TOM
The deceased was white male, 178ch in height and was discovered by his wife lying face down in a paddock in front of the gate to one of his dog pens. The deceased had been missing for a few hours after he had left his place of residence to go feed his greyhounds on his property. He was found with his right arm bent with his palm down beneath his face and his feet and legs were together. The clothing and surrounding area appeared undisturbed. Two plastic buckets, one containing dog food, were present on the ground near his head. In order to open the gate to the dog pen a latch 45cm above the ground had to be opened. This would require the opener to bend over putting himself in close proximity to gaps which were seen on either side of the gate that were of sufficient size to admit the head of a greyhound up to its shoulders.
Autopsy
The body was clothed in normal everyday clothing which appeared undisturbed. There were major injuries present on the throat which consisted of a 21 x 20 cm area of superficial abrasions and intradermal bruising over most of the throat, seen here in figure 1.
This series of injuries included: bruising and abrasion seen over the right point of the jaw as well as below, to the left and lateral to the laryngeal prominence. Abrasions were seen just beneath the chin in the midline and some superficial almost vertical abrasions to the right of the larynx. Here some underlying bruising was present too. As well as abrasions there were a few areas of bruising recorded for the neck area of the deceased. Bruising was present directly below the laryngeal prominence, of the central lower throat and also overlying the medial part of the left clavicle.
A minimal number of injuries were seen on the rest of the body. Figure 2 highlights the small abrasions which were present on the face. Small abrasions were seen: Beth
Lateral to the outer aspect of the right eyebrow Above and lateral to the right angle of the mouth And over the left side of the nose Minimal abrasions were overlying the vermillion border of the mouth on the upper and lower lips There was a small bruise present over the prominence of the cheek In front and below the left ear there was a small abrasion As well as over the left angle of the jaw and left line of the jaw
A small abrasion was present over the right middle finger and the right shin. There was minor blood smearing on both palms, the right finger and a small spot on the right shirt front between the two buttons.
The major injuries on the body were present in the neck area, however none of the injuries on the body were typical of assault and there were no signs of any defence injuries.

The Autopsy findings show that : There were no injuries typical of an assault and no defence injuries. The eyes and lips also had no injuries. Internal examination showed a deep bruise in the right parietal region of the scalp which is found on the top of your head, including the crown of your head.

The first upper incisor tooth had been broken from the socket, and as said earlier a tooth was lying next to the body.

Heavy bruising was present in the right sternomastoid muscle, towards the lower end and Light bruising was present in the lower third of the left side. Also, the superficial strap muscles had minimal bruising on the left side and moderate bruising on the right side (FIG 2?)
Katie or Tom (if Katie is ill)

There was heavy bruising anteriorly round the thyroid body. Both of the Thyroid cornua were fractured but the right was also dislocated. The greater horn of hyoid was fractured as well. (FIG 3)

There was a vertical fracture of the body of the larynx (FIG 4) and anterior fracture of the cricoid cartilage. A few small haemorrhages were found on the laryngeal mucosa.

A 4cm cyst was found on the thyroid with extensive haemorrhage, but a minimal amount of blood was present in the trachea and bronchi.

Atheroma with 80% obstruction was present in the left anterior descending coronary artery. The rest of the internal examination was unremarkable .

The histological examination confirmed the findings and revealed no additional pathology of significance to the case. The toxicological results showed the blood ethanol was negative.

With all of the injuries considered the cause of death was given as Blunt throat trauma.

In summary, the deceased was initially discovered on the ground in front of an open gate with obvious injuries to the neck but the clothing of the deceased and the scene itself were intact.
The latch to the gate could only be opened if you were to lean over the gate itself as it was roughly 45cm above the ground.
ME
Upon revisiting the scene wires were also found on the gate post of the fence in addition to gaps in the wire mesh of the animal closure.
The injuries sustained by the deceased were not suggestive of any kind of physical assault. They mostly consisted of superficial external bruising to the neck and some internal bruising to the neck muscles. Vertical abrasions and internal fractures to the larynx were also noted in addition to internal haemorrhaging. Haemorrhages had occurred in the Thyroid, eyelids and the laryngeal mucosa or laryngeal membrane. However, the haemorrhages in the eyelids and the larynx were minor petechial haemorrhages which occur when there are breaks in the capillary blood vessels.
ME (If Katie is ill)
Previous accounts provided by a veterinary surgeon and a greyhound trainer provided evidence of previous incidents in which injuries were caused by greyhounds to their owners. These included a broken nose, damage to a person’s face and teeth, and even unconsciousness all caused by an impact between the owner and the head of a greyhound. On one occasion an owner even suffered broken and dislocated fingers caused whilst holding the collar of their dog due to force of the animals movements.
TOM
In conclusion, with the exception of the vertical abrasions to the larynx, the majority of injuries sustained by the deceased were caused by blunt trauma. He suffered a heavy blow to the neck and jaw thus causing him to collapse and in turn explaining the cause of his missing tooth. Whilst collapsing he then fell into the fence post with the wires of the fence therefore accounting for the vertical abrasions. It is likely from the evidence collected that the blow which caused his collapse occurred whilst he was feeding his pets. This is backed up by the height of the gate latch as his head would have been within reach of the dog enclosure whilst opening the gate. One of the greyhounds whilst with its head in the gap to the enclosure then reared its head and impacted the deceased from below. This is also consistent with the accounts provided by the veterinary surgeon and the dog trainer as a definite injury that a greyhound is capable of inflicting. An observation made by the pathologist, whilst examining the scene, that the dogs tended to put their heads through the gaps of the enclosure also reiterates this. Finally, the injuries sustained aren’t suggestive of an assault of any kind or of a dog attack due to the absence of bite marks. Therefore it is likely that the cause of death is as described.
Thank you for listening.
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