Med examiner questions hammer blows to chest

BRENTWOOD, N.H.—An eyewitness account of John Brooks delivering two to three hammer blows to a Derry handyman's chest moments before his death is not consistent with the autopsy findings, a medical examiner testified Friday.

That opinion from Dr. Richard Evans of the Massachusetts Medical Examiner's Office refutes some of what state prosecutors say happened during the murder of Derry handyman Jack Reid in 2005.

Prosecutors plan to call an eyewitness, Joseph Vrooman, to the stand next week to testify that he saw Brooks deliver two to three sledgehammer blows to Reid's chest seconds before Reid stopped breathing.

Brooks is accused of capital murder and could face the death penalty if convicted of hiring three men to kill Reid and taking part in Reid's 2005 murder inside a Deerfield barn.

Brooks wanted Reid dead because he believed the 57-year-old handyman and trash hauler had stolen a moving van and trailer with his personal belongings in 2003, witnesses have testified.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Marty Murphy, Evans testified that the eight to 10 broken ribs and damage to the chest bone were not consistent with two to three blows from a hammer. He said he could have expected the sternum, or chest bone, to be broken if it was hit with a direct force from an instrument like a hammer, which is was not.

Evans said that the injury was more consistent with a concussion injury like stomping, a serious automobile crash or falling from a building, which fits with the defense position in the capital murder trial.

The defense plans to call a cellmate of Vrooman's during the trial that will testify that Vrooman stated that he stomped on Reid's chest after another man, Michael Benton, hit Reid with a sledgehammer. Vrooman told the account so many times in jail that he earned the name "trampoline man," according to court documents.

Benton and Vrooman both cut deals with the state to testify against Brooks in exchange for reduced charges in the case. The defense has called their credibility into question in the case and suggested they changed their stories in order to get lighter prison sentences.

Benton testified earlier in the week that after he hit Reid with the hammer he went outside and heard some thumping sounds from inside, though he did not know what they were.

Evans testified that there was no question in his mind that the injuries to Reid's head, caused by Benton hitting him with a sledgehammer, were the fatal injuries. Reid would have lost consciousness within seconds and likely died very quickly from the injuries, Evans said.

There was some question, he said, about whether the injuries to Reid's chest were caused before or after death, or almost at the moment of death.

Prosecutors put forth two possible theories about what caused the chest injuries. Prosecutor Karen Huntress asked Evans if it was possible that Reid was hit with the hammer by Brooks, causing some of the injuries, and then further injured after his death by some rocks that were thrown into the back of the truck containing his body. Evans said that could be possible.

Huntress also asked Evans if the injuries could have been caused by two to three blows from a hammer if it were turned sideways, which could cover more area on impact.

"I suppose it's possible, but it's not the way one would typically hold a hammer but I guess it's possible," Evans testified.

Evans testified earlier that he was unable to determine an exact cause of death from the time of the autopsy on July 6, 2005, until May 2006 because Reid's body was so badly decomposed.

The body had been wrapped in plastic for a week in the back of his truck before it was discovered and Evans said Reid's brain was entirely gone due to the decomposition.

The dead man only weighed 107 pounds, which was much less than Evans expected. He eventually ruled the cause of death homicidal violence but said his findings were challenging because there was a lack of visible hemorrhaging around injuries, which should have been present. He said that could have been because Reid bled so much at the scene of the murder there was no blood to hemorrhage in those areas.