Ana Kriegel died from blunt force trauma, according to the former State Pathologist who carried out her post-mortem.
Professor Marie Cassidy presented her conclusions to the jury today in the trial of two teenage boys accused of murdering the 14-year-old schoolgirl in Dublin.
The two boys, who can’t be named because due to their age, have pleaded NOT guilty to murdering Ana on May 14th last year.
BOY A denies an additional charge of aggravated sexual assault.
After examining the crime scene at a derelict farmhouse in Lucan, Professor Cassidy gave evidence today of the post-mortem exam that she carried out.
She said Ana was naked apart from some socks – the soles of which were thick with dust. She added a strip of sticky tape was loosely wrapped around her neck.
She outlined over fifty injuries to Ana and concluded that she died from blunt force trauma to the head and neck.
She said there was also evidence of attempted sex, but she said consent couldn’t be established.
Professor Cassidy said Ana suffered bruising to her hands and arms – injuries she said were consistent with defensive injuries.
Ana also suffered haemorrhaging to the lining inside her eyelids. Professor Cassidy explained that these injuries are commonly seen in someone who is suffering from a lack of oxygen.
She said one indication of these types of injury is mechanical asphyxia or “compression of neck such as strangulation”.
Professor Cassidy also described how Ana suffered four separate impacts to her head. She said this could have been caused by a “fairly heavy object with small striking surfaces”.
Under cross-examination by the barrister for BOY B, she agreed it was a “horrific death” and accepted ”anyone witnessing something like that would be traumatised”.
