A murdered Tyrone mother of four could have been saved, Enniskillen Crown Court was told yesterday. Pathologist Prof Jack Crane said Ms Fiona Conlon (28) could still be alive today if she had got immediate medical attention after she was stabbed in March last year.
Mr Anthony Conlon, of Clonmore Gardens, Omagh, is accused of raping and murdering his wife in a field near her Ballysaggart home at Dungannon. Mr Conlon denies the charges.
Prof Crane said Ms Conlon died from drowning in fresh water after she was stabbed in the back. He said it was highly unlikely that Ms Conlon would have been able to walk any distance unaided and climb a gate before consenting to sex, as her husband told police earlier. But he agreed with a suggestion from defence counsel Mr Jim Gallagher QC that it was not possible to be dogmatic about the level of pain Ms Conlon experienced.
The trial continues today.