Examiner: Injuries added up to homicide

The official testified that a Franklin Township boy died of a trauma inflicted after his adoption.

Wendy Ruderman

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Individually, any of the bruises and burns on the body of 5-year-old Jacob Lindorff could have been accidental. Together, however, they spelled homicide.

That was the conclusion of Gloucester County Medical Examiner Gerald Feigin, who testified yesterday in the trial of Heather and James Lindorff.

"When you put all the injuries together . . . it creates an abuse pattern, and when I see that I have to call it a homicide," Feigin testified.

Feigin was the first medical expert called by the state in a case that will likely hinge on opinions from several doctors. The defense maintains that there is no evidence linking the Franklin Township couple to the Dec. 14, 2001, death of their adopted son.

Both the husband and wife are accused of child abuse; Heather Lindorff was charged with three additional crimes: aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Feigin has ruled that Jacob died of blunt head trauma. During about six hours of testimony yesterday, he described his autopsy findings, at times in graphic detail. Heather Lindorff cried softly, head in her hand, as Feigin spoke about his examination of Jacob's brain, which revealed "prominent swelling" caused by severe trauma.

Feigin noted that there were bruises on Jacob's face, jaw and abdomen; bleeding around his eyes and spine; and burns across his back and on the tops of his feet. The skin on Jacob's feet "was literally cooked," he said. The boy also had a slight case of pneumonia.

Much of Feigin's testimony centered on the date of the injuries. The Lindorffs adopted Jacob, his twin brother, and his 7-year-old brother from Russia in October 2001 - less than two months before Jacob's death. The defense argued that Jacob suffered the injuries in Russia. Feigin said he believed that all of the injuries were less than six weeks old, though he acknowledged that he didn't know the exact date of the head injury and relied on the opinion of another medical expert, Lucy Rorke, a Philadelphia-based neuropathologist who is scheduled to testify today.

Feigin said he was told that a caretaker in Russia banged Jacob's head against the ground and that he "walked funny" as a result, but he said he did not believe the story after he was shown a video of Jacob playing in Russia.

"He was fully mobile and walking around like a normal child, so I didn't believe that part of the story," Feigin said. "I believe he was relatively healthy, as far as no brain injuries, before he came in to this country."

Heather Lindorff's lawyer, Stephen B. Patrick, suggested that the boy in the video could have been Jacob's twin brother.

"It looked like the child whom I autopsied," Feigin replied.

The defense contends that Jacob died from a "rebleeding" of an old head injury suffered in Russia. During the autopsy, Feigin said, he found old and new bleeding inside Jacob's head, indicating two injuries - a newer one and an older one.

Under questioning from Patrick, Feigin conceded that a fall in the bathtub could cause an old head injury to bleed again. Heather Lindorff told investigators that Jacob fell in the tub on the day before his death. But Feigin said the newer head injury didn't appear to be a rebleeding, but rather another "significant injury."

Feigin said he could not tell whether the head injuries were caused by an accident or exactly what caused the head trauma. Feigin also acknowledged that poor nutrition could slow the healing of bruises, and that an infection could hinder burn recovery. The defense asserted that those factors could mean the injuries were older than Feigin projected.

The defense worked to undermine the reliability of Feigin's autopsy, pointing out that he failed to note a prominent bruise across Jacob's nose in his report. James Lindorff's lawyer, Stephen Kernan, asked Feigin whether he thought the omission was a sign of "incompetence."

"I don't think it's incompetence," Feigin replied. "I think it's an honest mistake."

Contact staff writer Wendy Ruderman at 856-779-3926 or wruderman@phillynews.com.