SALT LAKE CITY – There was a picture of a child’s hand and wrist. The wrist was broken.
A child abuse pediatrician, Dr. Lori Frasier testified in the case of Esar Met Friday morning, Jan. 10. She used a picture of the broken wrist alongside an X-ray and described the extreme pain Hser Ner Moo, a child of Burmese immigrants, must have gone through when she was raped and then slain in 2008.
“She could have been grabbed in a forceful way that would have caused the bones [in the arm] to bend, which would cause the fracture. This would have been extremely painful,” Frasier said.
Frasier testified for an hour and a half, describing in detail the way Hser Ner Moo was injured, both through physical and sexual abuse. “She would have been in a lot of extreme pain before she died,” Frasier said.
Frasier had examined Hser Ner Moo’s body after another doctor had performed an autopsy on the dead girl. She detailed the severe injuries Hser Ner Moo received from the rape. The Universe has decided not to print the graphic details from the testimony.
“Injuries like this are very uncommon. We see thousands of children each year and we see about one like this a year. Injuries this bad are rare,” Frasier said.
Esar Met, 26, the Burmese man charged with Hser Ner Moo’s murder, remained calm and quiet. He sat with his eyes closed and listened to the translation of the testimonial through headphones. He rarely reacted except when Frasier detailed the brutality that must have been inflicted on Hser Ner Moo. When she did, Met opened his eyes and glanced over at Frasier. His face remained expressionless.
After Frasier finished testifying, the court took a break and friends and more family members of Hser Ner Moo testified in the afternoon. The trial will go on for two more weeks. The physician who performed the autopsy on Hser Ner Moo, Dr. Todd Grey, will testify on Monday.
Frasier is positive the injuries and bruising on Hser Ner Moo’s body were traumatic. “I formed [the opinion] myself, and I’m sure of it.”
