At this stage the coroner instructed his officer to hand a slim album of photographs to the jury, to be passed around among them.
‘These are not very pleasant, but I’m afraid you need to follow what was found in this barn at Ty Croes Farm, as will be described by the next witnesses,’ explained Matthews.
They huddled over the pictures as they went along the two benches. Although the coroner had excluded the more gory photos, several of the men looked queasy at the sight, though the two women did not turn a hair, studying the details with apparent relish.
Arthur Crippen was called next and, scorning the card, held the Testament high in the air and rattled off the oath with the familiarity of thirty years’ experience in the courts.
He then described the scene in the barn when he was called by the uniformed officers and, with the jury following his account on their photographs, led them through the relevant points of the tractor, the scattered wooden blocks and the position of the chain hoist hanging from the roof.
The next witness was Aubrey Evans, who was dealt with quite briefly but sympathetically by Charles Matthews. He formally confirmed that the dead man was Thomas Littleman and, on being further questioned, said that he knew almost nothing of the man’s background, except that he had been an army mechanic and had worked at Ty Croes Farm for several years.
The coroner then explained to the jury that efforts by the police to trace any relatives had failed.
‘Military records showed that he was born in London and had joined the Regular Army at the age of eighteen. His parents were dead and he had no brothers or sisters. No other family has made themselves known, so that disposal of the body has been left to the local authority.’
After stating that the dead man had last been seen alive on the previous evening, Aubrey Evans left the witness box, the coroner having carefully avoided any questions about his own family, and the next witness was Richard Pryor.
Angela had been in court with him previously, but she listened again to see how he conducted himself. Siân was on the edge of her seat, enthralled by her boss being the centre of attention for a few minutes.
After taking the oath in a steady, serious voice, he identified himself and gave the Garth House address.
‘Your qualifications are a Doctor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery?’ asked Matthews. Richard agreed and added that he also held a Diploma in Clinical Pathology.
‘You are also a consultant pathologist to the Home Office?’ added the coroner, to make it clear to the jury that the witness was an expert.
After these formalities, Richard explained how he had been called to the scene and what he had found there.
‘The dead man had severe injuries to the neck region, but these were caused after death. They were insufficient to conceal a ligature mark on the neck which indicated that he had actually been hanged.’
There was a buzz of astonishment in the court, and the three reporters suddenly jerked themselves into more rapid scribbling in their notebooks.
This was further increased when he then calmly announced that even that was not the cause of death, but that the victim had been manually strangled before being hanged.
The coroner led him into an explanation of the proof of these remarkable deductions, and Richard described the settling of the blood in the legs and arms which showed that the body had been in a vertical position for a considerable time after death, which had probably occurred during the previous night.
‘And you ascertained where this hanging had taken place, doctor?’ asked the coroner.
‘It seemed likely that it was from the hook of that hoist you can see in the photographs. There would have to have been something like a rope as well, which was confirmed by laboratory examination.’
After a few more questions about the lack of natural disease as a contribution to death, Richard stood down, the coroner indicating that he would recall him later. Then Billy Brown invited Dr Angela Bray to the witness box. In a trim navy-blue suit and a small tilted hat, all dark enough for the sombre occasion, she stood calmly erect and took the oath with practised ease. Charles Matthews, who seemed very taken with this elegant scientist, invited her to be seated, but she gracefully declined. He then got her to declare her professional qualifications and the fact that she was a former senior scientist in the Metropolitan Police Laboratory, which again stimulated some whispers and more rapid note-taking on the press bench.
She explained that she had been present at the scene in the capacity of a professional colleague to Dr Pryor and that she was not the official forensic scientist.
Matthews rather brushed this aside and said that no doubt the investigating officers were very glad to have someone of such experience and expertise at the scene. Angela then said that she had removed some fibres from the neck of the dead man and caused them to be sent to the Cardiff laboratory for examination, together with various samples of rope from the barn.
The coroner nodded wisely and followed this up. ‘I have not thought it necessary to bring anyone from that laboratory up to Brecon today, given that you are present, Dr Bray. So perhaps you could read out the report they prepared on the samples you had recovered.’
He gave his officer a sheet of paper, which Billy handed to Angela. She studied this before reading it verbatim, then explaining its significance for the benefit of the jury.
‘It means that the fibres I recovered from the skin of the neck were examined under a microscope and by various other tests and were found to be identical with fibres from two of the lengths of rope that were recovered from the barn.’
‘Does that indicate that one of those lengths was used to hang the deceased, doctor?’ asked the coroner.
Angela shook her head. ‘One can’t be definite, sir. Sisal rope varies widely in type, but no doubt there are many other coils in this county which are identical. The ropes from the barn were examined at Cardiff for any traces of skin, but none were identified. It would be very difficult to find such tiny fragments on long lengths.’
Matthews nodded wisely. ‘But it shows, does it not, that a rope of this nature had been wrapped around the neck?’
Angela agreed. ‘Also, the laboratory applied sticky tape to the hook of the hoist you described and found identical fibres caught on the rusty surface. Of course, they may have come from previous legitimate use in the workshop, but it seems to point to the use of that hoist to suspend the body.’
‘Is there anything else you can tell us, Dr Bray?’
‘We analysed samples of blood and urine retained from the body and found that there was a moderate amount of alcohol present. It was enough to hamper a person’s ability to drive a vehicle safely, but in my opinion well below the level likely to make him obviously inebriated.’
The coroner seemed rather reluctant to let this elegant witness leave the box, but, after receiving profuse thanks, Angela stepped down.
‘He seems quite taken with her,’ Siân whispered to her boss. ‘But I don’t think he’s her type!’ she added with a grin.
The coroner then explained to the jurors that he would move on to the second part of the double inquest, so that they could understand the sequence of events. He recalled Arthur Crippen and reminded him that he was already on oath.