PATHOLOGY DETAILS

 

 

At a post mortem examination Professor Guy Rutty could find no macroscopic evidence of any natural disease to account for Katie’s death.  Histological examination of Katies’s organ tissues did not reveal any natural disease to explain Katie’s death.  Examination of the heart  by a specialist Cardiac Pathologist was normal.  Professor Rutty informed the Court of Inquest that cardiac death is reported in persons suffering from eating disorders, which Katie was.  However, on measuring Katie’s height and weight he stated that Katie had a normal body mass index and on those grounds, in conjunction with a normal pathology report on the heart, cardiac death from the result of an eating disorder was excluded.

 

The Neuro-Pathologist found no structural abnormality or natural disease within the brain to account for Katie’s death. However, he did find microscopic petechial changes to the brain which in his opinion could be caused by ischaemic changes, in other words lack of oxygen to the brain or by trauma.

 

  

Forensic toxicology examination of samples of blood and urine detected no alcohol, no drugs abuse or medication in Katie’s blood which could account for her death.

 

The toxicological results demonstrated normal carbon monoxide and cyanide levels in her blood and Professor Rutty stated that these would have been elevated if Katie had been alive at the time her body was on fire.

 

Professor Rutty stated that there was burning of her clothes and a large number of full thickness burns to her groin, front of her body and to her face, these burns also extended around to her back.  Professor Rutty informed the Court of Inquest that there was no vital reaction to the burn tissue which there would have been had Katie been alive at the time the burns were sustained.

 

Professor Rutty also noted there was no burning to the tissues of the mouth, throat, or air passages. Neither was there any evidence of soot deposits to these tissues at post mortem examination or on histological examination of the lung tissue.

 

All of these findings lead Professor Rutty to conclude that Katie was already dead before her body was set on fire.

 

During the course of his examination Professor Rutty noted two bruises to her lower right arm which he described as recent and gave the opinion that these bruises were suggestive of the arm being grabbed.

 

Professor Rutty also noted that although there were no other external signs of injury he documented extensive bruising under the skin to Katie’s jaw and face along with significant bruising to her temple areas on each side and to the right parietal area of her skull.

 

Professor Rutty stated that these  bruises were caused by the application of blunt force trauma and could result from the head and face striking an object such as in a fall, or by the head and face being struck by an object, most commonly as seen in punching. He also stated that the bruising around the head could also result from forceful hair pulling.

 

In considering a fall as the cause of the bruising Professor Rutty drew the Court of Inquest attention to the fact that Katie was not, at the material time, under the influence of alcohol or drugs to account for her falling and describing the barn as being constructed of brick with a brick floor he would have expected some external evidence of abrasions to the skin if the injuries resulted from a fall. Furthermore, he stated that there were three bruises to the head in different areas and that these injuries could not have been sustained at the same time in a single fall.

 

In response to questions put to him Professor Rutty stated that it was possible that the force which caused these bruises could be sufficient to stun a person.

 

On considering the Neuro Pathological evidence and in response to questions Professor Rutty stated that there could be an asphyxial component to Katie’s death.  He informed the Court that these changes can be seen as a terminal event in deaths due to natural causes but could also occur in deliberate occlusion of the airways.  He stated that in such cases if a person puts up no resistance due to a state of incapacity there is often no pathological evidence at post mortem to demonstrate the method of asphyxia.

 

Professor Rutty stated that although an asphyxial component to the death was possible he could not be certain of that as a fact to any standard of proof required by the Court of Inquest.

 

Professor Rutty also considered asphyxia and sudden death as a result of gagging during forceful oral sex and stated that there were two cases reported worldwide, one involving an adult and one involving a child.  Again, however, although stating that it was possible he could not be certain of this as a cause of death to the standard of proof required by the Court of Inquest.

 

Having reviewed his pathological and toxicological findings and discussing his findings with two other Forensic Pathologists Professor Rutty was unable to state a cause of death in Katie and therefore recorded the cause of death to be unascertained.

 

However, Professor Rutty was able to state that he was satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt, that is to say he was sure, that Katie did not die from natural causes.

 

HAVING CONSIDERED THE PATHOLOGICAL AND FORENSIC EVIDENCE THE CORONER FOUND THAT THE MEDICAL CAUSE OF DEATH IN KATIE TO BE UNASCERTAINED.

 

THE CORONER ALSO FOUND THAT ON THE BALANCE OF PROBABILITIES HE FOUND AS A FACT THAT KATIE WAS ALREADY DEAD BEFORE HER BODY WAS SET ON FIRE AND THAT THE HEAD AND FACIAL INJURIES DESCRIBED ON KATIE DID NOT RESULT FROM A FALL.

 

THE CORONER ALSO FOUND THAT ALTHOUGH A POST MORTEM EXAMINATION  COULD NOT ASCERTAIN THE CAUSE  OF THE DEATH, THE EVIDENCE HEARD AT INQUEST DEMONSTRATED THAT ON THE BALANCE OF PROBABILITIES KATIE DID NOT DIE FROM NATURAL CAUSES AND ON THE BALANCE OF PROBABILITIES THE FIRE TO KATIE’S BODY WAS STARTED IN HER LAP, AFTER HER DEATH BY PERSON OR PERSONS UNKNOWN.

 

If you are a qualified pathologist or have a medical background which may be able to help solve the mystery of my daughter’s death please contact me by e-mail on info@katielouisesisson.co.uk for full details of the post mortem, fire reports and toxicology reports etc. is available to download from a PDF file.

 

There is currently a £20,000 reward for information that could lead to findings that can help the Police towards conviction of any person(s) responsible for my daughter’s death.