A PATHOLOGIST who carried out a post-mortem examination on the body of a woman found stabbed at her home told a jury she could not rule out that further stab wounds were inflicted after her death.
Jill Hibberd, 73, was stabbed 70 times in what the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) alleges was a sustained attack carried out by 40-year-old Lee Fueloep on Roy Kilner Road, Wombwell, on May 30.
Dr Naomi Carter appeared at Sheffield Crown Court this week, the second week of the trial which is scheduled to last up to four weeks. She described each wound before telling a jury about the fatal internal damage caused.
Dr Carter revealed some blows said to have been inflicted by a 12.5cm knife missing from the victim’s kitchen had been so forceful that multiple fragments of bone from her ribs and spine had been broken during the attack.
“Of the wounds 70 were substantive but there were numerous others which were smaller,” she said. “The cause of death was principally a stab wound which struck the heart and lung, but there were injuries to her spleen, intestines and both kidneys.
“She lost blood externally and internally, consequently dying from blood loss and subsequent breathing difficulties.
“Is it possible that some stab wounds were inflicted after the victim died?
“Given the fact there are wounds all over the body, that suggests a dynamic aspect where both parties have been moving, but I also noted a grouping of injuries which were very close together.
“That suggests some were inflicted when the victim was immobile and there wasn’t a struggle.”
Fueloep, of nearby Willow Garth, denies the murder and although he admitted he had attended Miss Hibberd’s address when he was arrested by police, he told them during an interview that she was already dead when he arrived.
Dr Carter told the jury smaller slashes were found on the victim’s hands and arms - injuries which showed she may have been attempting to defend herself.
“The level of force used is always difficult to assess but we tend to use three aspects mild, moderate and severe when we reach a conclusion,” she added.
“The knife cut through bone and hard cartilage, so clearly severe force would have had to have been used to cause such injuries.”
Yesterday the jury heard from Fueloep’s neighbour, Joanna Jagielo-Glinka, who said she had seen him burning material in his front garden on the night of the incident.
Via an interpreter, she said: “I can see into the garden and although Lee had burned things in his garden before, he had never done it at night and it was between 10pm and 11pm when he did it on May 30.
“I couldn’t see what he was burning but the following morning, at about 5am, he came out of his house while I was putting the bins out.
“He didn’t say anything to me but he turned left and walked down the street towards Roy Kilner Road.”
Miss Hibberd was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 7.59am having been found by two neighbours Tony O’Connell and Susan Spencer who grew concerned after her Audi TT had been seen speeding away from her driveway the previous night.
The trial continues.
