Wife, Daughter Killed By Danish Husband Were Suffocated- Pathologist
A Consultant Pathologist, Professor John Obafunwa on Tuesday told Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere that the Nigerian singer, Zainab Nielsen, alias Alizee, and her daughter, Petra, who were murdered by her husband, Peter Nielsen, a Danish citizen, were suffocated.
Professor Obafunwa told the trial judge, Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile that his post-mortem examination of Zainab’s corpse suggested they died of head injuries and asphyxia (or suffocation) that were not self-inflicted.
The Lagos State government is prosecuting Nielsen on a two count charge of murder contrary to Section 223 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2015.
The state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Adeniji Kazeem who led the prosecution team had told the court that the defendant aged 53 allegedly killed his wife and daughter on the 5th of April, 2018 at about 3.45am at their Banana Island Residence in the Ikoyi area of Lagos.
The foreigner, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The pathologist, who is a prosecution witness, also the court that she was killed when her nose and mouth were forcibly closed which deprived her of oxygen.
He also testified that Zainab Nielsen also suffered bruises around her head which were consistent with “blunt force trauma that were not enough to cause any fracture.”
Obafunwa said evidence showed the deceased struggled to free herself from her killer’s grip using her hands and nails.
The result of a DNA analysis of Zainab’s nail clipping, the witness added, revealed the presence of her DNA material and that of “an individual described as Peter”.
At the commencement of proceedings Tuesday, Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Ms. Titilayo Shitta-Bey, tendered two compact discs containing pictures of Obafunwa’s autopsy and they were admitted by the court in evidence.
The court also permitted the prosecution to play a video of the pictures to explain Obafunwa’s testimony.
Obafunwa said he performed the autopsy on Zainab and Petra on April 8, two days after they were found dead.
He told the court that he found abrasions on Zainab’s face, typical of nail marks, and abrasions on the inside of her upper and lower lips.
There were also marks underneath her scalp, surface of the skull bone.
Obafunwa said: “It was all over, not just on one location.”
Obafunwa explained that toxicology reports ruled out poison as the cause of her death.
“Toxicology results showed that nothing, no chemical, alcohol, whatever, was found in her system.
“Nail scrapings, according to the Lagos State DNA Lab, revealed the presence of DNA material composing a mixture of Zainab and another male individual described as Peter. It went on to say Peter cannot be completely excluded.”
When Shitta-Bey asked the witness for the likely cause of the Zainab’s death, based on his autopsy, Obafunwa said:
“I concluded that the death in the case of Zainab resulted from a closed cranio-cerebral injury with asphyxia. Closed refers to the fact there was no skull fracture.
‘’The conclusion of asphyxia was what I highlighted: brain swelling, engorgement of the lungs, numerous pin-point haemorrhage….the fluidity of blood – absence of clot – is consistent with asphyxia, which is a state of reduced or absolute absence of oxygen to the blood. The question is, why inadequate oxygen in the blood?”
The witness explained that the evidence was indicative of forcible closure of the nose and lips, noting that the victim would have been struggling.
‘’The evidence in support of this would be the nail marks trying to remove or disengage the blockage. It was no surprise to me the result of the DNA that I got on the nail clippings.”
He ruled out “a single fall to the ground” as the cause of Zainab’s head injury.
“Blunt force trauma was around the head, all over, not just a fall to one side,” Obafunwa added.
The pathologists’ conclusion for the cause of Petra’s death was similar. He however noted that the evidence for blunt force trauma was much more severe in the child than in her mother.
Justice Okikiolu-Ighile adjourned till tomorrow for continuation of trial.
