T&T soldier dies of asthma, not strangulation

– pathologist apologises to family

(Trinidad Express) Pathologist Dr Hubert Daisley yesterday told the family of Lance Corporal Curtis Marshall he erred when he stated the deceased soldier was murdered.
Daisley told the family he was sorry.

He said his tests which were completed yesterday showed Marshall died of an asthma attack.
Marshall’s brother, Dennis, on Friday described the situation as “madness”.

“This place mad, yes. One minute they saying he was killed, now they saying it is natural causes? That is madness,” Dennis told the Express on Friday.

It has been a tumultuous past seven days for the Marshall family.

At 11.40 pm on December 29, Marshall was found lying unconscious in the vicinity of the clothing and equipment stores at the Defence Force headquarters, Chaguaramas.

Marshall, 31, was rushed via ambulance to the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Cocorite, where he was eventually pronounced dead.

On Monday, an autopsy conducted at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, by pathologist Dr Eastlyn McDonald-Burris stated Marshall’s death was due to strangulation.

The results of Monday’s autopsy caused Marshall’s family and friends to take to the streets of Petit Bourg, San Juan, on Tuesday and stage a fiery protest calling for “Justice for Curtis”.

On that same day, the preliminary results of a second autopsy conducted at the SD Simpson Memorial Funeral Chapel in Laventille by Dr Hubert Daisley confirmed the results of the first autopsy.

The preliminary results of Daisley’s autopsy corroborated with McDonald-Burris findings that Marshall’s death was due to strangulation.

Daisley’s preliminary results also stated that Marshall sustained several blows to the back of his head.