Well, on the 14th of August, Dr. Tapp carried out his first examination of the body, and I am going to turn in a moment to the pathological evidence, but he was shown the photograph number two. I do not think we need to go to that again, but you remember the picture of the body on the lake shore, and it obviously showed the package unwrapped. Dr. Tapp said he had not been at the scene. The body had come to him partly rewrapped, but the packaging was still with the body.
We do have some evidence about how the package was opened at the lake side in the form of statements from a police sergeant, Police Sergeant Griffiths. He said that shortly before nine-thirty p.m. on the 13th of August, he went to the scene at the side of the lake. They were shown the position where the package was by Mr. Mason. He saw the size of it. The outer package he said consisted of a stone coloured canvass type bag/holdall with a draw string, not dissimilar to a kit bag. Attached to it was a piece of lead pipe, bend up lead piping. The bag was then cut open by another officer using a pair of ordinary scissors. This was at about ten-thirty. When the bag was opened, there was a further packaging consisting of a green coloured bag and two further bin bags covering the body. It was necessary to cut he said the centre of the packaging which was difficult to identify, and as it was removed, it was appreciated that it was indeed a body dressed in apparently some form of dress and tied in a foetal position. The officers secured the scene. A scenes of crime officer took photographs at five-past eleven, and at five-to two in the morning the body was removed by undertakers to the mortuary and locked in a room for examination. Police Sergeant Griffiths said that while opening the package, the rope in which the body was bound was severed. The rope had been tied and bound to the right shoulder blade. It had been wrapped around the body at least three times and was tied with knots. It was similar to climbing or sailing rope and grey in colour, although he was unable to describe the knots.