The courtroom was quiet in a distinctly American way—not empty, but controlled. Dark wood paneling absorbed the light from the ceiling fixtures, and the air-conditioning hummed softly, indifferent to the weight of what was about to be said. Twelve jurors sat upright in the jury box, notebooks open, pens ready, their attention fixed on the witness stand.

At the clerk’s direction, the witness rose and raised his right hand. He swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. His voice was steady, practiced, the voice of someone long accustomed to speaking about death in formal rooms.

He gave his name for the record: Andrew Faison, spelling it carefully so there would be no ambiguity in the transcript. He stated his current position as a consulting pathologist and forensic pathologist at Martr Day Hospital in the Ma Europe region, where he oversaw a satellite pathology laboratory and provided forensic services to the hospital.

The prosecutor methodically established his professional background. Before working overseas, Dr. Faison had spent years inside the American medicolegal system. He began his career as an associate medical examiner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Decatur, Georgia, from 1999 to 2001. He later moved to New Jersey, serving as an assistant medical examiner in Middlesex County. When the county’s chief medical examiner retired, Faison assumed that role and was later appointed Chief State Medical Examiner for New Jersey.

Autopsies, he testified, were a central part of his work. Over the course of his career, he had performed more than 3,500 postmortem examinations. The number drew quiet attention in the jury box—not because it was emphasized, but because it needed no emphasis.

Dr. Faison outlined his academic training with clinical precision. He earned his medical degree from the University of Malta, completed a rotating internship, and then pursued graduate studies in the United States, receiving a master’s degree in anatomy from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1992. He completed a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at the University of Mississippi, followed by a one-year forensic pathology fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

In addition to casework, he had taught forensic pathology to undergraduate students in jurisdictions where he worked and had served on multiple review boards, including domestic violence fatality review boards, child fatality review boards, and suicide subcommittees. He remained active on the suicide subcommittee of a child fatality review board.

He was board-certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, and forensic pathology. He had presented research at conferences of the National Association of Medical Examiners and had testified as an expert witness more than one hundred times in state courts, primarily in New Jersey and Georgia.

With no objection from the defense, the judge formally recognized Dr. Faison as an expert in forensic pathology.

Only then did the questioning turn to the case at hand.

The prosecutor directed Dr. Faison’s attention to January 20, 2001. At that time, he confirmed, he was working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Decatur. On that date, he performed the autopsy of Tara Baker.

Dr. Faison described the condition of the body upon receipt. The remains arrived in a black body bag, unclothed, with extensive thermal damage. As with all autopsies, he verified that the body matched the identifying information provided by law enforcement.

He explained the purpose and structure of an autopsy for the jury: a systematic postmortem examination conducted to determine cause and manner of death. The process begins with a review of case history, followed by an external examination documenting rigor mortis, lividity, burns, and injuries. Photographs are taken. In some cases, X-rays are performed. The internal examination follows—opening the chest and abdomen to examine organs, opening the skull to examine the brain, and dissecting the neck structures. Throughout the procedure, specimens are collected for toxicology and DNA analysis.

Dr. Faison confirmed that his findings were documented in a written autopsy report prepared and signed by him. The report was admitted into evidence without objection.

During the external examination, he noted severe charring, along with multiple injuries. He explained to the jury that forensic injuries are generally classified as blunt force, sharp force, or gunshot wounds.

On Tara Baker’s head and neck, he observed multiple blunt force injuries, including bruising around both eyes and along the sides of the head and neck. He also identified a sharp force injury—a stab wound—on the lower right front of the neck, as well as a ligature mark encircling the neck.

Using the convention of a clock face, Dr. Faison described the stab wound’s orientation as running from approximately the ten o’clock position to the four o’clock position. The ligature mark fully encircled the neck, with one mark posteriorly and two anteriorly, indicating the ligature had been wrapped around the neck and crossed in front.

Additional blunt force injuries were present below and behind the left ear.

In the genital and anal regions, Dr. Faison documented extensive bruising consistent with blunt force trauma. The bruising extended along one side of the vulva toward the posterior aspect and completely encircled the anal region.

On the extremities, he observed sharp force injuries on the backs of the hands. These, he explained, were consistent with defensive wounds—injuries sustained while attempting to ward off an attack.

During the internal examination of the neck, Dr. Faison focused on the hyoid bone, a C-shaped bone located above the larynx. He testified that fractures of the hyoid bone are commonly associated with strangulation. In Tara Baker’s case, fractures were present on both sides of the hyoid bone.

Photographs documenting these findings were admitted into evidence. Dr. Faison described images showing the condition of the body upon arrival, facial injuries, ligature marks consistent with an electrical cord, the stab wound to the neck, and areas of relative sparing where objects had shielded the skin from soot deposition.

The courtroom remained silent as each image was explained. The language was technical, restrained, and unemotional—yet the cumulative effect was heavy.

The testimony continued with closer examination of the sharp force injuries. Dr. Faison explained that the stab wound penetrated beyond the skin. During the internal examination, he identified damage to the right internal jugular vein, a major vessel responsible for draining blood from the brain. Injury to this vein, he testified, would result in significant hemorrhage, accounting for the large volume of blood observed on the body.

Based on the wound’s orientation and trajectory, Dr. Faison formed an opinion regarding how the injury was inflicted. The blade traveled from front to back, downward, and toward the left. In his experience, such a trajectory is consistent with a scenario in which the assailant was positioned behind the victim, forcing the weapon forward into the neck.

The cuts on the victim’s left hand, particularly between the fourth and fifth fingers, further supported this interpretation. These injuries were consistent with a person attempting to grab or deflect a blade during an assault.

Dr. Faison then addressed the findings related to fire exposure. Examination of the larynx revealed soot deposits below the vocal cords. Blood testing showed the presence of carboxyhemoglobin at a level below that typically considered fatal.

He explained to the jury that hemoglobin carries oxygen in the bloodstream. Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin more tightly than oxygen, forming carboxyhemoglobin and preventing oxygen delivery. In fatal fire-related deaths, carboxyhemoglobin levels often exceed 50 percent.

In this case, although the level was not high enough to cause death, the combination of soot below the vocal cords and measurable carboxyhemoglobin indicated that Tara Baker was still breathing when the fire was set.

Dr. Faison summarized his conclusions for the jury. Based on the totality of his findings—the ligature marks, fractures of the hyoid bone, internal neck injuries, stab wound to the neck, blunt force trauma to the head, and evidence of sexual assault—he determined that the cause of death was ligature strangulation combined with a stab wound to the neck.

He noted additional contributory factors, including blunt force trauma to the head, supported by subarachnoid hemorrhage observed on the surface of the brain.

When asked to classify the manner of death, Dr. Faison stated that it was a homicide.

His testimony concluded without theatrics. There were no raised voices, no dramatic pauses. The facts were laid out with clinical restraint, leaving the jury to absorb the implications. In a system built on procedure and proof, the story of Tara Baker was reconstructed not through emotion, but through evidence—bone by bone, wound by wound, fact by fact.

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