Pathologist tells court that man died from blunt force trauma to head

A 70-year-old man, who was attacked in his Dublin home, died of blunt force trauma to the head, the State Pathologist has told the Central Criminal Court.

Dr Marie Cassidy was giving evidence on the third day of the trial of homeless man Stephen Byrne (aged 36), who has pleaded not guilty to killing William Traynor on Sunday June 17, 2007 at his house on St Francis Terrace, Bow Street.

Fire-fighters found Mr Traynor badly beaten that evening, after being called to a small fire in his home. He died two days later in Beaumont Hospital.

Dr Cassidy said the elderly man’s death was due to head injuries, mainly to the left of his head. She said a heavy blow or blows from a heavy object resulted in a fragmented skull and injury to the brain.

“The skull was broken up into small pieces. There was bleeding in the left side of the brain,” she said. “Because of the bleeding, swelling and bruising on the left of the brain, the brain structures from the left had pushed into the right, taking up more room.”

She explained that his face was swollen, that both eyes were bruised and there had been haemorrhaging within them.

“If he received just one blow, his head would have to have been supported by a heavy object, e.g. he would have had to be lying on the ground,” she said.

She said many of Mr Traynor’s ribs were fractured and there was bruising to his lungs and kidneys. She could not rule out that some of the rib fractures might have been caused during attempted resuscitation.

His shoulders, arms and legs were bruised, with the arm injuries likely to be defensive, she said. There were circular marks on his back, which were unlikely to have been caused by the same object that inflicted the head injuries.

There was fire damage to his head, she said, with his hair, moustache and left eyebrow singed and burns on his face and neck.

Elsewhere, she said there was evidence of cirrhosis in the liver, which was slightly heavy. Fatty changes there were indicative of alcohol abuse. She said that he had moderate levels of alcohol in his system when brought to hospital and this could have affected his reactions.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of seven women and five men.