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By Tanya Waterworth 
11h ago
Durban – the cruelest assault he had ever seen in his career.
That was the evidence from specialist forensic pathologist Dr. Sibusiso Ntsele, highlighted by State Attorney Krishen Shah in his closing arguments in Durban High Court on Friday against former horseman Graham Gregorowski, 35, charged with the murder of his partner. , Janet Scott, 54.
She was found dead in the couple’s shared cabin in Shongweni on the night of October 14, 2016.
Yet when Gregorowski took the stand this week, he said of Scott: “I loved her. She was my best friend.”
The lengthy test, which was delayed this year due to the Covid-19 lockdown, resumed on Monday.
The forensic pathologist stated earlier in trial that the extreme severity of the victim’s injuries could only be the result of a sustained beating “lasting no less than 30 minutes” and that he had only seen similar injuries in auto accident victims.
Dressed in a tailored suit, Gregorowski arrived at court held by a classmate on Tuesday, as well as his mother, who has attended most of the hearings.
Also in court were members of the Scott family who had arrived from Johannesburg, including the victim’s daughter, Stacey.
The family is well known in horse racing circles and the discovery of Scott’s bruised and bloody body four years ago sent shockwaves through the country’s rich collection of mink and manure.
The week began with the court looking at the WhatsApp messages between Gregorowski and Scott in which she professed her love for him, while he belittled and threatened her.
On Tuesday, Gregorowski took the stand and gave his version of events.
He said Scott had been away with his daughter, and upon arriving home on October 14, he was upset by the presence of a younger woman named Melissa.
After dinner, Gregorowski, Melissa, and another roommate, Reinhard Spamghel (a trial witness), had gone to the Polo Pony Club in Shongweni while Scott had told him that he wanted to stay home and unpack.
Gegorowski testified that shortly after he arrived at the club, he was called outside and beaten as he walked through the back entrance of the club. He claims that he fell and was attacked by three men who kicked and beat him.
“They kicked me against the side of the wall until I lost consciousness and defecated,” he told the court.
He testified that upon regaining consciousness, he had run back to the cabin.
When she got to the cabin, Scott was in the shower and waited outside until she opened the door.
“I went in and went straight to the bathroom. My nose was bleeding and I needed to wash my face, ”Gregorowski said, saying Scott followed him and asked if he was breaking up with her for a younger woman.
He testified that Scott began attacking him while washing his face in the basin and that he defended himself by “pushing” Scott and closing the door. He told the court that he “could have hit him back.”
Gregorowski said he showered for up to 30 minutes in which he “was hanging out” as he claimed to have taken the drug, crystal methamphetamine. When he opened the door, Scott was lying on his back on the floor with blood running from his nose.
He said that when he called the deceased, there was no response.
He dragged her down the hall to the bedroom where, he said, he tried to resuscitate her on the bedroom floor by using chest compressions and blowing into her mouth.
“Blood came out of his nose, spraying my face,” he said, “I was panicking, I continued this for about an hour.”
He said he put Scott on the bed, covered her with a blanket and “proceeded to hang up.”
But again, Gregorowski regained consciousness, “and I saw the deceased in bed and tried to hang up again.”
When asked by his defense attorney, Marshal Zulu, why he tried to hang himself, Gregorowski said: “I had just lost someone I loved. I love her. She was my best friend.”
He also described how he tried to cut his wrists and when he woke up again, he tried to call his mother several times before she called again and said that “there has been an accident.” Her mother alerted the neighbors.
During cross-examination on Wednesday, state attorney Krishen Shah broke Greogorowski’s explanation of the events, highlighting numerous inconsistencies in his account and questioning the accuracy and veracity of his statements.
When reviewing photographs of the scene, Shah indicated that there was large amounts of blood on the bed and wall, evidence that a blood spatter expert had testified would be consistent with the victim struck on the bed.
There was also evidence that a belt and clips were being worn, as well as that Scott was stamped or jumped.
All of his ribs were broken, his sternum was cracked, and both lungs were lacerated. His legs and feet were bruised. Scott’s face was unrecognizable to his family when they had to identify the body, with forensic evidence indicating repeated blows to the eyes and face.
Its orbital (eye) sockets were cracked, its face was blue, and its head was swollen to twice its normal size.
Shah questioned the defendant: “According to you, he was kicked and punched outside the club, but he had no visible injuries, according to the medical examiner. All you did was push the deceased, and did he look like this? How do you reconcile this? “
As the court analyzed the explicit and gruesome details of the victim’s injuries, the Scott family left the courtroom for a moment.
Shah also asked Gregorowski why he didn’t ask for help after finding Scott lying on the bathroom floor: “If you seriously hurt someone and didn’t call for help, you would know they were going to die.”
During questioning, Gregorowski said that he was “not the sharpest or fastest thinker”, in addition to saying that he had broken up with Scott two weeks before his death and that the Scott family was “against him.”
There were moments of high tension during the questioning, and Shah told Gregorowski that he was a liar.
You beat his life out of him. Get up and tell the court what you did to him. The doctor testified that the assault was no less than 30 minutes of a sustained attack, ”Shah said.
“That’s the doctor’s opinion,” replied Gregorowski, who has maintained throughout the trial that he did not cause Scott’s death.
He acknowledged under questioning that he was the only other person in the cabin with Scott that night.
In yesterday’s closing, defense attorney Zulu claimed that, according to the defendant’s version, the injuries sustained were caused by Gregorowski’s attempt to provide CPR for Scott and that he just pushed her out of the bathroom.
For the state, Shah said: “The only person who can tell us what happened was the defendant, and he has not. The true facts do not agree with the version of the accused ”.
Judge Shyam Gyanda is expected to render his verdict on Monday.
The Independent on Saturday
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