09-28-2011, 04:43 PM
Hartford Courant
NEW HAVEN — —
Seconds after the state's chief medical examiner took the witness stand Wednesday in the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, Dr. William Petit Jr. and members of his family left the courtroom. Jurors turned their heads and watched as two rows of family members walked out, apparently to avoid hearing what was expected to be gruesome testimony.
And gruesome it was.
Prosecutor Michael Dearington immediately directed Dr. H. Wayne Carver II's testimony to the autopsy of the youngest victim of the crime, 11-year-old Michael Petit.
Carver lowered his eyes and said, "That was my responsibility."
Carver testified that there was heat damage to her skin and that soot filled her airways. Her hair was well-preserved.
Prosecutors projected a large, shocking photo of Michaela's voicebox and trachea, filled with a substance Carver described as black soot.
The organ was a bright pink — a color Carver said meant that poisonous carbon monoxide had attached itself to the young girl's red blood cells.
Carver went into some technical explanations, which Dearington boiled down into a question.
"So, essentially, the carbon monoxide takes the place of oxygen, is that correct?" Dearington asked.
"Yes," Carver replied. He confirmed that she died of smoke inhalation.
Carver also testified about a rectal sample taken from the girl's body during the autopsy. It tested for sperm, Carver said.
Jurors looked grim during the medical examiner's testimony.
NEW HAVEN — —
Seconds after the state's chief medical examiner took the witness stand Wednesday in the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, Dr. William Petit Jr. and members of his family left the courtroom. Jurors turned their heads and watched as two rows of family members walked out, apparently to avoid hearing what was expected to be gruesome testimony.
And gruesome it was.
Prosecutor Michael Dearington immediately directed Dr. H. Wayne Carver II's testimony to the autopsy of the youngest victim of the crime, 11-year-old Michael Petit.
Carver lowered his eyes and said, "That was my responsibility."
Carver testified that there was heat damage to her skin and that soot filled her airways. Her hair was well-preserved.
Prosecutors projected a large, shocking photo of Michaela's voicebox and trachea, filled with a substance Carver described as black soot.
The organ was a bright pink — a color Carver said meant that poisonous carbon monoxide had attached itself to the young girl's red blood cells.
Carver went into some technical explanations, which Dearington boiled down into a question.
"So, essentially, the carbon monoxide takes the place of oxygen, is that correct?" Dearington asked.
"Yes," Carver replied. He confirmed that she died of smoke inhalation.
Carver also testified about a rectal sample taken from the girl's body during the autopsy. It tested for sperm, Carver said.
Jurors looked grim during the medical examiner's testimony.