Coudray-Greaves died from blow to the head - pathologist

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

A forensic pathologist yesterday told the St James Circuit Court that Trinidad and Tobago schoolteacher Michelle Coudray-Greaves, whose burnt remains were found in a Montego Bay cane field, died from a blow to the head.

"The skull bone drew my immediate attention, for I noticed an obvious fracture in the skull bone on the right side with signs of bleeding as it would have occurred when someone is alive. Considering the location and degree of the fracture, it would have been severe," Dr Murari Saranji, consultant forensic pathologist attached to the Western Regional Health Authority, testified in court.

"How soon after such an impact would death have occurred?" asked prosecutor Maxine Jackson.

"It would have been immediate ... . This individual died from a severe blunt-force impact, in that it broke the skull bone and caused damage to the underlying contents of the head," Saranji replied.

Saranji was among four witnesses who testified on the seventh day of the trial in which Westmoreland-based taxi operator Ivan Taylor is facing the capital charge. Taylor had operated on and off as an on-call taxi operator for the deceased Coudray-Greaves.

Dead before fire

In his testimony, Saranji told the court that based on his analysis, Coudray-Greaves was dead at the time her body was burnt. At the time her body was found, cane cutters told investigators that they were the ones who had set the fire as a means of preparing the field for the reaping of cane.

"The burns (on Coudray-Greaves' remains) were post-mortem - they were caused after the person died," said Saranji.

Earlier yesterday, a civilian witness, who was an associate of the deceased woman, told the court that immediately after Coudray-Greaves went missing, she called Taylor because she was aware that he had picked up the Trinidadian. However, she said Taylor told her that he had dropped Coudray-Greaves off at the western regional post office.

The witness further went on to testify that she was the one who filed the initial missing persons report to the police.

When the case continues this morning, noted orthodontist Dr Christopher Ogunsalu, who identified the body by dental records, is among the expert witnesses slated to give testimony.