photographs and diagrams show that the nine stab wounds over Margaret Ann’s heart formed the pattern of a cross, tilted slightly to the left. In deference to the ME, the cops had missed it too, and the reason is simple. Who could imagine a priest killing a human being, let alone doing so in such a ritualistic way? It didn’t make any sense. Murder never does, but this case was setting a new standard for the unbelievable.
With his external examination complete, Fazekas made the classic pathologist’s “Y” incision down the body to examine her internally. Only then would he know the damage that the stabbings had done to her organs.
“The left common carotid artery reveals a rent at the cranial segment. The larynx and trachea reveal three stab wounds. The esophagus is perforated one time. The fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae [in the neck] are each involved with a stab wound. The entire anterior and lateral neck is hemorrhagic.”
She had been stabbed hard enough not only to perforate parts of the throat and organs, but some of the stabbings had been hard enough to go through skin, into the spine, and take out two vertebrae. That alone would paralyze someone for life.
“Her left lung had been stabbed twice,” the ME continued, “the sternum contains stab wound at the level of the third inner costal space, which extends through the right ventricle, just below the cusps of the pulmonary valve.”
The killer got her right in the heart.
Under a section entitled “Evidence of Strangulation,” the ME wrote, “Numerous distinct petechias involve the conjunctive of both upper and lower eyelids and the face with the exception of the forehead. Both supra and infraclavicular areas are recently bruised (blue). The area measures 10" x 4". An oblique linear bruise, outlining the necklace, is over the right supra and infraclavicular area.”
Margaret Ann had been strangled by something, probably large hands that had left the imprint of her necklace in her skin. The assault resulted in a classic symptom of strangulation, the “distinct petechia” or broken blood vessels in the upper face. To finally make the point, the ME concluded:
“Both cornu of the hyoid bone are fractured. The fracture sites are surrounded by hemorrhage.”
In a classic strangulation, the hyoid bone of the throat is broken by the killer’s increasing and persistent pressure on the throat. This guy had fractured the hyoid bone in two places. Fazekas also noted something else important.
“A 3½" x 2" recent bruise prominently involves the bonily prominent area of the lower cervical and upper thoracic spine, slightly to the right. Within the area are three parallel longitudinal, linear bruises, each measuring 2" in length.”
What the ME was describing were inner thigh bruises symptomatic of rape. The rape kit results had also come back as follows:
MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION:
DEEP VAGINAL SMEAR:
No sperms identified.
VAGINAL SMEAR:
No sperms identified.
ORAL
Because of the obvious similarities, the ME opined they had been made by the same, unknown instrument.
“There are nine transverse and oblique stab wounds to the left side of the chest, between the left clavicle and nipple line. Two of the stab wounds range in size from 1 /8" to ½" in length. They are similar to the above described stab wounds. Some have a slightly irregular outline. The direction of the stab wound is front to back. The deepest penetration measures 3".”
Three inches may not sound like much, but in the case of Margaret Ann Pahl’s chest, that meant the sharp instrument penetrated through her chest cavity, right into her heart. If it hadn’t stopped beating by then, it most certainly would have immediately. Perhaps it was the very brutality of the crime that caused the ME to miss the most important evidence of Margaret Ann’s murder. It was staring him right in the face.
Fazekas’s autopsy photographs and diagrams show that the nine stab wounds over Margaret Ann’s heart formed the pattern of a cross, tilted slightly to the left. In deference to the ME, the cops had missed it too, and the reason is simple. Who could imagine a priest killing a human being, let alone doing so in such a ritualistic way? It didn’t make any sense. Murder never does, but this case was setting a new standard for the unbelievable.
With his external examination complete, Fazekas made the classic pathologist’s “Y” incision down the body to examine her internally. Only then would he know the damage that the stabbings had done to her organs.
“The left common carotid artery reveals a rent at the cranial segment. The larynx and trachea reveal three stab wounds. The esophagus is perforated one time. The fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae [in the neck] are each involved with a stab wound. The entire anterior and lateral neck is hemorrhagic.”
She had been stabbed hard enough not only to perforate parts of the throat and organs, but some of the stabbings had been hard enough to go through skin, into the spine, and take out two vertebrae. That alone would paralyze someone for life.
“Her left lung had been stabbed twice,” the ME continued, “the sternum contains stab wound at the level of the third inner costal space, which extends through the right ventricle, just below the cusps of the pulmonary valve.”
The killer got her right in the heart.
Under a section entitled “Evidence of Strangulation,” the ME wrote, “Numerous distinct petechias involve the conjunctive of both upper and lower eyelids and the face with the exception of the forehead. Both supra and infraclavicular areas are recently bruised (blue). The area measures 10" x 4". An oblique linear bruise, outlining the necklace, is over the right supra and infraclavicular area.”
Margaret Ann had been strangled by something, probably large hands that had left the imprint of her necklace in her skin. The assault resulted in a classic symptom of strangulation, the “distinct petechia” or broken blood vessels in the upper face. To finally make the point, the ME concluded:
“Both cornu of the hyoid bone are fractured. The fracture sites are surrounded by hemorrhage.”
In a classic strangulation, the hyoid bone of the throat is broken by the killer’s increasing and persistent pressure on the throat. This guy had fractured the hyoid bone in two places. Fazekas also noted something else important.
“A 3½" x 2" recent bruise prominently involves the bonily prominent area of the lower cervical and upper thoracic spine, slightly to the right. Within the area are three parallel longitudinal, linear bruises, each measuring 2" in length.”
What the ME was describing were inner thigh bruises symptomatic of rape. The rape kit results had also come back as follows:
MICROSCOPIC EXAMINATION:
DEEP VAGINAL SMEAR:
No sperms identified.
VAGINAL SMEAR:
No sperms identified.
ORAL
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