The first week of a 45-day murder trial, by judge and jury, in Kelowna Supreme Court wrapped up on March 8.
Lorence Williams was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his roommate Thomas Chadwick on May 30, 2021, in the 3400 block of Sexsmith Road in Rutland.
On Friday, Crown questioned expert witness Dr. Jason Doyle, who is one of seven Forensic Pathologists for B.C. Post-Mortem Services. Throughout his career, he worked for BC Coroners Services specifically with autopsies from 2001-2020. In that time, he’s worked on approximately 2,500 autopsies and been an expert witness for 40-45 cases.
Over the day, Crown questioned Doyle on the autopsy of the Chadwick, going into great detail. They went over his full detailed report supported by photo evidence. The autopsy happened on June 4, 2021, five days after the suspected murder.
The autopsy revealed Chadwick suffered numerous fractures, bruises, and lacerations to his nose, head, ears, mouth, and jaw caused by blunt force trauma. His X-rays revealed skull fractures, according to Doyle.
Doyle concluded by stating he believed Chadwick’s cause of death was due to multiple blunt force trauma to his head. He also stated Chadwick’s brain was normal before the attack and there were no natural diseases found.
On day one of the trial, Crown told the court that Williams struck Chadwick with a piece of wood. Doyle agreed the injuries might have been caused by a log. During the autopsy, they were unable to determine the orders of injuries as Chadwick was found right away, meaning there was no time for any healing. He also said it’s hard to determine how much force was applied by the log.
Following questions from the Crown, the defence followed up with the doctor to ask about Chadwick’s hair and his body placement at the scene.
Williams sat in the prison’s box on Friday and was seen taking notes while also examining the autopsy report and photos displayed in the courtroom.
Court will be back in session on Monday, Mar. 11 at 10 a.m.
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