In testimony Thursday, state associate medical examiner Dr. Susan Williams said Jennifer Hawke-Petit’s body was “burned beyond recognition” and so she was identified through dental records.

Additionally, Williams, said portions of fabric were around Hawke-Petit's neck and ligatures were tied in knots around her ankles.

Photos of the blackened ligatures, shown here, and of Hawke-Petit’s damaged larynx during the autopsy, were shown on the courtroom screen.

Williams said she found fractures of Hawke-Petit’s thyroid cartilage on both sides. The diagram below also was used in court. Williams noted evidence of compression of the artery and jugular vein.

 Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Gary Nicholson asked how long it took Hawke-Petit to die.
“It depends on how much of a struggle there is,” Williams replied, “and whether there’s constant compression.”
She agreed with Nicholson’s description of Hawke-Petit as being “physically helpless.”

Williams also said that because there was no soot in her air passages or lungs and no carbon monoxide in her blood, Hawke-Petit died before the fire. The photo above shows the Petit's burned family room after the fire was out.
Editor's note: The text in this post is by Register Reporter Randall Beach