AUTOPSY SAYS SCARS, BRUISES COVERED YOUTH

Richmond Times-Dispatch

An autopsy report indicates that much of the body of 13-year-old Dominick "Andrew" Diehl, whose parents are accused of beating him to death, was covered with old and new bruises and lacerations.

The report, filed in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, showed that the youth's body had "multiple small circular scars (resembling cigarette burns)" on the lower chest, upper abdomen and on the hands.

His hips, thighs, knees and ankles were scarred, and his buttocks had been badly bruised and had become infected, the report said. He also had blisters around his ankles and wrists.

The boy's head had several large bruises and the report detailed extensive brain damage, noting that the brain had blood clots and was "markedly softened."

The boy's parents, Karen and Michael Diehl, are to appear in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. Until the Diehls' arrests, they had lived in a converted school bus with Dominick and their 16 other children.