The attack on the 19-year-old mother broke several of her teeth and ribs and likely rendered her unconscious within minutes.

A pathologist, an anthropologist and a state police DNA expert were among five witnesses to testify Friday in the trial of Micah J. Stewart, 21. Prosecutors allege Stewart killed Fry, his girlfriend, in their Columbia apartment, wrapped her body in a tarpaulin and burned it July 20, 2004, in a wooded area several miles south of their home.

Lancaster County Forensic Pathologist Dr. Wayne Ross said Fry was struck in the face, forced to the ground and strangled before suffering a fatal skull fracture.

Ross performed an autopsy on the skeleton, visited the Manor Township field where it was found Jan. 22, 2005, and spent several months reviewing the condition of the bones. The remains were identified using dental records.

“It’s a definite that an object was used to penetrate the skull,” Ross said. “I believe it was a long, fixed object with a long, fixed end.”

Four of Fry’s front teeth were knocked out, and seven of her ribs were fractured during the violent struggle, Ross said.

“To fracture the teeth, it took a forceful impact,” Ross said.

Fry likely suffered the broken ribs while the assailant pressed his knee into her chest during the strangling, Ross said.

“The force applied to the front of the chest was a significant force,” Ross said. “A knee has to be in the sternum and a significant amount of weight from a knee or other body part getting down in there and compressing ribs.

“Those injuries can’t be accounted for by punching.”

Dennis C. Dirkmaat, a forensic anthropologist at Mercyhurst College in Erie, spent about three months in 2005 analyzing the skeleton.

Dirkmaat, who has been profiled on Discovery Health Channel’s “Skeleton Stories,” testified a small round piece of bone punctured with a tool was found in the skull.

He determined the body was laid on its right side and the legs were in a “flex” position. An accelerant, such as gasoline or lighter fluid, was used to burn the body, and animals chewed on the remains.

One of the hands was missing, likely carried away by a dog or coyote, he said. Animals also apparently moved the skull and a leg, Dirkmaat said.

“Tooth marks on the bones indicate carnivore activity,” Dirkmaat said. “The body was in flesh for the most part. The fire was intense, high in temperature but low in duration.”

Police sent the screwdriver and part of a latex glove found in Stewart’s 1985 Dodge Aries to the state police lab for fingerprint and DNA analysis. State police also analyzed a piece of carpet from Stewart’s apartment and a blood-stained dress Fry wore a few days before she disappeared.

Frank Kist, a state police DNA analyst, testified Fry’s blood was found on the glove but not on the screwdriver.

John Wallace, a Millersville University biology professor and forensic entomologist, studied insects found with the remains and determined the body was left in the field in midsummer 2004.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher A. Hackman alleged during the first five days of the trial that Stewart was convinced Fry was having an affair and Stewart abused her in an attempt to make her admit it.

Stewart questioned the paternity of their newborn daughter while having affairs with other women before and after Fry went missing, Hackman said.

Stewart also confessed to the killing to two people and fled to Delaware and New York City while police searched for Fry, Hackman said.

Defense attorney Roger C. Renteria acknowledged Stewart abused Fry but said he did not kill her. He also has questioned the legitimacy of what Stewart allegedly told others about the killing, and he questioned several experts’ theories.

The trial is scheduled to resume Monday morning before Judge Michael A. Georgelis.


Brett Lovelace’s e-mail address is blovelace@lnpnews.com. blog comments powered by Disqus