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Medical examiner says Fragstein suffered prolonged, severe assault

Dr. Stephen Erickson testified that he was afraid he would not find anything based on the condition of Fragstein's body, but instead, he found “a lot.”

CONWAY, Ark. — On Tuesday, the state rested its case against Tacori Mackrell following almost four days of testimony.

Mackrell, 20, is charged with capital murder, kidnapping, robbery, and theft of property in connection with the 2018 death of 72-year-old Elvia Fragstein.

Mackrell and his cousin, Robert Smith III, are accused of kidnapping Fragstein from the Conway Commons shopping center, killing her, and dumping her body in rural Jefferson County.

Dr. Stephen Erickson, prosecutors’ 24th and final witness, took the stand for several hours on Tuesday morning. Erickson, the deputy chief medical examiner at the Arkansas State Crime Lab, performed Fragstein’s autopsy on July 13, 2018.

Along with Erickson’s testimony, the jury saw several diagrams and photos of Fragstein's remains.

The photos showed some of her injuries along with decomposition to her body, which was the result of insects and animal predation, according to Erickson. 

Dr. Erickson testified that he was afraid he would not find anything based on the condition of Fragstein's body, but instead, he found “a lot.”

Based on those findings, Erickson said Fragstein suffered from a “multifactorial, severe, prolonged assault.” 

He concluded that blunt force trauma to the chest, strangulation, and a blow to the cervical spine all contributed to her death.

According to the autopsy, Fragstein had eight broken ribs – six on her right side and two on the left.

Senior deputy prosecutor John Hout asked if the chest crush injury could be consistent with Fragstein being stomped on in the floorboard of a vehicle. Erickson said yes, but noted that it could be consistent with other scenarios as well.

Erickson said the injury to Fragstein’s second cervical vertebrae was the result of high impact force in a small surface area. That injury leads to immediate collapse and rapid death, he said.

Prosecutors rested their case when Erickson’s testimony ended just after noon on Tuesday, and the jury was sent home for the day.

The defense team is scheduled to call its first witness at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

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