Louie was covered in defensive injuries

Roxanne Louie’s body was found covered in bruises and scrapes, several of which are considered defensive wounds, says the doctor who performed the autopsy.

Grace Robotti is charged with murdering Louie, her great-grandson’s mother, in January 2015. Louie was a 26-year-old member of the Osoyoos Indian band.

Robotti admits to killing Louie by hitting her in the head repeatedly with a small crowbar, but she has pleaded not guilty to murder.

Louie’s body was found in a wooded area near Naramata, where it was dumped by Robotti’s brother, Pier, on the night of her death. The body was found buried under 15 centimetres of snow eight days later, on Jan. 12.

Dr. James Stephen, a forensic pathol- ogist, performed the autopsy on Louie.

In court on Tuesday in Kelowna, he described a multitude of bruises and scrapes found all over Louie’s body.

“The amount of force that would be necessary to cause this . . . you’d notice it,” said Stephen. “They’re not trivial injuries . . . but the force isn’t such that the pain would be incapacitating.”

Stephen noted extensive bruising on Louie’s left arm, consistent with defensive wounds.

“When someone is being struck, they may assume a posture to protect their face or to protect their head, and this exposes certain parts of their body to the blows that they are protecting themselves from,” he said.

In this case, the force used to cause the defensive injuries appeared to be light to moderate, he said.

Stephen also noted bruises on both thighs, which he said likely occurred after death.

“A yellow leathery abrasion is usually synonymous with a postmortem injury,” he said.

Robotti hit Louie in the head about 26 times with the crowbar, causing “severe lacerations to her scalp,” said Crown counsel John Swanson.

Robotti was hitting Louie while sitting on top of her, the court heard last week. She then pressed the crowbar against Louie’s throat until she died.

The defence is arguing Robotti acted in self-defence.

“She started it, not me,” Robotti said in an interview with police played in court on Friday.

The two women had been engaged in a fight, which turned physical, in Robotti’s Penticton home.

The jury trial is in its second week and is expected to continue until midApril. The trial was moved to Kelowna due to security concerns at the Penticton courthouse.