The coffins of some of the victims arrive in New York
hill. He pointed out the spot of the wreckage plan showing where Hammarskjöld was found; but no ant-hill is indicated there, even though ant-hills are shown on the plan. Tere are other indications that he could not have been lean-
ing against an ant-hill: there is no blood on the front of his shirt, which there would have been if he was sitting up – in such a case, gravity would have caused the blood to run down his face on to the shirt. In fact, the photographs show that the blood from his facial wounds trickled down the sides of his face, towards his ears. Mr Franks made a final point on this topic: that the secretary
general’s right arm has rigor mortis and is lifted upwards; this would not have been possible if he was leaning against an anti-hill.
group of people, or any organisation or political party, have a reason to want Mr Hammarskjöld out of the way? What was the political background to his death?”
under the hammer of a revolver, for safety purposes – but this was not necessary with this particular, very safe, revolver. Mr Franks’ final query relates to the variety of ammunition. He
noted that on the one hand, the bodyguards carried “up to-date, excellent weapons”. But some of the ammunition that was found spread across the crash site had been discontinued just prior to the Second World War, while other ammunition was from 1951 and 1956. “I would have expected that such a high profile VIP, with a
professional unit of bodyguards, would have the best equipment,” commented Mr Franks. “So why would they be carrying old stock 0.38 ammunition?” Moreover, the ammunition was mixed: “It is normal for am-
munition to be issued in a batch, so I would have expected all of them to have Winchester or Remington ammunition.” It would be extremely strange, he reflected, “that the bodyguard
team should use various manufacturers’ ammunition and even stranger that it is quite old. Tere is no real explanation for that. Nor is it very professional, because older ammunition becomes less reliable.” On the specific issue of the holes in the aircraft, Mr Franks
concluded that these were not caused by bullets. He added that the photographs are not clear, even when enlarged – but even so, at this stage he “would have to say no”. Finally, although it was outside his remit, Mr Franks dismissed the theory that Hammarskjöld was found leaning against an ant-
“Did any person or
Expert No. 3 My third expert is Peter Sutherst, a forensic photographic expert with over 50 years of experience, who has supplied testimony in numerous police and [UK] Ministry of Defence inquiries. Mr Sutherst was puzzled that there is no photograph of
Hammarskjöld’s body in situ. “You would expect to find this,” he told me. An aircraft accident investigation ought to produce photographs to show where the bodies were found. For an initial investigation, it is usual procedure for the bod-
ies to be left in situ, so that there can be an examination of where the bodies are in relation to the aircraft. Ten a chart is produced showing where the bodies are – “but they would need pictures to verify it. In the forensic service, you put a flag to show even where a bit of body is”. In fact, there are photographs of all the bodies in situ in the
relevant file – but not that of Hammarskjöld, which was photo- graphed only on a stretcher at the crash site, nor that of his body- guard, Bill Ranallo. Tis is strange, commented Mr Sutherst, since the post mortem
photographs were done professionally and all the photographs of the secretary general are of high quality. Te photographer was likely to have had a supply of additional
film if needed and in the case of the crash scene, the photographs were evidently taken during daylight, so there would have been no need for a flash. Te lack of a photograph of Hammarskjöld’s body in situ is all
the more odd given that a “wreckage plan” was produced to show where the bodies were found – all of them, including those of the secretary general and Ranallo. Mr Sutherst also noted that there was no mention in the medical
report of the leaves and twigs, or of the playing card tucked into the secretary general’s neck. Tese findings, he argued, would be expected in a post-mortem report; in any case, details are given of his appearance in other respects, such as his clothing.
Cover-up? Te careful observations made by my three expert witnesses dis- miss some, though not all, of the myths, rumours and theories surrounding the crash and Mr Hammarskjöld’s death. It is easy to understand the origin of the theory that Hammarskjöld crawled out of the aircraft, since the photographs of his body on the stretcher appear to show him holding leaves and twigs; but it is now clear
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