“That the victim had no chance to fight back. Most likely because she was overpowered immediately, probably taken by surprise. I can demonstrate on you, if you like.”
I don’t always like to do demonstrations because unless you have a relaxed, professional witness who can handle it, and just the right conditions, it can backfire. But Dr. Vendi could be trusted to do a good job of it and the conditions were perfect: Dr. Vendi was roughly Ian’s height and I was only an inch or two taller than Hayley. I moved up to the witness stand and faced the jury and Dr. Vendi came down to stand behind me. She wrapped her left arm around my upper body and drew her right hand across my throat. It painted an unusually vivid picture of how Hayley had been murdered. Juror number five, a Pacific Bell repairman on disability, visibly winced. Fantastic.
“How deep was the wound track across Hayley’s neck?”
“The depth of the wound track was three and a half inches.”
“What does that indicate to you about the manner and means in which the wound was inflicted?”
“To me, it logically indicates that a rather large knife was used, and wielded with considerable force.”
“And your conclusion about the cause of death, Dr. Vendi?”
“My conclusion is that Hayley Antonovich died of sharp-force trauma to her neck, which severed the carotid artery.”
We moved on to Brian’s autopsy. The similarity of his and Hayley’s fatal wounds was a critical piece of evidence that indicated the murders were likely committed by the same person. I had Dr. Vendi describe this in some detail while showing the photographs that illustrated her points.
“As you can see, this victim suffered the same long, deep slice to the throat.”
“How deep was this wound track?”
“A little deeper than Hayley’s. This wound track went nearly to the bone.”
“Would it be fair to say that Brian Maher was nearly decapitated?”
“Yes. And once again, I saw evidence of bruising on the left side of the upper arm that indicated Brian Maher was also seized and immobilized from behind in approximately the same manner as Hayley before the carotid was severed.”
“Were there any differences in the style of attack?”
“Only one that was notable. There was a puncture wound to the left side of the neck that was the deepest end of the wound and shows where the knife was inserted first. It struck me that because Brian was a male, the killer might have been more concerned about disabling him as quickly as possible, and so stabbed him with great initial force before completing the cut across the throat that severed the carotid.”
“Other than that deep puncture wound, did you see any notable differences in the method or manner of the attacks on Hayley and Brian?”
“No. They were remarkably similar.”
“One last question: Is it common for a killer using a knife to sustain cuts to his own body in the course of the homicide?”
“Yes, very common. I’d say in at least eighty-five percent of the knife killings I see, the defendant sustains some type of cut to his body, hands, or arms. Other than the obvious fact that the killer is acting in haste and dealing with unpredictable movements by the victim, the killer is going to generate a fair amount of body heat during a knife attack. That will cause the killer to perspire, especially in the hand holding the knife. This will frequently cause the hand to slip up the handle and onto the blade. And if he or she-I say she, by the way, though I very much doubt a ‘she’ could’ve done these killings-was clutching the knife for a few minutes before the attack, that also would cause the palm to sweat and thus get slippery.”
“If the killer sustained a small cut to his finger, what kind of bleeding might that cause?”
“As anyone who cooks knows, even a very small cut on a finger with a sharp knife can bleed quite profusely. So it’s entirely possible that a knife as big and sharp as the one that was used here might have produced an injury that led to substantial bleeding, even if that injury was small.”
“And if the killer did sustain a small injury, like a cut to a finger, would you expect that injury to still be visible three weeks later?”
Three weeks: the amount of time that had passed before Ian Powers was arrested.
“Not terribly, no. You might see a faint scar, but that would be about it. Unless it got infected.”
“Even if you did see a faint scar on the killer’s finger, would you be able to say that it had to have happened during the murders?”
“No. Healing rates vary depending on a number of factors. There would be no way I could be that precise about when the injury was sustained.”
“Thank you, Dr. Vendi.”
Other than the issue of the killer getting cut himself, there wasn’t much reason to go after Dr. Vendi. Cause of death wasn’t in question. I knew that Terry didn’t go for the scattershot approach. She liked to zero in on the weak spot. So I wasn’t surprised when Wagmeister stood up to do the cross.
“You do know that there were no injuries on Mr. Powers when he was arrested, don’t you, Doctor?” he asked.
I stood up. “Objection. This witness has no personal knowledge, Your Honor.”
“Overruled. She’s an expert, she can answer.”
Another dumb ruling. Expert or not, she can’t testify to physical observations she never made.
“I don’t know that, Counsel. All I know is that the jailers made no mention of any injuries in the arrest report. But they don’t look for healed wounds or small scars. They only look for gross injuries so they can prove a prisoner did not sustain them in custody.”
Answers like this are what make Dr. Vendi a goddess.
“Still, the arrest report doesn’t mention any scars or wounds, does it?”
“No.”
Wagmeister presented a photograph of a knife that had handle guards-a metal bar that separates the handle from the knife blade. “Do you see the knife on the monitor, Doctor?”
“Yes.”
“If the killer used a knife like that, his hand wouldn’t have slipped up onto the blade, now would it?”
“That style of handle makes it less likely, certainly. But it doesn’t necessarily prohibit the hand from slipping up onto the blade. And there are many other ways for the killer to cut himself during the attack. For example, he has his left arm around the victim’s upper chest, which leaves his left hand exposed. As he uses his right hand to draw the knife across the victim’s neck, the blade would naturally come close to his left hand.” Dr. Vendi demonstrated on herself. “You see, the left hand would be right here, near the right side of the neck. Beyond that-”
Agitated at how his one decent point was being obliterated, Wagmeister held up a hand and turned to the judge. “Objection! This is nonresponsive, Your Honor.”
I was on my feet. “The answer was entirely responsive, and experts are allowed to explain their answers.”
“I am aware of the rules of evidence, Ms. Knight. But I agree. Overruled.” The judge turned to Dr. Vendi. “Please continue.”
“Yes, I was saying that we’ve all cut ourselves accidentally more than once under far less stressful situations, for example, when slicing a turkey, or vegetables. Now, imagine how much more likely such an accident becomes in the course of a homicide with a struggling victim. This is why it’s very, very common to see some kind of sharp-force injury to the defendant in these types of cases.”
Delightful. The stronger the proof that Ian cut himself during the murders, the stronger the logical conclusion that his blood got smeared on the trunk of Brian’s car that night, and not-as the defense had tried to claim-some other time. I could practically hear the wheels turning in Wagmeister’s head as he tried to find a way to dig himself out of this hole. Finding none, he moved on. His next gambit was to try and get the doctor to admit it would be hard for one killer to disable two victims the way she’d described. Wouldn’t the victims have had more opportunity to struggle, and therefore show more defensive wounds, if just one person had done it?