Forensic experts at odds in Pieters case

PENILE penetration is the only way murder accused Mortimer Saunders’s semen could have been found in 3-yearold Courtney Pieters’s deep vaginal wall. This was the argument made by State prosecutor Esmeralda Cecil.

Yesterday Cecil questioned defence forensic pathologist Dr Steve Naidoo on the presence of semen in the dead girl’s deep vagina wall. Cecil said semen was also found on the girl’s jeans.

Naidoo told the Western Cape High Court that Saunders’s DNA could be found because of finger penetration.

He was also quick to tell the court that his focus in the case was on the pathology, not on DNA technology. Saunders denies raping Courtney. Based on a sequence of events described in Saunders’s plea explanation, he said that after killing Courtney he penetrated her with three fingers before he got aroused and started poking her with his penis.

Naidoo said: “It’s difficult to (know) whether fingers would be able to get semen deep in the vaginal wall.”

Naidoo said he saw no injuries to the deceased’s genitalia. “There would have been injuries,” he said.

This disputes a statement made by supervising State forensic pathologist, Professor Johan Dempers, who testified that Courtney had sustained tear wounds.

“Penetration by an adult penis could have been the cause,” he told the court.