Forensic pathologist: Bisson shot twice while lying on back; died quickly
Published:Thursday | December 6, 2018 | 12:00 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer
Dying within a few minutes after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head, 23-year-old Andrew Bisson was shot twice while lying on his back in a board house in the Corn Piece District of Hayes, Clarendon, on September 5, 2011, according to a forensic pathologist.
The forensic pathologist, who said he carried out Bisson's autopsy on September 9, 2011, was testifying in the Home Circuit Court yesterday in the trial for Detective Corporal Kevin Adams, Constable Carl Bucknor and District Constable Howard Brown.
He told the court that Bisson was first shot in the chest, followed by a shot to the left ear, then two shots to the epigastric region (upper central abdomen) of his body. These injuries caused lacerations to the heart, lungs, brain and liver and caused his stomach to rupture.
He said the exit wounds caused by the last gun shots were atypical.
"When a person is lying on his back or supported by some hard surface, (the) bullet cannot exit straight, so it makes some movements. As a result of that, you get atypical type exit. This is a well-known phenomenon in forensic medicine," said the forensic pathologist, who is from Sri Lanka.
Based on what he termed as circumstantial data obtained from the police, the forensic pathologist concluded that Bisson was shot while on his back lying on the ground.
He also said that Bisson was unconscious within seconds and died within a few minutes of receiving the head shot.
According to the witness, Bisson's heart would have stopped soon after he was shot, which accounts for the small amount of blood found at the murder scene.
Meanwhile, it was also revealed that none of the four hollow-point bullets recovered in relation to the death of Bisson matched the guns of the accused. However, the two spent shell casings recovered from the scene were a match to the guns of Adams and Bucknor.
The court was told that the bullets were too damaged to compare to Brown's firearm, which was the only gun that could have fired that type of bullet.
Lead prosecutor Queen's Counsel Caroline Hay said that the guns recovered from Adams and Bucknor were returned into service at the May Pen Police Station, because the shooting was treated as a regular shoot-out with the police.
She also told the court that the licensed firearm belonging to Brown may or may not have been returned to him.
The trial continues today.