Jurors sat with rapt attention yesterday watching an eerie silent videotape of Lagoon Park shortly after a forensic pathologist and Police began to probe how American Stanley Lee died in 2001.

The video shows the heavily wooded and unkempt Lagoon Park, Ireland Island South, where Mr. Lee, his Oleander rental livery cycle and other evidence was found.

By the time Police saw him on August 9, the skin on Mr. Lee's face had either decomposed or been eaten by scavengers and his mouth was gaping wide with his teeth and gums clearly exposed. Flies are seen buzzing about the body which had lain for 13 days.

He was not visible from a clearing in the park. His torso was sallow with at least one wound visible in the skin while his legs were reddish black with dried blood and withered.

One shoe remained on his left foot, which was laying flat out, while his right knee was raised and the leg tipped outward. Portions of his clothing were visible. He was partially covered by a large brown palm frond.

The three Bermudian defendants before Supreme Court Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller are: Robert Blair Tucker, 36, of Astwood Close, Warwick; James Alan (Spooks), Dill, 55, of no fixed abode; and Terranz Sidney (Monster) Smith, 35, of Somerset Road. They are accused of murdering Mr. Lee on July 28, 2001 after a drug deal went bad.

It is alleged that Smith alerted Police to the Mr. Lee's body in an offer of a deal for immunity in the case of the death and an unrelated break-in.

Known to the US government as Stanley Lee, he was known to New York authorities as Eddie Montalvo and in Bermuda as Sean Russells or "Sha".

The Crown alleges that Mr. Lee acted as a facilitator in the delivery of cocaine to the Island after his own arrival on July 6, 2001 and relations deteriorated between Tucker and Mr. Lee when it was discovered the drug was of poor quality.

Police believe Mr. Lee demanded the remaining drugs and money gained from what had been sold be returned to him so he could return it to the US but was stymied by Tucker.

Taken by now retired police scene of crime detective Theodore Providence, the videotape details the minutiae of the crime scene ? including the location of cigarette butts.

Supreme Court One was darkened as the colour footage ? projected onto a large screen ? was played and Mr. Providence gave a commentary.

At one point an angry Liz Christopher, representing Dill, asked that the videotape be stopped after it lingered on Mr. Lee ? only to hotly demand that instead of it being paused, that the machine be turned off and the judge not allow the image of the withered body to be frozen on the screen.

Mrs. Wade Miller quickly excused the jury for legal arguments.

Former Government forensic pathologist John Obafunwa challenged lawyer Larry Scott to "produce for me a scenario" when Tucker's lawyer tried to suggest that the man's injuries could have been older than July 28, 2001.

Mr. Lee, Dr. Obafunwa has testified, had suffered a gunshot wound and was treated for it in prison in 1995.

Under cross-examination by Mr. Scott, he explained that what he believed were fresh knife wounds in bones and had not had time to "callousize" or begin healing.

The old bullet wound had not healed properly, he said and there was damage elsewhere on that rib which corresponded to medical history provided by the New York prison system from 1995.

And Dr. Obafunwa held to his opinion that Mr. Lee died of blood loss after being stabbed at least ten times ? based on his autopsy.

The doctor insisted that he would have been able to identify the man's injuries without the discovery of the muscle shirt.

"The fact still remains that I didn't use (the muscle T-shirt/vest) in that way," he said. "We are dealing with the very minimum (in remains) here.

"I think that I have been very generous when I say that there might have been other injuries."

And he scoffed at Mr. Scott's suggestion that the injuries he claims were from a knife were from the old shooting, saying: "The fact that a person has a bullet in their body doesn't mean their going die."

And to the suggestion that Mr. Lee could have sustained the injuries on July 27, Dr. Obafunwa replied: "If I were to accept that the victim was stabbed a day earlier, before the alleged assault happened, the fact remains that the victim suffered multiple stab wounds and would not have been walking around and talking."

Later, he confirmed that the handle to the blade produced by Police was missing ? he said "snapped off" ? and doubted that the attacker could have continued to use the knife without the handle.

The trial continues this morning.

When referring on Thursday to a congenital defect in Mr. Lee's ribs, Dr. Obafunwa was referring to a one inch bridge of bone between the seventh and eighth right ribs and not the presence of growth due from healing around the embedded bullet.