'As far as I can see, there's no area that implies serious forceful blows,' witness tells prosecutor
Nowhere on Nancy Kissel's body did doctor Annabelle Dytham, who examined Kissel two days after she killed her husband, see anything to suggest she had received 'serious forceful blows' from an object such as a baseball bat, the Court of First Instance heard yesterday.
But Dr Dytham said Kissel may not have been exaggerating the pain she was suffering from an alleged assault by her husband - contradicting her testimony on Friday that she may have overstated it. The doctor made the statement yesterday after defence counsel told her of tests that suggested Kissel had musculo-skeletal injuries.
During cross-examination by prosecutor Peter Chapman, Dr Dytham was asked to view and touch the baseball bat that Kissel, 41, claims Robert Peter Kissel used to beat her in their bedroom on November 2, 2003, the day she is accused of murdering her husband.
Mr Chapman asked Dr Dytham what injuries she would expect to see if a man had used the bat to land forceful blows on a woman. She said bruises, possible bone fractures and - if hit on the head - possible loss of consciousness.
'In relations to injuries you had noted in your medical notes, were they consistent with an assault by Robert Kissel, threatening to kill Nancy Kissel by the use of a baseball bat?' Mr Chapman asked. The list of Kissel's injuries recorded by Dr Dytham on November 4 included swollen fingers, puncture wounds to the right hand, pain in the ribs, chest and shoulders, and leg bruises and markings. X-rays showed no fractures.