KEY POINTS:
New Zealander Cathy Marlow fought her killer as she was strangled with her own scarf, a London court has been told.
Pathologist Professor Peter Jereat told a jury at the Old Bailey Miss Marlow had fingermarks around her neck, suggesting she tried to remove the scarf as her killer tightened it.
Miss Marlow, 28, was attacked when she went into the offices of Research Now in Kennington, south London, one weekend in January 2007 to catch up on work.
Matthew Fagan, 32, from Bermondsey, southeast London, denies murder.
Prof Jereat told the court Miss Marlow had been hit on the head with a light hammer before being throttled, the BBC reported.
He gave the cause of death as asphyxia due to a ligature compression to the neck.
The prosecution alleged Miss Marlow was attacked by Mr Fagan when she went in to the office to catch up on work after a holiday in Egypt.
Mr Fagan, who was sacked from the company nine months earlier, has admitted stealing six laptop computers from the office on the day of the killing, but denies murder.
Her body was found dumped in a shower cubicle at the office by former colleague Simon Edwards who, with other friends of Miss Marlow, had been searching for her.
Mr Edwards told the court the shower was on and her face was covered when he made the discovery.
"I moved the cloths or rags from the facial area to the side, to see whether anything could be done, to see whether the person was alive," he said.
The trial has been adjourned until Friday NZ time.
- NZPA
