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Expert Challenges 'Accident' Claim in MMA Sparring Death Trial

Prosecutors say the injury pattern shows intent to cause serious harm.

Overview

  • The murder trial of professional fighter Bradley Dusan Fletcher, which opened Wednesday in the NSW Supreme Court, turns on whether he meant to inflict really serious injury.
  • A clinical geneticist told jurors the victim’s brittle bone disease did not drive the fatal outcome and said fractures and dislodged teeth of this kind do not occur by accident.
  • An autopsy found multiple blunt force injuries, including head trauma, brain bleeding, facial and rib fractures, and broken teeth, with a molar lodged in the airway.
  • Prosecutors say Fletcher did not call emergency services after the assault and instead dumped the body on a nearby footpath, where a passerby raised the alarm.
  • The defense maintains the death was an accident during intoxicated sparring and notes he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a plea prosecutors rejected.