Dr. Janis Amatuzio, the chief Anoka County medical examiner, told jurors Tuesday that when she was asked to review the case in 2007, she staged a reenactment of the scene that left Barbara (Bobbi) Winn dead from a gunshot to the chest on May 8, 1981.
With the help of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, she used a similar handgun, room layout and individuals of similar heights to Winn and Aaron W. Foster, who is on trial in the 27-year-old case on charges of third-degree murder in Winn's death.
Amatuzio also reviewed autopsy reports and photographs, discussed the fatal wound with fellow forensic experts and examined tissue samples.
Still she came to the same conclusion as Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael B. McGee, who performed Winn's autopsy the day she died: The manner of death was "undetermined."
Amatuzio was among the final witnesses in the trial. Jurors will begin deliberating today after the attorneys' closing arguments. Foster has maintained all along that Winn killed herself.
Prosecutor Deidre Aanstad questioned Amatuzio about the bruises and abrasions seen on Winn's face, arm and hands in autopsy photos, and Amatuzio said they were most likely inflicted within an hour of death.
She described the trajectory of the bullet that killed Winn as "not the usual path when a gunshot is classified as suicidal," but said she "could not exclude" accident, suicide or homicide as the manner of death.
Defense attorney Earl Gray had just one question for Amatuzio: "Do you find that accidental shootings a lot of times involve alcohol?"
