Given the skull is “a pretty thick bone” that requires considerable force to break, she suggested O’Keefe suffered “a pretty considerable impact.” Scordi-Bello also opined that O’Keefe sustained his blunt force injuries before hypothermia set in.
“These are not injuries that are immediately lethal,” she noted. “This is not something that would cause death in seconds, and therefore Mr. O’Keefe may have been incapacitated by the injuries or knocked out, if you will, and was not able to get himself into a warmer environment and therefore hypothermia set in, given the environmental conditions and given the clothing on the body. Or the lack of clothing, I should say — no big jacket or anything like that.”
Lally asked if Scordi-Bello observed anything that would indicate a fight or altercation. She said she saw no major signs of “what I would call a significant altercation.” While O’Keefe had some contusions on his hands, she noted the bruising on one hand was possibly from attempts to insert an IV.
Further, O’Keefe had no bruising on his knuckles and no fractures in his hands, Scordi-Bello said. He did have two fractured ribs near his sternum, though she said that was a common location for fractures associated with CPR.
Scordi-Bello will continue her testimony Friday. As she dismissed jurors for the day, Judge Beverly Cannone said the trial is on track to wrap up sometime next week.
Jurors on Thursday also learned the extent of John O’Keefe’s head injuries and the reason his manner of death was listed as “undetermined.”
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updated on June 20, 2024 | 5:31 PM