A woman allegedly murdered by members of her family, including an Archibald Prize finalist, suffered brain disease that more likely than not would have translated to dementia and impaired her cognitive and motor function, an expert in neurology has told a jury.
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Professor Bruce Brew was called to the witness stand on Friday by the defence barristers representing the artist Melissa Beowulf, 61, and her two sons Thorsten, 33, and Bjorn Beowulf, 31.
Katherine Panin was Mrs Beowulf's mother-in-law and the men's grandmother.
All three accused have pleaded not guilty to murder.
The Crown contends a member of the family hit Mrs Panin, 82, on the head and either left her to die or smothered her before arranging her body at the foot of the back stairs of the Red Hill home, motivated in part by a desire to gain control of her money. But the defence says the woman tripped and fell, and the court has heard evidence Mrs Panin was moving back and forth from the garden to the house packing for her move to a retirement unit on the day she died.
There was no conclusive cause of death, the jury has heard.
The neurology expert Professor Brew, speaking to the court via audio video link from overseas, said he had reviewed a CT scan of Mrs Panin’s brain and opined that her brain was shrinking, particularly in the frontal lobe, and that there was evidence of white matter disease.
He said the degree of atrophy was more than he would expect for someone of her age.
The professor told the ACT Supreme Court the possible consequences that may have flowed to Mrs Panin would include difficulties with attention and concentration as well as executive function and behaviour, slowing gait and gait instability and to a lesser extent weakness of limbs.
He said that more likely than not what he saw on her scan would translate to dementia, but he could not be dogmatic and say that it definitely had.
In cross-examination, prosecutor Margaret Jones put to the professor that Mrs Panin had performed well in an aged care assessment shortly before her death that had required her to answer questions, such as where she was, and to recall the names of objects in previous questions.
Professor Brew said that Mrs Panin's performance was reassuring, as was her report at the time that she had not slipped, tripped or fallen in the 12 months preceding the test.
But when re-examined by barrister Ken Archer, Professor Brew said given further information from the assessment process - including that Mrs Panin regularly experienced confusion as well as hallucinations and delusions, disturbed sleep and intermittent falls before changing footwear - he opined that Mrs Panin would have more likely than not been suffering mild motor and cognitive disturbance.
The testimony of Professor Brew marked the end of the evidence in the murder trial's sixth week. The Crown closed its case earlier on Friday.
The court has adjourned until Wednesday, when the Crown will make its closing arguments.
The trial continues.
