WILMINGTON, Del. -- The defense of Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya began yesterday morning as her lawyers called a former medical examiner to testify.
Malinovskaya, a Russian native, is charged with first-degree murder in the Dec. 23, 2004, killing of Irina Zlotnikov, a Temple student and the girlfriend of Malinovskaya's former boyfriend.
First called to the stand was Ali Hameli, a former Delaware chief medical examiner, who gave his insights on the manner of Zlotnikov's death. The defense presented descriptions and photographs of the crime scene during Hameli's testimony.
The photos showed Zlotnikov as she was found at the apartment of her boyfriend Robert Bondar -- naked and lying in a pool of blood.
Zlotnikov's father, who was in the courtroom at the time, was visibly distressed on seeing the pictures of his daughter and left the room.
Hameli discussed his findings regarding the killing as the images were displayed on a TV screen in the front of the courtroom.
"The cause of death was multiple injuries to the head, face and neck regions. They were all blunt force injuries," Hameli said. An autopsy performed on Zlotnikov soon after the killing reached the same conclusion.
Hameli said he believed that the initial autopsy was detailed and performed meticulously.
He also testified that results showed Zlotnikov's body was found two to four hours after her death.
Mary Burnell, one of Malinovskaya's lawyers, said that Hameli was the first of a number of experts who will be called to testify on Malinovskaya's behalf.
Lori Sitler, a spokeswoman for the New Castle County, Del., Department of Justice, said the trial will likely conclude in the next few weeks but added that with "complex trials, it's difficult to predict when these things will wrap up."
Malinovskaya remained stoic throughout the morning, rarely looking away from the front of the room. Her parents Alexander and Luba seemed agitated as they listened to an interpreter's Russian translation of the testimony through headphones.
