The gated community where Kalmring was killed still shows Wiens name on the outer gate.

(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)

Brain trauma caused by a single gunshot extinguished the life of Lynn Kalmring on August 16, 2011. Three days later forensic pathologist Gilles Molgat performed an autopsy on Kalmring's body, retrieving the lead bullet still lodged in the back of her skull.

Molgat was one of the first expert witnesses to testify in the jury trial for Keith Gregory Wiens at the Kelowna Supreme Court today. Wiens is charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of Kalmring, his common-law partner at the time.

“The cause of death was due to a single low-velocity gunshot wound to the head,” he said, reading from his final autopsy report. Molgat said the bullet penetrated the left side of Kalmring's face just beside her left nostril.

He said it was the, “brain damage secondary to the gunshot,” that killed Kalmring.

X-rays of her skull showed a trace of metal fragments left by the lead bullet.

“There were multiple smaller fragments in this area,” Molgat told the court, pointing to an X-ray he took prior to the autopsy.

“Fragments of metal sheared off the bullet... it's a tell-tale track that tells us the pathway the bullet took,” he said.

Molgat was not initially chosen to perform the autopsy, a police officer told the court today. Const. Darren Durnin who attended the crime scene said the first doctor requested had to be dismissed from the case due to his personal acquaintance with Wiens.

In his cross-examination of the police officers present during the autopsy defence lawyer Chris Evans suggested there had been a discussion about a police theory the knife found in Kalmring's left hand could have been placed there after she was shot.

Evans asked Cpl. Jason Burndred if he had consulted Molgat for his opinion on the theory.

“He said he could not give an opinion on that question one way or another,” Burndred told the court.

Molgat did say a sudden death could cause the victim to grasp onto an object, Burndred said.

Evans also questioned the police witnesses about the position of a wooden box found near the deceased, and the possibility the box could have been pushed against the bedroom door. But the officers couldn't recall the exact position of the box at the time.
 
A number of expert witnesses are expected to testify throughout the week.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Julie Whittet at jwhittet@infotelnews.ca or call (250)718-0428.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013