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February 16, 2000Doctor: 'This was a suicide'Defense continues to lay out its scenario in Cynthia McDonnell's murder trialBy PATRICK SULLIVANRecord-Eagle staff writer LELAND - A defense witness for a woman accused of murdering her mate to cover up a bilked trust fund was emphatic Tuesday about what happened to Cynthia McDonnell's husband. "It's more than clear that this was a suicide," said Dr. Ljubisa Dragovic, the chief medical examiner for Oakland County. Dragovic said he reviewed the autopsy report, crime scene photos and the police report and came to the conclusion that Daniel McDonnell shot himself in the back of the head, a manner of suicide he said was not uncommon. Dragovic was called by McDonnell's lawyer, Peter Shumar, in the sixth day of her trial on charges of first-degree murder in the Dec. 31, 1998 shooting death of Daniel McDonnell in the couple's Bingham Township home. Closing arguments could begin today. Leelanau Prosecutor Clarence Gomery sparred Tuesday with Dragovic over which conclusion - murder or suicide - makes more sense. Dragovic testified that there is evidence of powder burns near the wound, meaning the revolver was fired at close range and part of the muzzle touched his head. He also said he didn't trust analysis of how McDonnell's body lay when police arrived because the crime scene had been compromised. "You have to put common sense into it," Dragovic said in his thick Slavic accent. "Yes, this wound could have been inflicted by self, and I believe it was inflicted by self." Dragovic insisted that he took into account that McDonnell originally told police her husband was killed in a robbery then recanted and said when she discovered her husband's suicide, she tried to make the death look like a robbery murder in order to collect a $300,000 insurance policy. Dragovic also said he considered the fact that police suspect McDonnell of stealing $50,000 from a trust fund set up for a disabled relative that her husband had recently been subpoenaed to court to explain. He also said he considered the missing Smith & Wesson .38 revolver Gomery believes is the murder weapon. "If Dr. Start had been working for me, after a misinterpretation of this kind, he wouldn't have been working for me anymore," Dragovic said of the Grand Rapids pathologist David Start, who performed the autopsy. Most of Tuesday's testimony focused on complicated theories on how Daniel McDonnell could have shot himself in the back of the head and whether evidence at the scene indicated the shot that killed him came from a gun that was touching his head when it fired or whether it could have been several feet away. Dragovic said he was convinced that the revolver touched his head because he saw evidence of gun powder residue in photos of the bullet wound. Prosecution witnesses - including Start who performed the autopsy - said he examined the gray circle around the wound and determined there was no gunpowder and that the gray came from hemorrhaging. Another contention was over a small gray mark near the wound that Start said was a bruise he made while shaving the wound. "Bruise is not gray color, bruise is effect of broken vessels down within the skin," Dragovic said. Another defense witness was asked to get into a bed in the middle of the court room and demonstrate his theory on how Daniel McDonnell could have shot himself using his right arm. "It would be difficult, but an individual could do this," said David Balash, a retired Michigan State Police forensic investigator. Under cross-examination from Gomery, he got into the bed and awkwardly tried to point a model revolver into the back of his head into a yellow sticker Gomery had attached. Balash said a blood and powder stained pillow case that prosecutors contend was held over the revolver to muffle its sound could not have been pressed against the weapon when it was fired given the pattern of powder stains. He also said that if the pillow case had been used for this, it would have suffered more damage. Shumar is expected to call three witnesses this morning then rest his case unless he calls McDonnell, which he said Tuesday is possible. Gomery is expected to call at least one rebuttal witness before closing arguments, which could begin as early as this afternoon. |
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