There was dead silence at an Accra High Court on Tuesday as Specialist Pathologist, Dr. Lawrence Edusei, gave a horrifying account of the state of Major Maxwell Adams Mahama’s body during post mortem.

Dr. Edusei said there were visible signs of violence on the body of a “well-nourished male adult.”

“There were burns involving the head, both upper limbs, both lower limbs, the abdomen, so in total, about 54% of total body surface area, burnt,” he added.

He continued, “there were multiple lacerations on the skull, the left side of the lower limb. Depressed fracture of the skull, fracture of the jaw bone, chest bones (ribs), extensive bleeding under the skin of the head.”

The Pathologist is the State’s 13th witness out of a total of 14 listed to testify in the court.

Related: Photos: Major Mahama statue revives tears at unveiling ceremony

Fourteen persons including then Assemblyman of Denkyria Obuasi, William Baah, are standing trial over the death of the soldier which occurred in May 2017. 

Chief State Attorney, Evelyn Keelson, on Tuesday, led Dr. Edusei to brief the court on the post mortem report as the state inched closer to last part of its case against the accused persons.

X-Ray examination

Dr. Edusei said even before commencing the post mortem, he carried out an X-Ray examination which he revealed bullet pellets were lodged at the left side of the jaw, the lower end of the right thigh bone and the lower part of the left leg.

He also said there was an object lodged at the right side of the pelvic bone that had caused a fracture. While admitting it was difficult to determine what the object was, he concluded it was most likely to be from a short gun.  

Internal analysis

On what his internal analysis of the corpse revealed, Dr. Edusei said there was bleeding in the brain and extensive bleeding on the surface of the lungs. He said he also observed a penetrating injury in the lungs. 

A statue at Airport Hills Roundabout in honour of Major Mahama

“In the chest cavity at the left side, there was a collection of blood, a round pellet was retrieved from the left cavity. There was extensive bleeding in the left upper part of the abdomen”

Dr. Edusei concluded his testimony by saying the soldier’s death was caused by multiple head injuries.

“In my opinion, the cause of death is multiple head injuries, this is due to blunt objects like stone, wood, iron rods and shotguns. These are unnatural causes,” Dr. Edusei stated. 

Cross-examination

Defense lawyer, George Bernard Shaw, was the first to cross-examine Dr. Edusei. He reminded the doctor he had earlier lamented during the trial at the District Court, of his inability to get access to the crime scene and ballistics experts.

He asked whether this could not have affected his findings. Dr. Edusei responded that the experts were not required to enable him to reach his conclusions.

Last witness

A police investigator is expected to be the state’s last witness once Dr. Edusei is discharged by the court.