‘I can’t say how Akiel died’

PATHOLOGIST Dr Hughvon Des Vignes cannot say for sure how 11-year-old Akiel Chambers died. But he did find sperm in the boy’s anus which could have been placed there within 24 hours of Akiel’s death.

Dr Des Vignes said although he was given the cause of death as drowning (by the results of a first post-mortem), he would have expected to find water-logging of the lungs, which was not the case in Chambers’ death. But the pathologist could not rule out drowning. Questioned by Coroner Sherman Mc Nicolls about someone being killed and then thrown in a pool of water, Dr Des Vignes said if the body was submerged in excess of six hours, there would have been a marked wrinkling of the palms and soles of the feet which is normally called “washer women hands and feet.” In this case, because of the length of time the body remained between death and the second post-mortem (four days), there was no evidence of “washer women hands and feet.” Dr Des Vignes was the only witness to give evidence before Mc Nicolls at the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday. He will return to be further questioned tomorrow. Mc Nicolls is conducting an inquest to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of Akiel Chambers whose body was found in the swimming pool of Charles and Annelore James at 23 Balata Terrace, Haleland Park, Maraval, on the morning of May 23, 1998.

Dr Des Vignes said he performed an autopsy on Akiel’s body at 3.45 pm on May 28, 1998, at Nella’s Funeral Home, Sunshine Avenue, San Juan. He found a white discoloration to the front of the knees and instep. There was a 2.5 cm abrasion or scrape over the front and towards the inside of the left knee. He said Akiel’s skull had not been opened during the first post-mortem. The heart and lungs, he added had been cut. There was no significant oedema or water-logging of the lungs. Dr Des Vignes said samples were taken for microscopic examination and swabs were removed from the oral and anal cavities for microscopic tests as well. Dr des Vignes said tests showed spermatozoa in the anus. The pathologist said even if there was water-logging of the lungs, water would have run out from the body between the time of recovery and his post-mortem. The Coroner asked: “If a child is killed and thrown in the pool of water, will his lungs be water-logged?” Dr Des Vignes replied, “there will no be significant water-logging of the lungs if he was dead before going into the water.” Questioned by court prosecutor Sgt Kenneth Cordner, Dr Des Vignes said there were no signs of “washer women hands and feet” on Akiel’s body by the time he did the post-mortem. Asked if there were unusual marks to the neck of the boy, the pathologist said because of the cuts done at certain institutions in the country (from the neck to the pubis), such evidence would have been destroyed.