The family of a Port Alfred man who allegedly hanged himself in a police cell two months ago say there are more questions than answers after a post-mortem revealed several unexplained injuries.
Axel Lee’s family yesterday said they had sent the post-mortem report by chief forensic medical officer Dr Stuart Dwyer to their family doctor to try and explain injuries that included brain and rib cage bleeding, bruising, two cuts on his scalp and abrasions on his fingers and legs.
Although some of the injuries are consistent with strangulation, family say they are no closer to finding answers as to how he managed to kill himself with his own belt – which they claim was found around his neck but not attached to anything.
Lee’s death two months ago is still under investigation by the Independent Police Investigating Directorate (IPID) and police have declined to comment until it is completed.
IPID national spokesman Robbie Raburabu declined to comment this week on how their investigation was progressing or the extent of Lee’s injuries.
According to the post-mortem report, which the family received from IPID on Monday, Lee died from strangulation or suffocation.
Father Carl Lee said the family still did not understand how he was able to strangle himself with his belt – without attaching it to anything.
“We are still short of answers,” he said. “We sent the post-mortem to a doctor to try and decipher what happened.”
He said police had only visited family once since Lee was found dead in the police cells to explain what happened. “The policeman came with a thick file and told several family members that they found Axel dead in the cell with a belt around his neck.
“We were also told he was found sitting up on a bench in the cell with his collar up, hiding the belt around his neck –which was not attached to anything.”
Initial reports by police two months ago said Lee was found hanging in the cell, already dead.
Local retired doctor, Dr Jerome Boulle, who was asked by the Daily Dispatch to decipher the complex medical terms in the post-mortem, said the injuries appeared inconsistent with what the family had allegedly been told by police.
Boulle, who has conducted hundreds of post-mortems and autopsies over the past 40 years, said although Dr Dwyer’s findings were consistent with strangulation, the family’s claims that the belt was not attached to anything raised concerns.
“I could understand the injuries if he was found hanging from something in the cell. If what the family say is true, then something is not right.” Boulle said he doubted Lee would still be sitting on a bench as his body would have experienced convulsions as he died from a lack of oxygen
Lee was found dead in the cells hours after he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct in Port Alfred two months ago.
Although well-known in the town after he inherited, and within a decade spent, R10-million left to him by his late mother, his family – who own a local boat building business – say they were only told of his death 14 hours after police found him dead. — davidm@dispatch.co.za
Man’s police cell ‘suicide’ mystery
Axel Lee’s family yesterday said they had sent the post-mortem report by chief forensic medical officer Dr Stuart Dwyer to their family doctor to try and explain injuries that included brain and rib cage bleeding, bruising, two cuts on his scalp and abrasions on his fingers and legs.
Although some of the injuries are consistent with strangulation, family say they are no closer to finding answers as to how he managed to kill himself with his own belt – which they claim was found around his neck but not attached to anything.
Lee’s death two months ago is still under investigation by the Independent Police Investigating Directorate (IPID) and police have declined to comment until it is completed.
IPID national spokesman Robbie Raburabu declined to comment this week on how their investigation was progressing or the extent of Lee’s injuries.
According to the post-mortem report, which the family received from IPID on Monday, Lee died from strangulation or suffocation.
Father Carl Lee said the family still did not understand how he was able to strangle himself with his belt – without attaching it to anything.
“We are still short of answers,” he said. “We sent the post-mortem to a doctor to try and decipher what happened.”
He said police had only visited family once since Lee was found dead in the police cells to explain what happened. “The policeman came with a thick file and told several family members that they found Axel dead in the cell with a belt around his neck.
“We were also told he was found sitting up on a bench in the cell with his collar up, hiding the belt around his neck –which was not attached to anything.”
Initial reports by police two months ago said Lee was found hanging in the cell, already dead.
Local retired doctor, Dr Jerome Boulle, who was asked by the Daily Dispatch to decipher the complex medical terms in the post-mortem, said the injuries appeared inconsistent with what the family had allegedly been told by police.
Boulle, who has conducted hundreds of post-mortems and autopsies over the past 40 years, said although Dr Dwyer’s findings were consistent with strangulation, the family’s claims that the belt was not attached to anything raised concerns.
“I could understand the injuries if he was found hanging from something in the cell. If what the family say is true, then something is not right.” Boulle said he doubted Lee would still be sitting on a bench as his body would have experienced convulsions as he died from a lack of oxygen
Lee was found dead in the cells hours after he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct in Port Alfred two months ago.
Although well-known in the town after he inherited, and within a decade spent, R10-million left to him by his late mother, his family – who own a local boat building business – say they were only told of his death 14 hours after police found him dead. — davidm@dispatch.co.za
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