Student dragged across room after stabbing, court told

Thin lines of blood on the carpet of Otago University student Sophie Elliott's bedroom indicated she had been dragged across the floor from one corner of her bedroom after being stabbed, an ESR scientist told the High Court in Christchurch today.

Michael Taylor described three areas of intense blood staining on the floor of the room. One towards the north-west corner of the room appeared to be associated with blood spatter on the nearby wall and items on the floor, Dr Taylor said.

The other main areas of staining were close to the suitcase lid where Sophie's head and shoulders were lying and on the carpet beneath one arm.

Other smearing on the floor indicated she had been dragged across the floor at some stage.

Some of those marks were not clear in photographs taken of the scene but when the stains were enhanced with the chemical luminol and photographed, there was clear evidence of thin lines extending from near the items in the corner to the suitcase where the body was lying.

"In my opinion, these findings support the view a number of blows where struck while the deceased was on the floor near the corner of the room ....... and she was then dragged to the suitcase where it is possible more blows were inflicted," Dr Taylor said.

He described Miss Elliott's body lying on the open suitcase, her head resting on the carpet beyond the open suitcase lid, her legs on the floor on the other side of the case. She had many very severe injuries.

A black-handled pair of scissors, blood stained and slightly bent, lay on the floor between her legs.

The blood-stained blade of a knife was inside the main part of suitcase.

And a black knife handle, also bloodstained, was later found on the open flap of the suitcase beneath where Miss Elliott's shoulders had been resting. The blade and the handle looked like they could be part of the same knife, Dr Taylor said.

He also found several bloody footprints on the bedroom carpet while other marks looked more like hand marks, one made by an open hand, another by a closed hand or fist. There was also another open hand print which seemed to be pointing towards the door.

The inference from the footprints was that there had been movement in the room, that the prints were made after the bloodshed, Dr Taylor said.

Their position indicated movement towards the corner of the room near the window then back again. And the blood could have come from any one of the three intense areas of blood staining on the floor or from the deceased herself.

Two patterned blood stain marks close to a chair in the north-west corner of the room appeared to have been made by a bloodied hand. And there were also bloodied hand marks on the duvet cover on the bed and on the side of the door.

When he examined the door handle inside the bedroom, he saw a transfer stain, made by a surface wet with blood making contact with the handle.

There was some ridge detail consistent with the mark being made by a hand or fingers. It was near the top of the handle.

Blood spattering right across wall to the door and onto the edge of the door, indicated the door was opened, at least for some of the time when the blood was spattered.

Sophie's mother, Lesley Elliott, told the court last week she managed to get the door unlocked at one point and she saw Weatherston straddling her daughter and stabbing her.

- Otago Daily Times