Day 7 of testimony in the James Worley Capital Murder Case

The trial of James Worley returned to the courtroom on Tuesday after taking a day off. Prosecutors presented science and forensic evidence this morning trying piece together exactly what happened to Sierah Joughin when she was murdered back in 2016.

Today Lucas County Deputy coroner Dr. Cynthia Beisser testified about evidence she found during Joughin's autopsy. She described the grisly details of her death. The UT student died from asphyxiation. The coroner told the court the dog toy used as a ball gag caused a mechanical obstruction of the mouth. Dr. Cynthia Beisser testified Joughin was not sexually assaulted.

She could not pin point the time of the young lady's death. Joughin's body was found on the 22nd of July. Dr. Beisser said noted the decomposition of Joughin's body. She said the the warm weather played a role the decomposition of her body. Joughin also suffered a laceration to the front of her head and a wound on the back of her head. Worley's defense Lawyer asked if a motorcycle helmet is the only object that could cause such an injury.

"It's a fact isn't it that there are a number of possibilities of things that could have been used to inflict those wounds." asked Defense attorney Mark Berling. Dr. Cynthia Beisser said "Yes." Berling asked "not necessarily a motorcycle helmet?" Dr. Beisser said "no the possibilities are almost infinite."

Prosecutors have one witness left to take the stand and will wrap up their case Wednesday morning according to Judge Jeffrey Robinson. There will be no testimony on Thursday. The defense will present its case on Friday. The judge says closing arguments will take place on Monday and then the jury will begin deliberating the case .