Medical examiner testifies in shooting trial from 1966

Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA

A medical examiner using graphic autopsy photos and voluminous medical records told jurors that he believed the death in 2007 of a Philadelphia police officer was directly caused by the paralysis caused by a shooting in 1966.

Former Philadelphia medical examiner Dr. Ian Hood testified in the murder trial of William Barnes on Wednesday. He said police officer Walter T. Barclay died of sepsis related to a urinary tract infection that was due to paralysis that was, in turn, due to the gunshot to his spine.

The 74-year-old Barnes has served 16 years in prison on an attempted-murder charge for shooting Barclay on Nov. 27, 1966.

Barclay, then 23, was paralyzed from the waist down and endured years of infections and bedsores. When he died in August 2007 at 64, Hood determined that an infection linked to the 41-year-old gunshot wounds caused his death, and ruled it a homicide.

Hood is expected to remain on the stand today.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.