Forensic pathologist Dr. John Obafunwa completed his testimony yesterday in the trial of accused murderers Quincy Stanley Brangman and Jahni Everett Bean.

Brangman, 23, and Bean, 19, are charged with the July 21, 2001 murder of Tekle Zion Mallory in the parking lot of the Ice Queen restaurant in Paget.

Brangman is also charged with wounding Lemuel Weeks with intent to do grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon - a knife - on that same date.

Both men deny the charges.

Earlier this week, Dr. Obafunwa took the jury through over a dozen wounds the victim received, externally and internally, during the deadly attack.

He said the fatal blow was made with a single-edged blade of at least 12 centimetres in length and no more than 3.5 centimetres in width.

The wound was inflicted with sufficient force to pass through Mr. Mallory's abdomen, pierce several loops of bowel, nearly completely sever his left, common iliac artery and dent his backbone.

The massive bleeding that resulted from the wound which sliced the major artery led to the 22-year-old's death.

Dr. Obafunwa, who performed a post mortem on Mr. Mallory just hours after his death, said there were additional stab wounds to the chest and abdomen as well as abrasions on the victim's back and forehead.

Introducing the case on Thursday, Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo said the jury would hear that Brangman stabbed Mr. Mallory to death while he was held by Bean and Dr. Obafunwa later testified he believed the victim was taken by surprise as there were no defensive wounds on the body.

On cross examination yesterday, however, Brangman's defence lawyer Peter Thornton asked the pathologist whether the victim might have sustained the abrasions through fighting. Dr. Obafunwa said it was possible.

He also repeated his observations that the wounds seem to indicate that stabbing was done by a person facing the victim who was right handed.

Bean's lawyer Frank Phipps asked the pathologist whether a stab wound the victim received in the chest near his underarm could have been inflicted while Mr. Mallory was being restrained from behind, under the arms.

Dr. Obafunwa said it could not. But on re-examination, when asked by Mr. Tokunbo whether the wound was possible in circumstances with the same hold but movement, Dr. Obafunwa said yes.