Cape Town - The blows to the back of Zara Hector’s head were so forceful they detached her skull from her spine, the Western Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.
In a continuation of her testimony, forensic pathologist Deidre Abrahams said the autopsy she conducted on March 29, 2016, five days after Hector’s body was discovered, indicated Hector had sustained five blows to the head.
Two of the blows hit the back of her head, Abrahams believed. The force was so strong that the "skull in the midline slightly to the right exerted force going down towards the spine".
"The skull completely detached from the spinal cord," she said.
Hector was found with cuts to the left side of her chin below the lip line. Her cheek and chin appeared bruised.
Abrahams said it seemed like Hector was hit from behind and fell on her face, landing on her chin.
She said the deceased sustained three more blows, after the first two, to the right side of her head. The impact of two of those blows overlapped slightly.
In her summary, Abrahams said: "A minimum of five blows to the head was applied with such a severe force from a blunt object. She was hit from the mid-head and below the back of her head. It is possible she could have fallen forward, decapitating the head from the neck, landing her face to the ground.
"The attacker came from behind. The weapon used was a flat round type of object. It could fit in with a hammer with the smaller round part," said Abrahams.
Abrahams pointed out a hammer from photo exhibits in court which could most likely have been used in the murder. She said all injuries were potentially fatal.
Hector went missing on March 14, 2016. Her body was found on a farm in Groot Drakenstein ten days later on March 24.
Two suspects, Renaldo van Rooyen, 33, and Tawfeeq Ebrahim, 26, were charged with her murder. Their trial continues on Thursday.