The Los Angeles Times’ Barbara Demick reports that Chongqing police reached out to U.S-based forensic scientist Henry C. Lee, a professional acquaintance of Wang Lijun best known for his work in the O.J. Simpson and Phil Spector murder trials, to analyze a blood sample that likely came from dead British businessman Neil Heywood:
The timing and the description of the Heywood case match all the details that have been released of the death, although the detective who called Lee from the Chongqing police did not disclose a name. “I don’t know who was the victim, who was the suspect,” said Lee, who added, “I don’t get involved in politics.”
Lee did not recall the exact date he received the phone call, but thought it was one week before Wang fled to the consulate. The blood sample never arrived in Connecticut.
However, it appears that Wang had had a preliminary test of the sample performed elsewhere. A businessman familiar with the case said that at the consulate, Wang offered the technical evidence from a test of the blood sample.
“The test confirmed the poisoning. There is physical evidence, a sample of flesh. The forensic evidence is very strong,” said the businessman, who asked not to be quoted by name.
The Telegraph’s Jon Swaine writes that the blood samples suggest that investigators may prove decisively that Neil Heywood was poisoned, a revelation that would have serious consequences for Gu Kailai, Bo Xilai or anyone else involved in the incident.
