A pathologist is a medical professional, who will examine the body of a murder victim in order to determine if there is any evidence on or in the body, in an attempt to discover any pertinent information: for example how they died, and if they were sexually assaulted.They will often perform a preliminary inspection, searching for any obvious injuries which could explain cause of death, for example entry and exit bullet wounds, or knife marks. The will then go on to perform an autopsy, when they will examine the contents of the victims stomach, lungs and intestines, in an attempt to see if they had ingested anything which could be harmful, and therefore explain the cause of death. A forensic pathologist can be crucial to a case, as they can provide important information in a court of law, for example how the victims died, and if there are any specific things about the death that could link it to a suspect. For example, there are cases where pathologists have been able to aid an acquittal by proving that the killer was right handed, while the main suspect was left handed. Pathologist also perform toxicology reports in order to establish if there were any drugs, or even poison within the victims blood stream, which may also be pertinent information to the investigation.
The OJ Simpson Case
During the OJ Simpson case, the coroners were not allowed to examine the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman until 8 hours after the bodies were found, meaning that a lot of the evidence which could have been collected by the coroners was contaminated.
However the coroner found that the body of Nicole Brown Simpson has an incised wound on the neck, slices her jugular vein. Her carotid arteries had been severed, and there were multiple scalp bruises and incisions.
He also identified numerous defensive wounds to the hands and wrists, indicating she fought back.
As for Ron Goldman, the pathologist indicated that Ron Goldman suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest, and neck, as well as abrasions to the hands and wrists, again likely defensive wounds.
However the coroner found that the body of Nicole Brown Simpson has an incised wound on the neck, slices her jugular vein. Her carotid arteries had been severed, and there were multiple scalp bruises and incisions.
He also identified numerous defensive wounds to the hands and wrists, indicating she fought back.
As for Ron Goldman, the pathologist indicated that Ron Goldman suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest, and neck, as well as abrasions to the hands and wrists, again likely defensive wounds.
For more information, see the full autopsy report linked bellow:
Autopsy of Nicole Brown Simpson
Autopsy Report of Ron Goldman
Autopsy of Nicole Brown Simpson
Autopsy Report of Ron Goldman