GOVERNMENT Forensic Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh told Justice Dawn Gregory and the jury in the ‘Teacher Dolly’ murder trial he is positive that Dulcie Trim, called ‘Teacher Dolly’, had not suffered from a heart attack. And he also said there was the presence of soot in the woman’s trachea and bronchi, which indicated that ‘Teacher Dolly’ had been alive when the fire was started.

Testifying at the trial in the Demerara Assizes, the doctor was reacting to a defence suggestion that the 70-year-old woman, whose charred body had been found in the debris after her Friendship home had been gutted by fire, may have suffered from a heart attack.

The post-mortem Dr Nehaul Singh had performed had found that the woman’s death had been caused by smoke inhalation and burns; but after defence lawyers had advocated that death could have been caused during the fire, after the aged woman had suffered a heart attack, the doctor explained that if that were the case, he would have noted it in his report.

Earlier, under cross-examination, one of the prosecution witnesses, a female cousin who had identified the corpse of the deceased to the doctor, told the defence lawyers — Miss Sonia Parag, representing number one accused Stephen Andrews, and Mr. Mark Waldron and Miss Candacie Rodney, representing the number two accused Roger Vyphuis — that she could not have identified the corpse of her deceased cousin; her identification had been based on what she had been told by the undertakers.

Following Justice Dawn Gregory’s recent ruling in the voire dire conducted in this case, prosecutors Ms. Renita Singh and Diana Kaulesar promised the jury to lead evidence to show how Dulcie Trim, called ‘Teacher Dolly’, had been robbed, choked, and burnt to death in a fire which gutted her home.

It was pointed out that the alleged murderers, Stephen Andrews and Roger Vyphuis, had attacked the old woman at her home as she was leaving for church. They punched her to the ground, robbed her of $13,000; and, with the use of paper and methylated spirits, set the house on fire with the unconscious woman inside.

The jury was told that at the time of the 2008 incident, the number one accused, Andrews, was 17, and the number two accused, Roger Vyphuis, was 16.

On May 18, 2008, at 6.30pm, the alleged robbers went to Teacher Dolly’s house, but the door was locked, so one of them broke a window and opened the door. They all went in, then one of them went to the bedroom and, to their surprise, Dulcie was home. She came out and started to scream, then one of them punched her in her forehead, and she fell on her back.

In their confession statements, which were admitted in evidence as being acquired freely and  voluntarily, one of the accused is said to have held on to Dulcie Trim’s neck, shook her, and asked her where the money was. He choked her until she became unconscious and began frothing.

The accused and another went into her bedroom, where the accused, Andrews, found $3,000., which he placed in his pocket, and the other found $10,000.
One of them then pulled the woman into the bedroom and left her next to the bed. They then decided to light the house afire, because Dulcie had seen them, so they picked up some paper and placed it on the mattress, poured some methylated spirits on the paper, on the bed, and then on Dulcie’s body, and lit the paper on the bed.  A fire was started, and they ran out of the house.
On May 18, 2008, the home of Teacher Dolly was completely gutted by fire. The remains of Dulcie Trim were picked up that day, and on May 21, 2008, Dr. Nehaul Singh did a post-mortem examination.
Hearing of the case is continuing.