Chapter 20
Amelia Trainor, ME had a way with juries.
She could explain the most grisly technical details and hold their attention.
Behind her back, some defense attorneys called her the Grim Reaper.
I wasn’t one of them. She had, over the years, developed a skillful and effective persona in her professional life.
From her alabaster skin, platinum hair that she smoothed tightly back into a bun, and her jet-black suits, you could tell who and what she was before she was asked a single question.
Addison Quick took her through her foundational testimony. She had served as Woodbridge County’s medical examiner for many years and performed hundreds of autopsies.
“Dr. Trainor,” Quick said. “How did you become connected to this case?”
“I performed the autopsy on the victim, Thomas Loomis.”
“What did your examination entail?”
“First,” she said, “I was called to the scene by Detective DePaul. Upon arrival, I was shown to the back, presumably the primary bedroom suite. Once there, I observed a white, middle-aged male lying supine on the right side, or rather his left side of the bed. He had already expired and I could visualize a significant injury to his neck consistent with a stabbing upon first glance. There was also a large amount of blood covering the victim’s chest, absorbed into the pillow behind his head, and soaked into the carpet on the left side of the bed.
I also noticed a spray pattern on the headboard directly above the victim’s head. ”
“What did you do next?”
“In coordination with Detective DePaul and the state crime lab, I oversaw the removal of the body and transport back to my own lab. At which point I performed my forensic examination.”
“Did you determine his cause of death?”
“Yes. Mr. Loomis died from near complete exsanguination due to an incised wound of the neck. In other words, massive blood loss from a deep throat cut. Virtually his entire blood volume covered the victim, the bed, and the surrounding areas in the bedroom.”
“Can you describe the wound itself?” Quick went through a series of crime scene and autopsy photos showing close-ups of Tom’s stab wound. Amelia was calm and measured as she talked about each one.
“As you can clearly observe in Exhibit 41,” she said, “the wound begins near the right ear, extends across the front of the neck, and ends near the left side of the neck. The length of the wound was five and a half inches long and deep enough to sever both the carotid artery and jugular vein. Death would have occurred very quickly.”
“But not instantly?” Quick asked.
“Not instantly. However, once the carotid artery is severed, unconsciousness can occur within seconds.”
“I see.” Quick went back to his notes. He took a formal posture, standing at the lectern with his hands folded on top of it. “Dr. Trainor, did you observe any other wounds on the victim?”
“Nothing significant. Some minor, partially healed bruising on his right underarm. A cut healing just below his left knee. Neither of these superficial wounds would have occurred at or near the time of death.”
“What can you conclude from that, if anything?”
“Well, in this context, I found no so-called defensive wounds on the victim. Nothing on his hands or arms, or any tissue beneath his fingernails. Which suggests to me that the victim was likely asleep or caught off guard when attacked.”
“So he didn’t know what hit him?”
“That isn’t a precise description,” she said.
“There’s no way to know whether Mr. Loomis was actually asleep when cut.
And if he was, I have no way to determine whether he briefly woke up and saw his attacker.
I can only speak to the characteristics of the wound itself and the condition of the body. ”
“Of course,” Quick said. “Were you able to determine anything about the nature of the attack? Or how the wound might have been inflicted?”
“There are a few reasonable inferences that can be made, yes. The cut travels slightly downward from right to left and is consistent with a right-handed attacker standing near the victim’s left side. The attacker drew the knife across the victim’s throat toward themselves.”
“I see. Could you conclude anything about the weapon used to inflict such a wound?”
“To some extent, yes,” she said. “The wound is consistent with a sharp, single-edged blade approximately three to four inches long.”
“I’d like to show you State’s Exhibit 6.”
Addison brought the blade to Dr. Trainor, wrapped in its plastic evidence bag. He handed it to her. Dr. Trainor examined it, though she had of course done so many times before in the course of this investigation and trial preparation.
“What can you tell me about that knife in relation to the wound you observed on the victim?”
“This is a Buck 110. It’s a fairly common hunting knife.
It has a retractable blade designed to lock when in use.
It is consistent with the type of weapon used to inflict the fatal wound on Tom Loomis, yes.
It is single-edged, non-serrated, and is of the right length and sharpness to have done the job, so to speak. ”
“Thank you,” Quick said as he took the exhibit back from her.
“Were you able to determine a time of death for Mr. Loomis?”
“Yes. I estimate that Mr. Loomis expired between three and five a.m. on the morning of March 14th. This is based on his body temperature at the scene, the state of rigor mortis, and blood lividity and clotting. All of these factors are known variables as far as the rapidness in which they occur.”
“Thank you, Dr. Trainor, I have no further questions.”
There really wasn’t much to do with Amelia Trainor on my end.
I had no dispute with her conclusions. The jurors themselves could intuit what happened just by looking at a single crime scene photo.
No, my case did not lie in dismantling the ME’s conclusions.
That didn’t mean there weren’t a few tricks up my sleeve.
“Dr. Trainor,” I started. “I just have a few details I’d like to clarify about your examination and role in this case if you’ll indulge me.”
“Of course,” she said. Amelia remained stoic. We were more than professionally acquainted. I considered Amelia a friend.
“You were, of course, not present when the killing occurred, were you?”
“Of course not,” she said, her tone slightly annoyed.
“You indicated the victim died of rapid blood loss after major arteries were severed, correct?”
“Yes. The carotid artery.”
“I’d like to direct your attention to State’s Exhibit 29. Can you describe what we’re looking at?”
“This is a photograph of the headboard directly behind Mr. Loomis’s head. It’s above the pillow where he would have been sleeping.”
“Thank you,” I said. “For the record, what is the significant detail in this photograph as it relates to your conclusions?”
“This image shows a spray pattern above and behind where the victim’s head was positioned.”
“I want to make sure I understand this,” I said. “This is arterial spray? Can you explain what that means, exactly?”
“Certainly. The carotid artery is one of the major arteries that carries oxygenated blood from the heart to the brain. Blood moves through it under arterial pressure. When that artery is severed, blood continues to flow out under that pressure, even after the initial injury. It typically exits in rhythmic spurts corresponding with each heartbeat. That pattern is consistent with the blood evidence present in this case.”
“For lack of a more delicate phrase,” I said. “This spray makes quite a dramatic mess, wouldn’t you say?”
“If you’d like to put it that way, yes.”
“So it’s fair to assume that anyone standing within the path of that spray would have been covered with blood as well, right?”
“One would assume, yes.”
“It would perhaps get on their clothes, their hair, right?”
“Well, it depends on exactly where that person was standing, yes.”
“Well, as you said, the wound was consistent with the attacker standing on the victim’s left side and making the cut from his right ear across his throat. That is your testimony?”
“Yes.”
“So at some point, the attacker would have had to have been standing directly over the victim, yes? To make that kind of wound?”
“Yes.”
I pulled up the photos taken of Katy at the hospital that night. She had staining on one sleeve. She had blood smeared across her forehead and on her hands.
“Do you notice any staining here that you would describe as consistent with arterial spray?”
“It’s hard to say,” she said.
“Relative to the amount of blood found at the scene,” I said. “Would you agree that the accused has a fairly small amount of blood on her?”
“Objection,” Quick said. “Improper foundation.”
“Sustained,” Castor said.
I let it go. For now, the jury’s own common sense was worth as much as Trainor’s answer.
“Thank you. Now, I’d like to go back to your testimony about the type of weapon used to inflict this wound. You said it was a single-edged blade approximately three to four inches long, right?”
“Yes. Based on the depth and direction of the wound along with the way the flesh appeared.”
“Lots of knives would fit that description, wouldn’t they?”
“Certainly. Some kitchen knives, certainly.”
“But you can’t determine how many people held this particular knife, correct?”
“Of course not, no.”
“And it isn’t your job to determine who killed Mr. Loomis.”
“No.”
“As for the time of death, you were able to determine with certainty that Mr. Loomis was dead by five at the latest?”
“That’s accurate, yes. The victim expired at least two hours prior to my initial exam at the scene at 7:02 that morning.”
“That’s not a guess?”
“It is not. It’s science. It’s based on body temperature. Blood clotting factors. Lividity. State of rigor mortis. These are all known values.”
“So it’s possible to be off by a few minutes here or there?”
“I gave a window of time, not a precise moment on the clock.”
“And five a.m. is the outer limit of that time based on those known scientific factors?”
“That’s correct.”
“Okay,” I said. “Thank you, Dr. Trainor. I have no further questions for this witness.”
“Mr. Quick?” Judge Castor said.
“Nothing more from me,” he said.
Castor thanked Amelia and instructed her to step down.
“The state calls Valerie Harbour,” Quick said. I saw Katy stiffen in her chair. Jeanie had a hand on her. The next hour or two might be rough. She was about to have her own words used to crucify her.