Kelli O'Laughlin's autopsy photos presented in Wilson murder trial, experts describe tracking phones

BRIDGEVIEW – Judge John Joseph Hynes cautioned the court about the autopsy photos of 14-year-old Kelli O'Laughlin that were about to be put on display at the trial of John Wilson Jr. on Thursday.

Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina was one of eight witnesses who testified today at Wilson's murder trial, accused of stabbing the girl to death during a burglary of her Indian Head Park Home Oct. 27, 2011

The girl's father, John O'Laughlin, and her maternal grandmother, Carol Pankow, were among those who decided to leave the courtroom. As the photos appeared of the girl's partially-bared body on a large screen in the courtroom, many lowered their eyes, dabbed away tears, while others sat with jaws set in what could be described a mixture of anger and sorrow.

Cina answered questions about the final report of Dr. Nancy Jones, who was serving as Cook County Medical Examiner in 2011. With the aid of photos, Cina described in detail a total of 18 injuries and the eight stab wounds in the girls neck, back and chest. He pointed out that one of the wounds, a deep "sharp force injury" to the left breast, was so deep it severed the aorta and was more than likely the fatal wound.

Wilson sat impassively as the photos of the girl were displayed on a monitor at his desk.

Defense attorney John Paul Carroll questioned Cina about the possibility that the wounds could have been self-inflicted by the girl, as part of his defense strategy to capitalize on Brenda O'Laughlin's 911 call when she came home Oct. 27, 2011, found her daughter lying in a pool of blood, and reporting to police her daughter may have committed suicide.

Carroll used a 12-inch wooden ruler to prove his point that some of the back wounds could have been self-inflicted. He repeatedly asked Cina if suicide was a possibility, to which Cina said it was a homicide.

Carroll once again drove home a point he has been making throughout the trial: The lack of blood found on Wilson's clothing. Cina said the killer would not necessarily have been splattered with blood since the high pressure carotid artery or the jugular vein had not been severed.

Prosecutor Guy Lisuzzo also sought a definitive answer to Carroll's insistence that Wilson's clothes should be blood soaked.

"But would the person look like a psycho killer covered in blood? I don't see anything that would indicate [that] from these injuries," Cina said.

Prosecutors also sought to address the lack of blood found on Wilson's clothing. Cina told jurors that, depending on the sequence of the eight stab wounds, it was likely there may not have been much blood released.

The rest of the day was spent with cellular and digital experts testifying about the whereabouts of Wilson as tracked by his personal cell phone and the phone of Kelli O'Laughlin, the phone he allegedly used to send Brenda O'Laughlin a series of bizarre text messages.

In other developments, Yu Jin Kang, custodian of records for Facebook, testified that a post was made on the girl's Facebook page in reply to another post by a student who expressed his deepest sorrow for the girl.

The reply, believed to have come from Wilson, was: "Next time the bitch will do as told."

FBI special agent Joseph Rausch testified as to how he was able to develop a digital trail map of the whereabouts of both Wilson's cell phone and O'Laughlin's stolen phone over a five-day period from the day of the murder. Rausch said he worked with Cricket and Sprint to determine that both phones were in close proximity to each other beginning the day of the murder in Indian Head Park to the next day, where they were tracked in moving from south to the north edge of the Chicago and back to Wilson's Southside home.

The trial will resume on Friday.