SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Const. Christopher Worden had only minutes to live after a bullet tore through his neck, severing a major artery and vein and injuring his spinal cord, according to the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on the RCMP officer's body.

On the last day of the Crown's case against Emrah Bulatci, who is the accused in a first degree murder trial for the Oct. 6, 2007 shooting death of Worden, the court heard from two forensic experts who examined Worden's body and clothing.

Dr. Bernard Bannach told Supreme Court on Monday that the neck wound would have paralyzed Worden and caused him to collapse. The bullet entered Worden's neck and severed 90 per cent of the carotid artery, which carries 40 per cent of blood flow to the brain.

"There would be brisk bleeding," Bannach said. "He would have lived a minute or two."

Bannach detailed the damage caused by the three other bullets that ripped through Worden's body. One entered his chest, exiting near his armpit before lodging in his arm and fragmenting when it hit bone. Two others hit him in the pelvic region and thigh, both entered from the front of his body. Bannach testified that the bullets in Worden's upper body entered from the right side.

A deceased Worden was found lying on his right side. Because of this, Bannach said Worden couldn't have been on the ground when he was hit in the neck because the bullet entered his right side.

Bannach, who is also Alberta's assistant chief medical examiner, said it would have been the neck wound that proved fatal.

The defence argued Worden was shot in the abdomen and leg first, before he was wounded in the chest and neck.

"The lower gunshots perhaps occurred before the upper gunshots," said Bannach under cross examination.

While he could describe the angle at which the bullets entered the body, Bannach said he couldn't determine the positioning of the gun.

Defence lawyer Laura Stevens asked, "it would be in front of his body?"

Bannach agreed but said he couldn't say how high or low the gun would have been.

"There's nothing to determine the exact position of (Worden's) body at the time of the shot," he said.

Stevens asked if Worden would have been able to survive the two gunshot wounds to his lower body if he'd received proper medical attention.

"It's possible," said Bannach.

Stevens presented a scenario where the shooter and Worden were both on the ground, after the first two shots were fired into Worden's lower body.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Dean Hamm, the blood stain specialist who examined Worden's clothing, testified the blood stain patterns found in his pants "were consistent with him being upright when he was shot in that area."

"It's my opinion the shots to the groin and right thigh would have been the first series of shots," said Hamm.

Hamm was the Crown's last witness. The Supreme Court jury trial will resume Thursday, when the defence begins its case. Stevens has indicated the defence will finish by Friday, with "no lengthy witnesses other than the accused."