A FORENSIC pathologist has disagreed with another about a skull defect found on the third victim in the Claremont serial killings case.
Former Telstra technician Bradley Robert Edwards, 51, is on trial in the WA Supreme Court accused of murdering secretary Sarah Spiers, 18, and childcare worker Jane Rimmer, 23, in 1996, and solicitor Ciara Glennon, 27, in 1997.
The now-deceased lead forensic pathologist Karin Margolius concluded Ms Glennon had a small depressed fracture to her skull, possibly caused by a blow to the back of the head that may have “momentarily stunned” her or rendered her semi-conscious before she was murdered.
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READ NOWBut forensic pathologist Clive Cooke disagreed, testifying on Tuesday that further examination in 2013 indicated the skull defect was naturally occurring and called a wormian bone.
Ms Glennon’s decomposing body was found in Eglinton bushland almost three weeks after she vanished from Claremont.
Dr Cooke said the “tide line” blood staining on Ms Glennon’s shirt suggested she was lying down when her neck was cut.
Dr Margolius determined Ms Glennon’s cause of death was a neck injury.
Dr Cooke said that was a “fair assessment”, although these days pathologists would likely say it was unascertainable but consistent with a neck injury.
Ms Rimmer’s naked and decomposing body was found in Wellard bushland almost two months after she disappeared.
Dr Cooke testified there was no evidence Ms Rimmer had been “sexually penetrated” before she was killed but agreed “the absence of injury, of course, doesn’t mean it didn’t occur”.
He agreed with Dr Margolius, who concluded Ms Rimmer’s cause of death was unascertainable but the possibility of it being a neck injury could not be excluded.
Ms Spiers’ body has never been found.
Edwards previously pleaded guilty to abducting and twice raping a 17-year-old girl he dragged through Karrakatta Cemetery in 1995, and attacking an 18-year-old woman as she slept in her Huntingdale home in 1988.
DNA and fibre evidence are central to the case, but Edwards’ defence team argues contamination may be an issue.
Dr Cooke will continue his testimony for a fourth day on Wednesday.