A forensic pathologist who supervised the autopsy of Nick Tanti's body said the 27-year-old died after suffering a single stab wound to the chest.
Dr. Ingo Von Both was the 21st and final witness to testify for the Crown during the trial of Aidan and Angus Kee in Guelph, and appeared via video link from Alberta.
Photos of the wound were shown to the jury for the first time, showing a vertical puncture wound on the left side of Tanti's chest measuring approximately three centimetres.
"The knife went through the fifth intercostal space (the space between the fifth and sixth rib)," he said. "It damaged, in this course, the upper portion of the rib cartilage of both the fifth and the sixth rib."
From there, Von Both noted the knife went into the pericardial sac, a sac that's around the heart and also damaged the lower part of the right ventricle of the heart.
"(It) caused a 1.7 centimetre large hole (in the heart)," he said. "And there was (250 millilitres of) blood present in the pericardial sac."
To be more technical, Von Both said Tanti had hemopericardium (presence of blood in the pericardial cavity) as a result of the injury, which caused cardiac tamponade.
Cardiac tamponade is when there's extra fluid around the heart, enough to put pressure on it to prevent it from functioning normally.
"The size of the injury that Mr. Tanti had is, in most circumstances, not survivable," Von Both said.
As for the force required to cause such an injury, he couldn't give a straight answer, but did agree it would be "more force than slicing warm butter."
Aidan, the older brother, faces a second-degree murder charge, while Angus is accused of unlawful act manslaughter and accessory after the fact manslaughter.
Procedural matters will take up the day Friday, without the jury present.
The trial resumes with the jury Monday morning.
