The Press
May 17 2008

Injuries linked to HIV
by Dean Calcott

Symptoms similar to those of alleged murder victim Charlene Makaza have been reported in HIV children by a South African professor, a jury has been told.

Detective Paul Johannsen told the High Court in Christchurch yesterday that he had been asked to contact paediatric surgeon Spencer Beasley after giving evidence in the case of George Evans Gwaze.

Gwaze is accused of the murder and sexual violation of Charlene, his niece and adopted daughter.

Johannsen said Beasley, who was attending a conference in Hong Kong, told him he had spoken at the conference to South African professor Heinz Rode, who had experience with HIV-positive children.

Rode had said children in Charlene's age group with HIV could suffer a condition where the brain deteriorated quickly, and also suffered from anal tears and diarrhoea associated with the overall condition. He had said the symptoms described by Beasley were consistent with a group of HIV patients he dealt with in South Africa.

Rode had said he would need further information to give a definitive answer on Charlene, Johannsen said.

Forensic pathologist Dr Martin Sage, who performed the post-mortem, told the court he concluded Charlene died of multiple organ failure as a consequence of global hypoxic injury.

Her HIV condition did not provide an explanation for sudden collapse, he said.

Charlene's brain showed a pattern of global deprivation in oxygen or blood supply.

Evidence of pneumonia was found in one lung, but not enough to explain death. The possibility of deliberate asphyxia had to be considered as a cause of hypoxia, Sage said.