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Blood and drug evidence in Ambach trial

Mon 29 Jun 2009 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback

Ambach trial Day 6 As the prosecution lawyers in the Ambach murder trial nears the end of their case blood stains and drugs have been the main subjects of evidence in the Auckland High Court today. Hungarian tourist Ferdinand Ambach is charged with murdering elderly gay Onehunga man Ronald Brown in December 2007 after he was found in an extremely agitated state upstairs in the home while Brown clung to life in a pool of blood downstairs. A senior ESR forensic scientist gave evidence today that she had spent three days examining Brown's trashed home, the scene of the overnight attack, and spoke at length about the various blood stains found in the home and on items allegedly used as weapons. She said that removal of the household items forming a 'barricade' on the stairs had revealed more blood splatters. She concluded that only two items were the likely weapons, a loose weight from a barbell set and the banjo, the neck of which had broken in two and been found in Brown's mouth. From blood imprints on the items the scientist concluded that Brown had suffered "at least seven blows," two from the weight and five from the banjo, although it is possible one more blow was inflicted with the banjo. The jury was shown Ambach's blood-stained jacket and the alleged weapons, also Ambach's shorts which were extensively stained with his own blood from a cut to his hand. The scientist said tests had been conducted to find any evidence of sexual activity on the part of either man but "nothing conclusive" was found. Evidence this afternoon focused on drug use, a scenario flagged from the very start by Ambach's original lawyer on the steps of the court when charges were first laid. A bottle of the anti-anxiety sedative Lorazepam had been found in Brown's upstairs hallway. A doctor said he had prescribed the drug to Brown to counter tension headaches brought on by work-related stress. Of the 30 pills prescribed only one had been used and the doctor felt this would not have caused any appreciable affect on behaviour. That view was backed up by an ESR scientist who said there was no evidence either man had taken the drug recently and that she had never heard of Lorazepam hyping anyone up, even if mixed with alcohol. "Both have sedative effects," she said. She added that a dose high enough to have had a behavioural effect would have been detected in subsequent blood tests. Earlier evidence had stated that there was no sign of use of any recreational drugs such as GBH or Fantasy. Crown prosecutors are due to sum up tomorrow morning and the defence will start detailing their case. The court will be sitting early to allow live video link evidence to be given from Hungary.    

Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff

First published: Monday, 29th June 2009 - 5:27pm

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