The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

THE hanging death of a 25-year-old South African woman in a bathroom at the Atlantis resort last year may have been staged to look like a suicide, a South African forensic pathologist claimed yesterday.

Dr Linda Liebenberg testified that Carla Van Eeden’s alleged suicide was actually the result of ligature strangulation and a “subsequent staging of the body” to “create the impression” she was hanged.

Dr Liebenberg, who conducted the second of two autopsies on Ms Van Eeden, said the young woman also had “numerous” scratches, bruises and abrasions about her body, which were in keeping with a person who had been involved in a “violent struggle”.

Dr Liebenberg also said the deceased woman had “drag mark abrasions” on “large parts” of the rear of her body, as well as an area of bruising to the back of her neck.

And the information about Ms Van Eeden’s injuries, which Dr Liebenberg said she not only saw but “photographed extensively”, was not contained in the autopsy report compiled by local forensic pathologist Dr Kiko Bridgewater.

Additionally, Detective Corporal Rudolph Sweeting, a Crime Scene Investigator, said he was instructed by Dr Bridgewater to take certain post-mortem photographs of Ms Van Eeden’s body while it was in the Rand Laboratory at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on May 30.

However, none of the six pictures he said he was instructed to take were of the posterior nor torso of the deceased’s body where Dr Liebenberg said she observed the “numerous” injuries. The only things Det. Cpl. Sweeting said he was instructed to capture was the deceased’s face; the lanyard around her neck; bruising on the front and back of her neck purportedly due to the lanyard; and an overview of her legs.

While Dr Liebenberg’s evidence raised questions over Ms van Eeden’s death evidence presented at yesterday’s hearing by Atlantis showed extensive analysis of the hotel’s video surveillance system showed no suspicious entry by anyone into the girl’s bedroom before her death.

Further evidence is expected to be produced to challenge Dr Liebenberg’s report.

Dr Liebenberg, who was testifying via Skype from South Africa, had her testimony cut short yesterday due to connectivity issues. She resumes her testimony today from the Atlantis resort, where the internet connection should not be an issue.

According to the evidence led thus far, Ms Van Eeden, formerly a stewardess on a private yacht, checked into the Atlantis resort on May 14, 2018. Tanackia Tinker, a front desk employee, checked her in. 

Since then, Ms Van Eeden’s financial transactions at the resort were minimal and limited to her first day or so at the resort, based on the resort’s guest activity portfolio. She had only spent $25.88 at the Sip Sip restaurant, and another $150 on a guest attraction on May 15.

Ms Van Eeden’s best friend, Lauren Burke, raised the alarm about the deceased’s whereabouts when she repeatedly called the Paradise Island resort on May 16, claiming she had not heard from Ms Van Eeden and that it wasn’t like her to not call and/or return her calls.

One of the persons Ms Burke ended up speaking with was Bennett Allen, the hotel manager of Atlantis’ Royal Towers, who at first sought to allay her concerns by reasoning that Ms Van Eeden might have been enjoying herself at the resort and simply forgot to check in with her loved ones.

Mr Allen said people calling into the resort looking for their loved ones is something that happens 15 to 20 minutes daily, and each time it happens, the caller views their situation as an emergency.

However, he said it usually turns out that the person they are looking for is clubbing or having a good time on the property.

But when he had a look at her guest activity portfolio, the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation junkie in him kicked in and “heightened” his suspicions. Thus, he acted on those otherwise commonplace indicators and personally went to Ms Van Eeden’s room to investigate.

When he and another employee, Lisa Ferguson got there, and the latter checked the bathroom, Ms Van Eeden was hanging by her neck from a green and white cell phone laniard, which was in turn hanging from a garment hook on the bathroom door.

Mr Allen, a first responder, said he noticed “major discoloration” and the lower parts of the young woman’s body. It was “basically all blue”, he said. He said he also checked her right hand for a pulse, but didn’t feel any.

Mr Allen said he did not notice anything untoward about the main door to the hotel room. He also said both the door to the balcony as well as the doors that connected Ms Van Eeden’s room to the next room, room 3585, were also locked.

Corporal 3585 Ashley Black, a general investigator at the Central Detective Unit (CDU), said when she arrived at Ms Van Eeden’s room on May 17, it appeared as if Ms Van Eeden had hanged herself.

Cpl Black also said the room didn’t appear to be disturbed.

Corporal Cyril Walkes, the investigating officer who accompanied Cpl Black to the scene, also said that the door that adjoined, was locked. He said when he knocked on the main door to that room, he got no answer, and thus reasoned it was unoccupied.

Meanwhile, Ms Van Eeden’s older brother Nicholas, said the last time he spoke with his sister was on May 9, 2018. At the time, he said Ms Van Eeden, who he described as very active and outgoing, was in a very positive state and spoke about going on vacation with her friends to Las Vegas. He also said he didn’t know his sister to have any physical ailments. 

“So yeah, she was happy. No issues. Same old Carla,” he said. 

However, the issue arose of Ms Van Eeden breaking up with her boyfriend at some unspecified time prior to her death, something Mr Van Eeden said he never addressed with his sister because it was never a “talking point”. 

When prodded on the issue, and whether his relationship with his sister was such that she would discuss such matters like that with him, Mr Van Eeden replied in the affirmative, and added that his sister was usually very straightforward and frank with him. He also said he had a “parental” relationship with his younger sister. 

However, Mr Van Eeden said his sister’s relationship status and/or issues with her most recent boyfriend was not as important as say, a previous boyfriend she had named Frank, whom he said was introduced to their family and spent some time with them. By contrast, he said Ms Van Eeden’s most recent boyfriend was not introduced to the family. Mr Van Eeden said the first time he met him was at his sister’s funeral. 

The matter continues today.