Pathologist doubts time of victim's death

A pathologist who reviewed reports on the death of Cindy Wolosick is reaching different conclusions than the deputy medical examiner who performed her autopsy.

The testimony given Friday by Dr. Larry Blum calls into question the time of death, which prosecutors have suggested occurred around 1:30 a.m. Aug. 12, 2005.

Diana Thames is charged with fatally stabbing the Palatine speech pathologist, her friend and business partner.

According to Blum, eyes begin to cloud over two hours after a person dies. A photograph taken of Wolosick at the crime scene did not show any evidence of that filmy look, he said.

That would indicate a "fairly recent death, not several hours," Blum said.

The man who lived in the condominium unit below testified last week that sometime around 1:30 a.m., he heard footsteps in Wolosick's bedroom and a "groan or a moan."

Blum, however, said the time of death would have to fall within a couple of hours of when paramedics found the 46-year-old Wolosick. They arrived shortly after 5:11 a.m., the time of Thames' 911 call.

Dr. Joseph Cogen of the Cook County medical examiner's office testified last week that based on the food found in Wolosick's stomach, she died within an hour after eating.

But Blum said there had no way of knowing that because digestion depends on several factors, including the amount of food and a person's emotional state. Also, the amount of food was never quantified, he said.

"Since we don't have other data to form an opinion, the eyes are all we have," Blum said.

Defense attorney Kathleen Zellner has repeatedly argued the police missed many opportunities to collect and test evidence.

Blum backed up the defense team's claim that it would require considerable strength for an assailant to stab someone so forcefully that the knife enters bone.

He said that in more than 8,000 cases he has never seen one in which female assailant caused the tip of a blade to break off, as the knife did in Wolosick's skull. The killer would have been stronger than the victim in this case, he said.

Zellner has said Thames underwent carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists previous to the murder.

Authorities found Thames to have various cuts, which Blum addressed one by one. In each case, he determined the marks looked to be at least 24 hours old based on signs of healing.

Blum also determined that the gouge found on Thames' upper thigh was most likely caused by her own acrylic nail, not by one of Wolosick's natural nails.

But Thames told police that the injury on her thigh came from Wolosick before she died.

Blum also didn't have an explanation for the blister found on the base of Thames' right thumb, which prosecutors suggested could have formed during the murder.

Nor could he account for how Wolosick, with her larynx cut, could call out Thames' name -- which Thames said happened.

Prosecutors wound down their cross-examination by pointing out that the defense is paying Blum $250 per hour.

The trial will resume at 11 a.m. Tuesday.