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Calgarian Kevin Honish died from a severe brain injury as a result of blunt force trauma to his head, a pathologist testified Wednesday.
And Dr. Akmal Coetzee-Khan told Crown prosecutor Gord Haight the crescent-shape wounds he found on Honish’s head could have been caused by blows from a hammer.
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But in cross-examination by defence counsel Jim Lutz, the doctor conceded the blunt force trauma injuries Honish suffered more than a week before his July 16, 2022, death could have been the result of a fall, or falls onto an object.
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Lutz’s client, Collin Dean Oxtoby is charged with manslaughter in the death of his then-roommate.
It’s the Crown’s theory Oxtoby assaulted Honish with a hammer in their home in the southeast community of Albert Park shortly after midnight on Feb. 8, 2022, before evicting the deceased and his girlfriend, Julianna Ballantyne from the residence.
Ballantyne earlier testified she entered the living room of the home to find Honish bleeding before Oxtoby, who was the resident on the lease, ordered them to leave.
The couple eventually made their way to a home on Cottonwood Crescent S.E. and emergency services were called to attend to Honish.
Coetzee-Khan said an autopsy he conducted determined Honish suffered brain trauma before he was hospitalized.
“It was my opinion the cause of death was due to complications of left subdural hematoma due to blunt force trauma,” the province’s chief medical examiner told Justice Michele Hollins.
He also said the injuries which put Honish in the hospital occurred within 24 hours.
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Under cross-examination by Lutz he insisted that was the maximum amount of time that lapsed before Honish received medical intervention.
Ballantyne told police during an interview following Honish’s death that he had been attacked by another man with a hammer a day or two before the incident with Oxtoby.
Coetzee-Khan also said a toxicology report from blood taken from the deceased shortly after admission showed levels of carfentanil, fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system.
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