Doctor pins police on tycoon murder

Kampala. A Kampala businessman Wilberforce Wamala was murdered in cold blood at his home in Mutungo suburb, Kampala on February 3, 2012. He was killed with his gardener Sadiq Mugerwa and the killers vanished.
The widow Elizabeth Wamala hired private investigators who apprehended a key suspect, Hassim Ssali.
The suspect was booked into a police cell at Bukasa, a Kampala suburb, and recorded an extra-judicial statement giving crucial leads to the planners of the murder.
His body was later found hanging in the police cell. The police claimed he hanged himself and the first postmortem report validated this claim.
But his widow, Ms Elizabeth Wamala, disputed the claim and sought a fresh postmortem examination which was carried out and findings presented in Makindye Magistrate’s Court this week.
Although the second postmortem did not establish the actual cause of death, it ruled out hanging and stated that the deceased died before his body was hanged. The inquest was ordered following a petition to President Museveni by Ms Wamala. The widow accused the police of deliberately foiling investigations into her husband’s murder to shield the killers.
Ms Wamala singles out the police director of operations, Mr Andrew Felix Kawesi, for the alleged cover up, a charge the officer has denied, calling the woman “mad”.
During the proceedings in Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, former inmates recounted events in Bukasa police cell on the night Ssali died.
A former inmate told court that hours before Ssali died, they were served soda, water and food. They later slipped into slumber until 6am only to find Ssali’s body hanging loosely on an iron bar of the door.
Another witness, Musa Akabway recounted: “Ssali was very weak when he was brought in, he had wounds all over his body. The night before he died he told us that a lover of his boss Wamala had asked him to spy on him for a mission they were executing. They promised to pay him Shs200,000 but he never got it. The men who brought Ssali to Bukasa Police Post brought us one big bottle of soda, water and food. One Abdul had a fork which he used to divide the food. It was the first time someone was bringing food for us in the cell.”
They were four inmates in the cell.
When they woke up around 6am, they saw a naked, lifeless body of Ssali lying on the floor, with a jacket sleeve tied tightly around his neck.
There was conflicting postmortem examination report. Two pathologies disagreed on the cause of death with rather intriguing observations.
Dr William Male Mutumba, who performed the first postmortem in September 2013 at Mulago Hospital stated: “The death was unnatural, the fact that it was by hanging and it occurred in a police cell.”
In his report, however, Dr Male noted, “The airway was normal just like the neck bones, thyroid cartilage (Adam’s apple). There was only an abrasion fallow in the neck.”
This was in stark contrast with the findings of consulting pathologist at Mulago, Dr Sylvester Onzivua, who exhumed Ssali’s body in Kamengo village, Gomba District and performed a second postmortem. He presented photos of the scene of crime before punching holes in Dr Male’s findings.
“When a person dies he obeys the laws of gravity so I find it strange that the dead man’s arms remained stretched. It is the first time this happens. The eyes and tongue are also normal. The bruises on the body are also revealing. I have no doubt in my mind that the deceased died prior to the body being hanged in that particular posture.”
This rules out the possibility that Ssali hanged himself. So who killed prime suspect Ssali and why? Police officers will next week testify and thereafter the coroner (magistrate) will compile and forward a report to the Director of Public Prosecutions for further action on the case.
Dr Male got lost during the grueling cross-examination by the widow’s lawyers.
“Your answers are a bit funny. So assume there was no cloth tied around his neck, would you still have concluded that he (the deceased) died of hanging when there was no injury on the neck or thyroid cartilage? It appears your postmortem was aimed at confirming what police had told you in their request for the examination, that he died of hanging.”
He was also asked about his observations on the deceased’s eyes and tongue. He replied: “I don’t remember, I didn’t examine those. My conclusion is not that he was hanged or he hanged himself, my conclusion is that he died of hanging.” The whole courtroom burst into laughter.

A slightly edited version of Dr Sylvester Onzivua’s report presented in court

Findings
A body of a male adult in advanced state of decomposition was exhumed. Remains of the anterior and posterior abdominal walls were identified.
Sutured wounds consistent with postmortem wounds were identified on the anterior abdominal wall.
Cuts of the anterior ribs and skull consistent with a previous postmortem were noted.The soft tissues were not identifiable due to the decomposition
All the bones of the deceased were clearly identifiable and were carefully examined and found intact. The bones did not have any features of trauma on them.

First postmortem report
The initial postmortem examination is reported to have been performed on September 22, 2013 at 12:00 hours by Dr Male.
The body of the late Hassim Ssali is reported to have been identified by his mother Sayidati Nakalema.
The sleeve of a jacket is reported to have been tightly tied around his neck with the knot at the angle of the mandible on the left.
The body is also reported to have multiple abrasions on the left shoulder on the posterior aspect, abrasions on the left thigh, left knee and left buttock.
A postmortem blistering with skin spillage on the right buttock and right lower limb was reported.
The neck strap muscles are reported to have been normal with no contusions. The thyroid cartilage was reported as normal and the hyoid bone as intact. The abdominal organs were reported as grossly normal.
Pictures of scene of crime
The photographs of a suspect called Ssali Hassim are reported to have been taken at Bukasa Police Post on September 21 2013 at 7:40am. The photographs show the naked body of a circumcised young man in various positions.
Some photographs show the body of a young man hanging by the sleeve of a blue jacket from a metallic door. The sleeve of the jacket is tightly tied around the neck of the body with the knot at the angle of the mandible on the left.
The area above the knot is devoid of lividity. Both arms are at an angle to the body and the door.
The lower limb is flexed both at the hip and knee joints and these remain so in the various positions.
There are abrasions on the left gluteal region and what appears to be a wound that bled with the body suspended on the right gluteus.
There is a clear area devoid of lividity in the middle third of the left upper arm and left breast. The mouth and eyes appear normal.
Conclusions
There was consistency in the identification of the deceased from the photographs, initial postmortem report and the exhumed remains.
The state of rigor mortis and lividity as demonstrated in the photographs are inconsistent with death occurring in that particular posture of hanging.

Comments
There is no doubt in my mind that the deceased died prior to the body being hanged in that particular posture
The actual cause of death could not be established from the exhumation exercise.
The deceased suffered injuries prior to or at the time of his death and in the case of the latter, then this is inconsistent with suicide.
The initial postmortem examination did not state the age of the wounds nor the stage of the rigour mortis or lividity.
These would have been crucial in this case.
There is no mention in the report of further postmortem examinations such as histology and toxicology which would have shed light on the cause of death. May the soul of the deceased rest in peace

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