Doctor's death inquest reopened after experts argue she was defending herself

Seventeen years after Dr Karen Mahlo was found dead with a knife in her chest, forensic experts claim the “suicide” may have been something far more sinister.

Medical experts examining the stabbing death of Dr Karen Mahlo have argued her injuries could have been from trying to defend herself, arguing there is not enough proof she took her own life.

State Coroner Terry Ryan this week reopened the inquest into the death to re-examine the finding that Dr Mahlo took her own life, following an investigation by The Sunday Mail and calls from a team of forensic experts who argued the original investigation was lacking.

DOCTOR MAHLO SERIES: Read the full investigation that reopened the inquest into mum’s mystery death

Forensic psychiatrist Russ Scott and forensic pathologist Dr Allan Cala argue the lack of police evidence, coupled with Dr Mahlo’s injuries, require further investigation.

The prominent doctor was found dead in her bed by her ex-partner John Hehir, lying face up with a knife in her chest.

He found her after going to her home following other self-harm incidents, about 5am on May 28, 2008.

Dr Mahlo had a single wound in her chest however there were three tracks and the knife passed through her sternum or breastbone.

Police treated her death as a suicide within hours, with the family and experts critical of officers not collecting evidence and testing the knife immediately.

The knife went through Dr Mahlo’s clothing and she had nicks on her palm and the base of her thumb of her right, non-dominant hand.

Dr Scott and Dr Cala argue there is possibility her injuries are defensive wounds as she was left-handed, rather than the injuries being from the stabbing motion from gripping the hiltless knife with her right hand.

The original pathologist Dr Alex Olumbe said the nicks to her hand were too minor to be possible defensive wounds.

Dr Linda Iles, an independent pathologist reviewing the autopsy for the inquest, said the cuts could be from clumsy handling of the knife, or if the hand gripping the handle of the knife slipped forward and came in contact with the blade.

She said it could not be excluded that the wounds “may have been inflicted whilst trying to ward off a knife”.

Dr Mahlo also had bruising to the back of the left hand and right thigh, and a circular abrasion on the chin.

Forensic psychiatrist Russ Scott. Picture: Tara Croser.

Dr Scott and Dr Calla have also argued her injuries also allow for a theory that Dr Mahlo - who had a blood alcohol content of .114 - was restrained from behind.

“The absence of multiple or more extensive ‘defence’ wounds might suggest that Dr Mahlo made only limited attempts to defend herself, possibly as a consequence of her level of intoxication, or when an assailant held her from behind with an arm around her neck and stabbed her in the central chest,” they wrote.

A coronial inquest, in which the family did not seek its own legal representation, in 2014 found that Dr Mahlo took her own life.

The experts have argued Dr Iles was not specifically asked by the coroner whether Dr Mahlo’s injuries were consistent with homicide, only if she believed the knife wound was consistent with suicide.

Dr Iles found the force needed to stab through the sternum was “problematic”, and passing through the sternum would require severe force.

She said three tracks in the wound was “unusual but not unheard of” in suicide.

She told the inquest the knife was likely to have been pulled out of the breastbone and then at least one further stabbing motion took place.

Dr Karen Mahlo.

Separately, The Sunday Mail asked senior forensic pathologist Johan Duflou his opinion on the autopsy and injuries to Dr Mahlo.

He was asked how he would respond if asked to give a coroner his opinion about whether the findings were consistent with self-inflicted suicide or homicide.

“Purely on the basis of injuries, I think both are possible,” Prof Duflou said.

“I think that the autopsy is pretty much agnostic, and that’s not too uncommon.

“In a situation like that it’s to a certain extent dependent on the police investigation and its interpretation by the coroner.”

The three tracks in the single wound were uncommon but didn’t point in one direction, he said.

“It’s relatively uncommon to see it,” Prof Duflou said.

“You see it though in both homicides and suicides.”

Prof Duflou said the original post mortem was comprehensive and “neutral”.

The injuries from then knife were also possible in both suicides and homicides, he said.

“It’s gone through the sternum, which is indicative of significant force application, irrespective of whether it’s a homicide or suicide,” Prof Duflou said.

“The knife is in place, which is more supportive of self-infliction than of homicide.

“But, the thing is, because it has gone through bone it could have got stuck in the bone and not be able to be pulled out.

“It need not necessarily point strongly to suicide.

“An unusual aspect of this as a suicide is there were both stab wounds and incised wounds. Typically you only have one form of wound.”

Prof Duflou said most people who self-inflict stab wounds tended to lift their clothing out of the way, but the knife going through Dr Mahlo’s clothing did not mean she met with foul play either.

Prof Duflou said it was difficult to give an opinion, especially when there was a single wound. “The problem is the autopsy on its own usually can’t tell you definitively,” he said.

“Obviously if you’ve got a 100 stab wounds all in different parts of the body and there’s evidence of a struggle, etcetera etcetera, you can be pretty confident that it’s not self-inflicted.

“But single wounds are always problematic. And whether they are stab wounds, gunshot wounds, or any other form of single wound, they really cause trouble in interpretation.

“You end up saying they may be self-inflicted, or they may not be.”

Prof Duflou was not critical of the original or expert autopsy review conducted for the inquest.

He said he believed injuries to Dr Mahlo’s hands and the rest of her body were not significant in argument for either murder or suicide.

Originally published as Doctor's death inquest reopened after experts argue she was defending herself