‘Angel Committed Suicide’

MONROVIA – A forensic pathologist from the Nebraska Institute of Forensic Sciences in the United States of America (USA), Thomas L. Bennett, has described the cause of Angel Togba’s death as suicide.

Bennett is one of three pathologists from the Institute who were invited by defendant Williams to conduct an autopsy on the body of Angel in May 2008.

The forensic expert yesterday testified in Criminal Court ‘B’ at the Temple of Justice on Capitol Hill with the aid a PowerPoint display, demonstrating and explaining the various steps he had employed during his autopsy and the relevance of each step to his findings.

The display of pictures of the deceased seemed to have refreshed the minds of the family members of the deceased as some women had to be accompanied out of the courtroom owing to their inability to hold back their tears.

The forensic expert also presented a pamphlet titled ‘Asphyxia’, authored by himself, to be used as evidence by court.

The prosecution objected to the presentation of the pamphlet as evidence because, according to the prosecution, it had been introduced during the pre-trial conference. The court, however, ruled against their objection, saying that the court was interested in gathering more literature on the case.

The expert witness, in his testimony, said based on his findings and review of investigative reports handed him and his team, they in consultation concluded that Angel had died of suicide.

When his team took the body of Angel Togba from the Striker Funeral Home, Bennett said, all the parts were intact with the exception of the uterus, ovaries and the vagina.

He asserted that those missing parts had been removed by Dr. Anthony Quaye (the Liberian doctor who performed the first autopsy).

Bennett told the court that Quaye, who was present at the time his team was conducting the autopsy, assured his team “those missing parts were normal,” although he (Quaye) could not account for them.

The American pathologist stated that none of the previous pathologists had taken a microscopic look at the various organs, but said that he and his team did take a microscopic look at the various organs for clues.

“Of major importance to our autopsy and these findings were that the neck was in place and undissected. Dr. Quaye had opened the front of the neck and looked at the surface of the organs but did not remove them. The Cuban pathologist could not find them,” he asserted.

Dr. Bennett further told the court that the neck was extremely essential in distinguishing between hanging from ligature strangulation and manual strangulation because all three forms of asphyxia involve the neck.

“The deficiencies of the first two autopsies gave us the opportunity to be clear and definitive,” the expert witness asserted.

With his PowerPoint illustration, the forensic pathologist showed the neck structure of the late Angel Togba. In the neck, he showed an X-rayed picture of a U-shape structure, which he described as the hyoid bone.

The hyoid, Bennett said, can be broken through manual strangulation but not by hanging or ligature strangulation.

The expert witness said that Quaye had stated in his report that the hyoid bone had been broken. This, he asserted, was not true.

Bennett submitted that the Cuban pathologist, Josepha Hamandez, who conducted the second autopsy could not find the hyoid bone.

“We examined it, we removed it, we looked closely to see if there was any bruising, and there was none,” he asserted.

He further disclosed that he preserved the neck structure in a sealed container and handed it to the Deputy Minister of Justice for Administration, Eva M. Morgan.

The U.S. Pathologist defined hanging as “when an object around the neck is tightened by the force of gravity pulling the body down to put pressure sufficient to block air or blood flow to the brain.”

During cross-examination, Bennett told the court that there are two types of suspensions when it comes to hanging – total suspension and non-total suspension as in the case of Angel Togba.

He defined non-total suspension as “suspension in which part of the body is in contact with the ground or an object.”

Although it is possible for a lifeless body to be hanged to fake a crime scene, the forensic pathologist said, that did not happen in the case of Angel Togba.

He stated that the angle of ligature (characteristics of indentation) on her neck, compounded by the pressure suffered by the arteries in her neck, were clear indications that she hanged herself while alive.

He further told the court that one could even hang oneself on a door knob.

Addressing the swinging of Angel’s body while hanging, as testified to by co-defendant Hans Williams, Bennett tied a handkerchief around the neck of a bottle to illustrate that that swinging is sometimes possible in non-total hanging.

Bennett practices Forensic Pathology and Anatomic & Clinical Pathology in Billings, Montana, USA.

The case continues today.