SAN ANTONIO – The pictures the medical examiner used during her testimony in the murder trial of Michael Quinn, 53, on Thursday, were graphic.
Quinn is accused of beating to death Albert Guerra, 56, and then dismembering Guerra’s body on the night of May 4, 2013.
He had gone to Guerra’s North Side apartment angry because his girlfriend, who was Guerra’s ex-girlfriend, said that Guerra had beaten her up.
Quinn told police in his recorded statement that the next day, he and Guerra had struggled, and that he hit Guerra in the head with a hammer.
During her testimony, Dr. Kimberly Molina, Bexar County deputy chief medical examiner, was asked about her findings during an autopsy on Guerra’s body.
“He died due to blunt injuries to the head,” Molina said.
Asked for the formal finding as to the cause of death, she said “It was a homicide.”
Molina said that Guerra had been struck 19 times in the head and that after his death, his legs had been cut off.
If he is found guilty of murder, Quinn is facing a maximum punishment of life in prison.
Testimony is expected to continue on Friday in Judge Lori Valenzuela’s 437th District Court.