Pathologists' report now out. Raises further queries.
n the postmortem report, which has been handed over to the police for further investigation, Dr Njue doubts whether such a fall could have caused the fatal injuries.
“My opinion is derived from extensive experience on injuries and the fact that no one witnessed the fall, if at all it ever occurred,” says the nine-page report.
Dr Njue, then the Chief Government Pathologist, asserts that for the fall to have caused the runner’s death, its height ought to have been at least 30 feet.
The height of the balcony is 14 feet. “Height associated with deaths even in the intoxicated must be more than 30 feet and generally it is insignificant when it is three times that of an individual. In case of Wanjiru, it had to be at least 16-feet,” says the report.
The report has three theories about the injuries. In his first theory, the pathologist says that the injuries could have been independently inflicted and not associated with the fall from the balcony.
In the second theory, the report says Wanjiru could have landed on all fours and managed to stand up but then staggered and fell on his back hitting the concrete with his head. That would explain the injuries witnessed on the back of his head.
The third theory says he could have touched the ground on all fours then sprung into the air where his upper limbs turned in a somersault style and he came down head first.
“But on the basis of his short height, he could not have touched the ground then jumped backwards — his upper limbs stretched backwards and downwards to hit the ground,” the report says.
Dr Njue conducted the autopsy with three other pathologists — Dr Emily Rogena (representing Wanjiru’s mother Hannah Wanjiru), Dr Peter Ndegwa (representing Wanjiru’s wife Trizah Njeri) and Dr Johensen Oduor.
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