Kissel visited Dytham 36 hours after her husband is thought to have been killed, saying she was in serious pain. Dytham testified last week that she thought Kissel's reaction to the physical examination on November 4, 2003, was ''disproportionate to the actual injury'' since she did not see any visible bruising in some of the areas that evinced a pained response.

When informed by defense counsel Alexander King SC that blood tests later showed the possibility of ''skeletal muscle injury,'' Dytham said that would definitely have been a matter for consideration and would have suggested that her ''expressions of pain were not exaggerated.''

Dytham added that ''deep tissue injuries do not necessarily show up as bruises'' or red marks.

Dytham, who was part of the medical team during the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tournament, agreed with King that rugby players often come off the pitch not realizing until the next day the extent of their injuries.

Kissel, 41, is accused of serving her husband a pink milkshake laced with sedatives which left him unconscious at the foot of the bed as she bludgeoned him to death with a heavy metal ornament on November 2, 2003 in their luxury Parkview apartment.

Kissel has testified there was a furious fight that night and that she feared for her life when her husband bore down on her swinging a baseball bat.

She has accepted that she killed her husband, but she says cannot recall how she came to inflict five fatal wounds to the side of his head. She denies the charge of murder and is out on bail.

The decomposing body of Robert Kissel, a high-flying Merrill Lynch banker, was found wrapped in a rug and locked in a storeroom in the Parkview residential complex in the early hours of November 7.

The prosecution alleges Kissel went shopping for drugs in the week leading up to that fatal Halloween weekend, and secured a prescription of Rohypnol, the infamous date rape drug which was found in the stomach of the deceased, from Dytham on October 23, 2003.

The prosecution has charged that Kissel misled Dytham into composing a report of injuries supposedly inflicted on her during an assault by her husband.

The fact that Kissel managed to recount a version of events to Dytham on November 4, albeit without mention of the baseball bat or the life-or-death struggle, suggests that the defendant's claim of memory loss since November 4 is a lie, the prosecution alleged last week.

Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Peter Chapman, completed his cross-examination of the doctor Monday, noting her report made no mention of memory disorder, baseball bat, nor nine or 10 areas of injuries which the defense had previously said were ''classic areas of defensive injuries.''

Dytham said she had not been aware of Kissel's visits to a Dr Desmond Fung, who prescribed Lorivan, Stilnox and Amitriptyline, the other hypnotics and sedatives found in the stomach of the corpse along with Rohyphnol.

Dytham said she saw no signs of confusion or problems with recollection when she examined Kissel on November 4, but she emphasized she is no expert in psychiatry.

There seems to have been no mention of rape since ''rape is very serious and if it had been mentioned, I feel I would have explored that at greater depth,'' she said.

In relation to the nine or 10 areas of injuries, she said: ''I may have seen them, but did not record them.''

''The other possibility is they just weren't there at the time,'' Chapman said.

Dytham agreed with Chapman that the carpet burns found on Kissel's knees could have been caused by her efforts to push a dead body into a sleeping bag while kneeling on a carpet, but said that they could equally have been caused by being dragged around the room.

''If an adult male was swinging that [baseball bat], accompanied with threats that he was about to kill, and manage to land blows, what type of injury would you expect to see?'' asked the prosecutor.

Dytham replied: ''Bruises, collection of blood over areas of bone, possible fracture - and if on the head, loss of consciousness.''

She added that such injuries should have been readily identifiable.

In re-examination by King, Dytham said she would have examined Kissel in a different light had she known of possible ''skeletal muscle injuries'' which are often deep in the body hidden from sight.

The trial continues today before justice Michael Lunn.

albert.wong@singtaonewscorp.com