Story Published: Mar 11, 2010 at 11:32 PM PST
Story Updated: Mar 11, 2010 at 11:53 PM PST
Mallory is charged with murder in the first degree and felony assault. His wife Charlene Mabie was found dead in their 7th Avenue home on Valentine's Day 2009.
Medical Examiner Sally Aiken, who conducted the autopsy on Mabie, took the stand in Nez Perce County Second District Court.
"Based upon that autopsy, before we go into detail, did you reach a conclusion as the cause of death based on a reasonable degree of certainty?," asked Deputy Prosecutor Sandra Dickerson.
"Yes," said Aiken.
"And what was that cause?," said Dickerson.
"The cause of death was manual strangulation, meaning strangulation using the hands," said Aiken.
Aiken said when Mabie's body arrived at the forensic institute it was bruised from head to toe and had scratches and scrapes. She said during the examination she discovered fractured ribs. But it was injuries to the neck that led Aiken to determine the cause of death as manual strangulation.
"Moving down from the thyroid cartilage below it, is a C-shape flat cartilage called the cricoid cartilage, and that's right below the thyroid," said Aiken. "The only way you can look at that bone through the cartilage is to cut through it. So when I cut through that bone the cricoid that C-shaped had a small fracture and a small tear in the cartilage. That's unusual in most causes of death aside from strangulation."
Mallory's trial will continue before Judge Carl Kerrick Friday at 9.
