ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Week one of the Timothy Williams retrial has wrapped up. He’s the man accused of raping and beating 14 year-old Wendy Jerome to death nearly four decades ago.
Many witnesses are testifying for a second time, in front of a new jury, after a different judge declared a mistrial in December.
The doctor who performed the original autopsy on Wendy flew from South Africa to testify for a second time.
Dr. Nicholas Forbes worked at the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office from 1978 to 2002.
Wendy was walking back to her Denver Street home, after delivering a birthday card to a friend, when police say she was brutally attack and raped by Timothy Williams, then 19.
On Friday, Forbes and the jury were shown images from that autopsy. The images included Wendy’s fractured jaw, broken nose, fractured skull, trauma to genitals, and more.
Forbes described her cause of death as a result of “blunt force trauma.”
Another key piece of evidence discussed on Friday was semen found. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley said it played a significant role in the DNA testing that led to a familial match, and ultimately Williams’ arrest, in 2020.
“It (semen) was collected by hand, and he (Dr. Forbes) is in the chain of custody, that’s why it was important for the jury to hear from him,” she said. “Intent to kill is one of the most important things that we need to prove, and just the massive trauma to her face to her skull, to her brain, it just shows that that there was an intent to kill here.”
Another observation from the autopsy report suggests Wendy was fighting for her life in her final moments.
Forbes testified seeing lacerations on Wendy’s arms, consistent with a person trying to fight back.
Forbes said he doesn’t know what object was used to cause the blunt force trauma – or if there even was one. He said her trauma was similar to that of someone in a car crash or someone subjected to a great fall. He said the trauma to the head, and specifically the brain, is likely what led to her death.
Forbes has been instructed by the judge to not to talk about the testimony with anyone for the duration of the trial.
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