Link to autopsy report again:
http://ncstormtrack.com/asset/news/local/2007/07/19/1611226/1184859841_JennaNielsenAutopsyReport.swf
It sounds like she was pushed down or fell in the struggle, initially landing on her right knee and left shin (possibly hitting her nose) (causing abrasion) and then was either pushed back and land on her elbows (bilateral abrasions) -or- was forced to turn over and then her elbow got abrasions.
I really don't think the husband is involved in this, the DNA from the fingernail scrappings would have ruled him out. I wish they could tell us the gender of the suspect from the fingernail scrapings found under her nails.
That would help a lot.
It said in the report that there were also 3 linear red abrasions measuring .6" in length each separated by a distance of 0.1" on the left elbow that were associated by the contusion to the left elbow. If each of the 3 abrasions were equally spaced apart, i wonder what they were caused by.
Also she had her naval (belly button) pierced while pregnant, which leads me to think that she was one of those women who don't show pregnancy as much as others. If she was very pregnant looking in appearance, i doubt she would have kept in the naval piercing, as it may have been uncomfortable. My sister was 115lbs when pregnant with her 3rd child. Some women just don't show it as much as others..
The stab wound was on the front left side of her neck if i am correct. It may be possible with a right handed suspect, he/she stabbed her from behind or at an angle of being on the side. It would be hard for a right handed person standing in front of her to get the left side of the neck as such.
I hope they find the killer, at least it will give her family closure on knowing the person isn't loose out there somewhere.
At this point, i have no idea what to make of the suspect sketch.. if she was found with hair in her hand, then she was able to pull the suspect's hair; i just wish with the DNA they could tell us if we're looking for a male or female suspect..
My prayers for her family this Christmas...
Jenna's case haunts me so.
I am no medical expert, but this is what I wonder about when I read the autopsy report.
My take on the sequence of events are that not only was she stabbed in the neck from behind because her left earlobe was nicked and the autopsy report states the cut was made from posterior to anterior and left to right, but there is evidence of manual strangulation from the occular vessel hemorrhages. An antemortem cranial bleed is also present, again on the left side, parietal lobe. ( close to the ear).
Was the head injury caused by a spontaneous fall after being either strangled or stabbed, was she pushed down, or hit on the head with a blunt object? Perhaps kicked in the head while on the ground during the assault? ( parking lot behind convenience store causing abrasions at the same time?) The linear abrasions described seem to be pavement burns from either a hard fall or from being dragged a short distance on the parking lot to me.. She may have been conscious and was attempting to break her fall at that time, or fight back, not sure which. The abrasions to her nose suggest that her head was hit hard while she was down. Her hair remained in its ponytail holder, or it was replaced in the ponytail holder after death, which I doubt since her pants were not pulled back up. I have read that it is common for rapists to look for women with long hair, because the hair is used to grab the woman, and to hold her. I find it unusual that her ponytail holder was intact with her hair described as being pulled back in it.
Why is one mark on her leg described as being brown in color? Scab or old bruise? Maybe not associated with crime scene but with struggling with bundles of newspapers days before or from an accidental kick from her child?
Also, it seems to me that for her stomach to contain 220 ml of blood,( approx. 8 ounces or 1 cup) from the stab wound which involved the oropharnyx ( throat) from left to right that she swallowed quite a bit of blood. This also suggests to me that she died face up, despite the abrasions on her face. If her head was facing down, she would have spit out the blood, if conscious, or it would have drained out by gravity instead of going into her stomach.
The last thing I suspect from the autopsy report is that once she was stabbed, she died quickly from the stab wound. The lack of meconium in the amniotic fluid supports lack of sustained fetal distress. Jenna sustained 3 different, potentially fatal wounds: strangulation, a head injury, then the fatal stabbing. If she died quickly from exsanguination within minutes after the arterial neck stab wound, her baby would have died quickly too. Usually, if there is a sustained hypoxic state in the fetus, he would have released meconium. The amniotic fluid was described as serous fluid without meconium staining.
She bled from:
1) capilliaries in her eyes and mucosa- evidence of manual strangulation.
2) Lacerations on legs, elbows and nose.
3) Head injury
4) Stab wound left to right neck involving carotid artery and the soft tissues of the throat.Obviously, the massive and fatal bleed.
I think she suffered from multiple assaults for a period of time in the parking lot for there to be this many different types of injuries present with bleeding.
Incidentals:
With regards to the comments about the umbilical piercing- I don't find the umbilical or tongue piercings to have any significance. It should be noted that no ring or ornamentation was seen or removed from the umbilical piercing. The other piercings had jewelry and it was removed and noted in the AR.
Does anyone have any knowledge related to her tattoos? The AR stated that there were spiral tattoos on both wrists. ( OUCH).
How usual are the spiral tattoos on her wrists? Do they have a meaning? And do the strings on her wrists have any ritualistic meaning? I am familiar with different colored strings or knotted yarn associated with those who study the Kaballah, but since her religion was stated as Mormonism, I was wondering if maybe there was another meaning to the tattoos and or the wrist strings.
I mean no disrespect in discussing aspects of the condition of her body as related in the autopsy which are not wounds. I have wanted to post about this for a while but was reluctant to out of respect for her and her family. To anyone who reads this, I seek to understand what happened to Jenna, and wonder if perhaps there are clues regarding the people she and her husband hung out with close to the time of her death with regards to the decorating of her wrists with both tattoos and strings. The tattoos could have been old, from early teens, but the wrist strings would have been recent additions.
As you can see from the hour I am posting this, Jenna is on my mind in the wee hours of the night.
Maria
