The pathologist gave detailed evidence about the injuries inflicted on the young girl Pearl Gamble during life – the description of which we will curtail for the sake of propriety.
He detailed injuries to the face (probably from punching which broke her nose), the neck, the right ear and the left chest – where there were three stab wounds inflicted with a pointed but angular blunt instrument (the file); two of them had not caused serious injury but the third punctured the heart and would have killed the girl had she not been strangled before that circumstance could come about.
Then Mr McVitty of the Forensic Science Laboratory gave evidence from his examination of items recovered from the scene (and from the septic tank in a field on the
Soaked with human blood was a handkerchief and splashed with blood were shoes, a head scarf (the eventual murder weapon) skirt and knickers. Witness also told of examining samples of vegetation from a septic tank and from places where articles were found. Again this is too disturbing to detail here.
Witness also gave evidence of examining a book, a paperback novel by Micky Spillane ‘The Long Wait’ which had been found in McGladdery’s home. He had found two small holes in the first few pages of the book and subsequent denting affecting 150 pages of the book. This he concluded could have been caused by a small-calibre bullet of by a stab with an instrument.
…. final episode to follow ……..