Advisory: This story includes disturbing details about a murder trial
A forensic pathologist testifying at the murder trial of Ibrahim Ali didn’t get a chance to answer whether he thought injuries to the 13-year-old victim’s vagina would have caused pain.
Dr. Jason Morin, a forensic pathologist who autopsied the girl’s body, continued his testimony at the trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Tuesday.
Ali is accused of first-degree murder in the death of the girl, whose body was found in Burnaby’s Central Park at 1:14 a.m. on July 19, 2017, less than two hours after her family reported her missing.
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The victim’s identity is protected by a publication ban.
'Penetrative blunt force' caused injuries
“Do you have an opinion on whether the vaginal injury would have caused pain?” Crown prosecutor Isobel Keeley asked Morin, after taking him and the jury through a series of autopsy photos while the pathologist explained tears and blood he found.
Before Morin could answer, defence lawyer Ben Lynskey raised an objection, saying vaginal pain was not an area the doctor was qualified to give evidence about.
“I’m making an assumption that I don’t think the doctor has a vagina,” Lynskey said.
Keeley reframed her questions.
Morin’s testimony Tuesday included more details about injuries to the victim’s vagina, anus and rectum, which he said were likely caused by a “penetrative blunt force.”
A “moderately large” bruise to the inside of the rectum was the most serious, according to Morin.
‘It’s not something that could be done accidentally’
Morin also explained why he believed the girl had been strangled.
He pointed to petechiae, tiny pinpoints of bleeding under the skin, on her face, under her chin and in her eyes.
Morin noted there was a “distinctive” line “right where the neck is meeting the chin.”
“Below that there wasn’t any petechial hemorrhage and then above that there were,” Morin told the jury.
He said the pinpoint bleeding was the most common finding in strangulation cases.
When the neck is squeezed, Morin explained the jugular vein, which takes de-oxygenated blood from the brain, can collapse.
The subsequent build-up of pressure in the brain causes tiny blood vessels near the surface of the skin to burst — petechiae.
The same process starves the brain of the oxygen, since the pressure prevents fresh blood from getting into the brain, Morin said.
Because there were no obvious injuries to the girl’s neck, Morin said he couldn’t say whether she had been strangled by someone’s hands or a ligature of some kind.
To cause death, Morin said a person wouldn’t have to “squeeze as hard as possible” but apply a “moderately consistent, sustained pressure” to the neck.
“It’s not something that could be done accidentally.”
Morin said it takes about 10 to 20 seconds for a person being strangled to lose consciousness and two to five minutes to reach a point of no return after which medical intervention won’t save them.
“After a certain amount of time, there’s too much damage to the brain,” Morin said.
The Crown’s theory in the case, which has not been proven, is that Ali attacked the 13-year-old in Central Park, dragged her into the forest and strangled her to death while sexually assaulting her.
Morin's testimony, including cross-examination, continues Wednesday.
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