A postmortem report was evidence in the trial of Ryunosuke Naruhodo for the murder of John Wilson.
The inspection[]
A coroner at the Imperial Police Bureau inspected the body and determined that Wilson had died via a gunshot to the chest. A burn mark on his wrist was also found, but it was deemed unrelated to the murder and went unmentioned in the report. Ironically, this burn mark would later prove vital to discovering the true cause of death.
Naruhodo's trial[]
The report was submitted to be used in Naruhodo's trial, where it was involved in a preliminary test of his ability to advocate for himself, as he had requested. He successfully used the report to identify the cause of death written on it. Prosecutor Taketsuchi Auchi then submitted a photographic print of the body, corroborating the fact that Wilson had been shot in the chest. Judge Seishiro Jigoku was satisfied by Naruhodo's conduct, and began normal trial proceedings.
Auchi later called Iyesa Nosa and Kyurio Korekuta to the stand to testify. Nosa claimed that he had seen Naruhodo shoot Wilson in the back, but Naruhodo pointed out that this contradicted the report and photograph of the victim, forcing him to admit that he had not actually seen the moment of the shooting. Naruhodo was able to demonstrate the presence of another individual at Wilson's table, a woman by the name of Jezaille Brett, who was summoned to the witness stand. Later on, Naruhodo learned of the burn mark on Wilson's wrist, and used it to prove that Wilson had already died when being shot. Brett challenged him to provide an alternate cause of death from the postmortem report, and he responded that Brett had poisoned his drink.
Cover[]
The cover of the report is untranslated and only partially readable. A partial translation is provided, starting with the rightmost line and going left:[1]
- 明治三十四年: Meiji 34
- 取扱厳重注意: handle with extreme care
- 遺体検分記録図: post-mortem graphic record
- 大日本帝国大審院****記録: The Supreme Court of The Great Japanese Empire [unreadable] record