Natalie Connolly suffered 'potentially fatal blood loss'
Injuries on a woman found dead at her millionaire boyfriend’s house were severe enough on their own to have killed her, a doctor told a murder trial.
A post mortem concluded that Natalie Connolly died from a combination of her injuries and the potentially fatal level of alcohol she had consumed.
Miss Connolly suffered severe blood loss from deep cuts to her vaginal area which, if treated in hospital with stitches, would have stopped the bleeding, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
But instead the 26-year-old was left collapsed at the Kinver home she shared with property tycoon John Broadhurst after a night of drink, dugs and sado-masochistic sex games, while he went to bed.
The next morning he found her dead at the bottom of the stairs where he had left her the night before in December 2016. In addition to more than 40 injuries, she was also found to have consumed more than five times the drink-drive alcohol limit.
Professor Janesh Gupta, a gynaecology expert, told the jury that among Miss Connolly’s injuries were three deep cuts in her vagina believed to have been caused by the insertion of a sharp-edged plastic object. Broadhurst, aged 40, told police it broke inside her as he tried to pull the object out and after unsuccessful attempts at removal he went to bed.
Professor Gupta said: “These deep lacerations would not have stopped bleeding by themselves without sutures (stitches).”
He said he believed the victim died very shortly after the injuries were inflicted. Asked how long it would have taken her to bleed to death from her wounds, the consultant said within an hour but he could not estimate how much blood she had lost because the carpet on which she lay was absorbent and would have stopped the blood from spreading.
The couple had spent the day before drinking before returning home in the defendant’s chauffeur-driven Range Rover and taking cocaine with more alcohol.
The trial has been told they enjoyed ‘rough sex’ but that Broadhurst may have deliberately hurt her after finding out she had been messaging other men behind his back.
Broadhurst, of Blakeshall Farm, Wolverley, denies murder and an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
The trial continues.
