Former Government Forensic Pathologist John Obafunwa admitted on the stand yesterday that he may have missed two cuts to a muscle shirt found at the scene of the murder of American Stanley Lee.

Candidly admitting the omission, Dr. Obafunwa said two cuts to the right front shoulder strap of Mr. Lee?s shirt could have been there when he examined it.

Or the cuts were made, he said, by various scenes of crime experts here or abroad seeking samples for examination ? in the time after he looked at the shirt on the first day of the investigation.

The trio of Robert Blair Tucker, James Alan (Spooks) Dill and Terranz Sidney (Monster) Smith deny killing the mysterious Stanley Lee ? known in Bermuda as Sean Russells or ?Sha? ? on July 28, 2001 at Lagoon Park, Ireland Island South, Sandys.

The Crown alleges the quartet of the burly American, 36-year-old Tucker, of Astwood Close, Warwick, Dill, 53, of no fixed abode, and Smith, 35, of Somerset Road, Sandys, were involved in importing cocaine in July 2001 but the deal had soured when it was discovered to be of poor quality.

It is alleged that Smith alerted Police to the body on August 9, 2001 in an effort to make a deal for immunity in the case of the death and an unrelated break-in.

Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser and Juan Wolffe represent the Crown, assisted by Cindy Clarke. Lawyer Larry Scott represents Tucker, Ed Bailey represents Smith and Elizabeth Christopher appears for Dill, assisted by Kae Thomas. Acting Chief Justice Norma Wade-Miller presides.

The investigation is hampered by the level of decomposition of Mr. Lee?s body, with four blows to his back recorded on the shirt. Dr. Obafunwa opined that there were at least ten blows that killed Mr. Lee.

When presented with the torn shirt, Dr. Obafunwa took some time to line up the straps ? due to rubber gloves ? before being asked by Mr. Ratneser: ?Do you see any holes or marks that are consistent with the stab wounds (that you found on the body)?

Dr. Obafunwa looked at the shirt, paused, then took a deep breath before saying: ?I have to admit that I?m seeing an opening here...?

A short time later he said: ?You?ll note that I didn?t have this in my report. If I?m to assume that if there was a cut or cuts on the shirt when I examined them, then I would have wrote that. And I?m bold enough to admit that I might have missed a cut.

In a light moment, Dr. Obafunwa drew knowing smiles from the jury when he later corrected his answer by interrupting another question from Mr. Ratneser and saying: ?Excuse me, may I say something?

?I?d like to correct something I said earlier. I had said that I was bold enough to admit that I may have missed those cuts ? I meant to say that I?m enough to admit that I may have missed those cuts!?

Dr. Obafunwa explained that in a forensic investigation in which there is skeletonisation of the body, a pathologist seeks to establish;

the identification of the victim, including age, sex, race and stature;

the time of death;

the cause of death

a reconstruction of the event (that caused death).

When identifying a person, forensic pathologists use dental casts to compare with dental records of likely victims and medical records.

Medical and dental records were obtained ? by Police ? from the US Federal Correctional Institution at Fort Dix, New Jersey and New York State?s medium security Ulster Correctional Facility.

In a new twist, it was found that Mr. Lee was known to New York state as ?Eddie Montalvo? and Stanley Lee to the US government.

?Eddie Montalvo?, Dr. Obafunwa confirmed, was treated for a bullet in his ?right lower thorax at the level of the eighth rib? with additional shell fragments in the vicinity.

Reminding the jury that he had testified that the bullet would have been in the body from ?months to years? beforehand, Dr. Obafunwa explained: ?Based on the medical records supplied to me ? of one Eddie Montalvo ? my findings matched my observations in the autopsy, in respect of the bullet location, and the fact that a portion of the seventh rib was missing and the fact that the report was dated 16 June, 1995.?

He also found ?extensive? arthritic scaring to the left knee ? likely from an old injury ? matching an X-ray report from November 16, 1995.

?In other words,? he said, the findings (of his examination of the man thought to be Lee (or Sean Russells) ?show some highly specific matches with Eddie Montalvo?.

When asked if a knife blade presented to him as evidence yesterday was the same one he examined in August 2001, the ever cautious Dr. Obafunwa said ?one could not be able to escape the conclusion that they are the same? because they match the same configuration and approximate measurements.

He continued: ?The impressions in the bone and also in the vest indicate that a single edged blade was used. In addition, from the dimensions that we saw on the back of the vest, ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 centimetres are all within the range of the width of the blade.

?In other words, this blade, or any blade of similar dimensions would be capable of producing the damage or injuries (in) that body.?

Admitting that due to the decay of the body, it may never be known how many stabs the man sustained, Dr. Obafunwa explained: ?Based on the multiple stab wounds (remaining) or cuts that we saw I came to the conclusion that death came from severe blood loss ? the body being drained completely.

?That?s what I described as exsanguination due to multiple stab wounds. The skeletonised nature of the body precludes establishing the total number of stab wounds that were suffered by the victim.?

?The victim had to have suffered at least ten stab wounds,? Dr. Obafunwa said, before explaining ?that a victim of that stature could have been attacked or subdued by one or more persons? but also he could have been ?incapacitated in some way? so as to be unable to defend himself.

His conclusion of at least ten stab wounds comes as a result of matching the remaining cuts and damage to bones about the body to cuts in the muscle shirt.

Dr. Obafunwa also took into account that one blow ? to the sternum ? would not be recorded on the shirt because of the deep curve of the neck opening. But he also said other blows to the front of his chest could not have been inflicted while the vest was on.

He also said he believed the shirt and the right Nike Air Jordan shoe were thrown and not buried some distance away from the body.

In her cross examination, Ms Christopher challenged Dr. Obafunwa on whether a smaller person could have struck Mr. Lee enough to debilitate him ? to which he agreed.

She continued: ?Am I correct to say that there are no marks on the vest that assist us with the question as to whether or not the vest was on the victim when he was being stabbed from the front??

Dr. Obafunwa replied: ?It is correct that there are no marks on the vest from the front. However, we know from the examination of the vest that the upper central area of the chest was not covered. In other words the first statement was not absolute.?

Mr. Scott elicited a testy reply from the doctor when he asked: ?Your opinion is based solely on your examination of the scene as opposed to any actual knowledge of (who may have done the stabbing).?

Dr. Obafunwa replied: ?If I were present during the commission of the crime I would not have to do an examination.?

The doctor did not find any blood on the broken knife and he noted that the cuts to the man?s body were ?so beautiful, clean margins. Beautiful oval shaped edges?.

?You don?t get that when wild chickens are picking at the body. That sort of injury and penetration of the skin are the product of a weapon. As a forensic pathologist you are trained to look out for such areas, when assessing decomposing bodies,? Dr. Obafunwa explained.

?And you are taught to shy away from others that have some superimposed areas of irregularity that would have been nibbled by maggots or scavengers. Indeed, there were some other holes that I had to ignore.?

The trial continues Monday.