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(M.E.’s testimony)
The suffering

Using gruesome photographs displayed on a movie-size screen, Mileusnic-Polchan detailed that suffering in a courtroom packed with relatives and friends of the slain couple.

Newsom, she said, was raped both by an object and at least one person. DNA tests were inconclusive as to identity. The sexual assault would have occurred soon after the kidnapping and, at most, a couple of hours before his death, she said.

His hands were tied behind his back. His ankles eventually were bound with a belt. Socks were stuffed in his mouth. A bandana was tied around his eyes. A sweatshirt was placed over his head and tied with his own shoelaces around his neck. He was shot three times—once in the lower back, once in the upper back shoulder near his neck, and once execution-style to the side of his head. His body was then set on fire.

Mileusnic-Polchan said Christian was kept alive for more than 12 hours and perhaps as long as a full day. The attack on her took place over time, she said.

Early on in the attack, she was orally raped, causing a membrane in her mouth to be torn, the doctor testified. She was raped vaginally and anally—more than once—over the course of her captivity, Mileusnic-Polchan said. At some point a few hours before her death, someone attacked her genital region, likely kicking her and perhaps even striking that area with an object, she said.

“This was no simple rape,” she said.

Christian was hog-tied and her lower body stuffed inside five different large black trash bags. A small white plastic grocery bag was wrapped around her face, and she was pushed down into a trash can. The medical examiner said she suffocated to death. Her eyes were still partially open when she died.

Closing arguments are expected to begin today.