The State Pathologist, Prof John Harbison, told the Morris tribunal yesterday that he had no recollection of having received or refused a Garda superintendent's request to travel to Co Donegal in October 1996 to conduct a second post-mortem on the body of cattle-dealer Richie Barron.
He also agreed that there was a "substantial amount of truth" in an assertion by counsel for the Barron family: "We don't know how Mr Barron met his death."
Mr Barron's body was found at a roadside near Raphoe at about 12.55 a.m. on October 14th, 1996. It was initially thought that he died as a result of a hit-and-run incident, but gardaí began a murder investigation some days later.
Questioned at length yesterday about evidence from Supt John Fitzgerald that the superintendent had asked Dr Harbison on October 16th 1996 to conduct a second post-mortem on the body of Mr Barron, an initial post-mortem having been carried out by a consultant pathologist, Dr David Barry, and that Dr Harbison had declined to do so, Dr Harbison said he had no recollection of any such request being made to him.
In those circumstances, he told Mr Patrick Marrinan SC, for the Garda Commissioner and other gardaí, that he had "little option" but to accept Supt Fitzgerald's version of events, given earlier this week to the tribunal.
Supt Fitzgerald, who headed the Garda investigation into the death of Mr Barron during the period from October 14th 1996 to February 5th 1997, has told the tribunal that he asked Dr Harbison to carry out a second post-mortem on the body of Mr Barron but that Dr Harbison had said it would be "duplication" and that he would not be going.
Later yesterday, Dr Harbison told his counsel, Ms Adrienne Egan, that he believed it would have been "unlikely" and "out of character" for him to refuse any such request. It was a "rather unlikely scenario" that he would have declined to attend if he had been told it was a suspicious death and if he was twice requested to come.
To the best of his recollection, he could not recall, in 30 years' service, having ever refused to attend at a suspicious death. He agreed that it would be "wholly out of character".
In response to Mr Marrinan, he accepted that his own statement to the tribunal stated that he had been quoted as saying it would have been "duplication" for him to do an autopsy and "it would be appropriate to bury the body". He also accepted that his statement went on to say: "I cannot deny having made such a remark." However, he could not recall saying that.
He accepted that his own statement to the tribunal recorded that Dr Barry was reluctant to do a post-mortem on Mr Barron. He agreed that Dr Barry's experience was not in homicide and he was not a forensic pathologist.
Mr Marrinan suggested that, having received Dr Barry's report and noted that it did not set out a cause of death, it was likely that Dr Harbison would have contacted Dr Barry. Dr Harbison said he could not recall seeing Dr Barry's report and therefore could not explain. He said it was likely he would have contacted Dr Barry "but it appears I didn't".
He agreed that there would have been a reluctance on his part to travel to Donegal in circumstances where the death of Mr Barron was believed to have been due to a road accident, where a post-mortem had already been carried out and where Dr Harbison was that week giving testimony in a murder trial in Dublin and had exam papers to correct.
Earlier, Mr Peter Charleton SC, for the tribunal, which is inquiring into certain Garda activities in Co Donegal, asked Dr Harbison about his view of the cause of death of Mr Barron.
Dr Harbison, who examined the body of Mr Barron after it was exhumed on July 6th 2001, said that the organs were in a plastic bag, due to a post-mortem having being conducted in 1996, and were not very recognisable.
He said that the injuries to Mr Barron's skull were exceptional and more severe than those generally sustained as a result of a fall or blow to the head.
