Homicide or Suicide?

Interesting...interesting...The deceased of Teoh Beng Huat had made another headlines in local newspapers again.

Actually, I had only followed the Teoh's case in the early stage and really liked questions posted by the Teoh's family council, Gobind Singh Deo. I would consider his questions were relevant and intellectual as he gave attentions to details even to the extend at one point questioned on Teoh's shoes.

Then, the case seemed to be in "ding dong" stages similar to Altantuya case which only sparked at the beginning and went on for so long with a lot of thresholds...

However, the famous flamboyant Thai forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand statement that 80% probability his death was a homicide and only 20% probability that he committed suicide recaptured my attention.

Based on her expertise, her arguments were as follows :

First, she testified that the marks on Teoh's neck looked like he had been manually strangled.

Second, She referred the anal tear Teoh suffered as a "penetrative injury" which she had never seen before in cases of a fall. She added that if it was caused by a bone protrusion, it would have come from the inside of Teoh's anus.

Third, Teoh's skull fracture was not a typical of a transferred injury due to a fall but was more compatible with a blunt force being directly inflicted to the head. Typically the impact of fall would be a ring fracture at the base of the skull around the spinal column and not a cervical fracture as suffered by Teoh.

Dr Pornthip's testimonies really stirred the case.

A bit on the background of Dr. Pornthip.

She is the director-general of Thailand's Ministry of Justices Central Institute of Forensic Science. Well known for her prowess in cracking open complicated homicide cases. Her life and work was narrated in the National Geographic documentary Crime Scene Bangkok in 2004. Author of Investigation of Corpses which sold 100 000 copies in Thailand.

May be her testimonies yet need to be approved to entangle on the mystery of the death. At this point only Teoh could explain what really happen...but of course it was impossible to talk to the death...