Trial of Alpha Henry for parricide: imprecise autopsy on time of double murder

In Toronto, at the Alpha Henry trial, a forensic pathologist confirms that the accused’s parents were stabbed to death, but is unable to determine the precise date they were murdered in their apartment in 2022. A 30-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to two counts of unpremeditated murder and another of attempted murder against his brother, a flight attendant at the time.

The Dr Christopher Ball claims that he did not notice any rigor mortis when examining the bodies of Colin and Veronica Henry, as the emergency services had claimed when the bodies were discovered on September 21, 2022 in the apartment of the two victims.

Muscle stiffness may disappear after just a few hourshe declares on the witness stand.

The doctor confirms, however, that the sixty-year-old couple was stabbed to death a dozen times in the neck, face and chest.

However, it is difficult to explain the discoloration of the skin visible in the autopsy photos, which are shown in court.

The gasoline that was sprayed on the bodies after the double murder may have been the cause, but I have no certainty.he continues.

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A police officer makes the macabre discovery of two bodies stabbed and doused in gasoline in the bathtub of Colin and Veronica Henry’s apartment on the night of September 21, 2022 in the Rexdale neighborhood.

Photo: COURTESY OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ONTARIO

The Dr Ball adds that the injuries noted on the victims’ hands show that they defended themselves by raising their arms to face their attacker.

However, he cannot determine the precise time of their death, becausesome time has passed between the murders and the discovery of the two bodies in the bathtub of their home in the Rexdale neighborhood.

For the Crown, the victims were killed two days before the discovery of their bodies which the accused tried to burn in the bath, but without success.

The defense instead claims that it was his client’s brother who committed the double murder and who injured him before fleeing.

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A crowdfunding campaign was launched after the murders of Colin Henry, 68, and Veronica Henry, 67, to help their son Daniel cope with their disappearance.

Photo : GoFundMe

An expert in ADN of the Toronto Forensic Sciences Center also declared last Friday that samples taken from the victims’ apartment could well link the double murder to the accused.

In her testimony, she reviewed photos that were submitted to her by Toronto police after the bodies were discovered on the night of September 21, 2022.

For example, blood samples had been taken from the soggy sofa in the living room, the mattresses and sheets in the bedrooms, the bath and a yellow rubber glove found under the bathroom sink.

A man in orange prison garb slumped on a table in an interrogation room.

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Defendant Alpha Henry waits for Detective Mike McGuinn in the interrogation room at Police Station 23 after his interactions with Officer Eric Tang.

Photo: COURTESY OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ONTARIO

Sarah Johnston argues that several identifying results ofADN point directly to the accused.

She believes that these results ofADN are over a trillion times more likely to come from Alpha Henry than from any other unknown person unrelated to the victims.

Alpha Henry cannot be excluded as the source of the male profile ofADN from several elements, such as the swab from the father’s bed, the swab from the stain on the sheet in the father’s closet and the stain on the outer surface of the glovesaid Ms. Johnston.

Ms. Johnston further excluded a priori the accused’s brother, Daniel, because biological brothers do not have profiles ADN identical unless they are identical twins.

On the other hand, she admitted that she had not been able to make any such comparison, since she had not received any blood sample from Daniel Henry from the police.

The nonjury trial continues Thursday.

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