Off-Topic: Brian Farmer Murder Trial, Day 4

Day 4 -- November 18, 2013

Today the jury was presented with the evidence of the pathologist. Brian's body was examined on May 20th 2012. At this time his body had already begun to decompose, making it difficult to identify the exact date of death. It was stated that Brian Farmer must have died between May 5th and May 10th, but the pathologist refused to pinpoint the date more precisely.

There were 54 injuries on Brian's body, all of which were described in great detail. Most of the wounds were superficial, some were potentially fatal if left untreated. Some were inflicted by sharp objects, some were inflicted by blunt objects, some were the result of scalding by boiling water. The deepest cuts, resulting in the greatest blood loss, were in his buttocks and upper thighs. There were also cuts to his head, shoulders and hands. In addition to this he had 11 fractured ribs, two on the left and nine on the right.

During the cross-examination of the pathologist the defence lawyers suggested that the injuries were sustained by Brian repeatedly falling over while in a drunken state. The pathologist admitted that some of the injuries might indeed have been caused by falls, but others were definitely due to the application of force from a third party. For instance, the damage of Brian's lower ribs on the right side might have been caused by him falling onto something like the edge of a table, but the fracture of the other ribs were in places that were unlikely to have been caused by falls. Apart from this, the pathologist stated that the ribs must have been fractured in at least four different "incidents".

Vaughan Davies' lawyer was especially interested to know if it was possible that the injuries were sustained in multiple attacks, i.e. Brian sustained some injuries in a minor attack, then received fatal injuries in a major attack a few days later. The pathologist ruled this out. It was impossible to say exactly when the injuries had occurred, but it was obvious that they had all been brought about at the same time, within a maximum time frame of 18 hours from the first to the last.

Finally it was revealed that Brian Farmer's blood was found on Vaughan Davies' tee shirt and trainers. Jason Andrews' blood was found on the intercom in Brian's flat and on the wall in the hallway outside his flat.