Having deemed the 23-year-old’s death suspicious, police also ordered a second, more detailed forensic autopsy: a procedure that frequently involves the removal of organs.
Gunawan concluded Byron had likely drowned due to the combined effects of alcohol and antidepressants but could not conclusively determine a cause of death.
His heart was removed and retained by the hospital, something Gunawan said was common practice.
The Haddow’s were horrified to discover their son had been returned home without his heart – and “without our knowledge, without our consent, without any legal or moral justification”.
Byron’s heart had to be separately repatriated at a cost to the family of $700.
It did not arrive in Australia until after he had already been buried.
While Gunawan empathised with the Haddow family, she said organ retention is common practice.
“We understand that the deceased is not just biological evidence. They are a family member, a loved one,” she said.
“But if there are two requests for autopsies, obviously we have to give more priority to the legal matter. Pathologists all over the world do the same thing.”
With the cause of his death still unclear, the family suspect Byron may have met with foul play.
It’s a possibility Gunawan also could not dismiss “based on the pattern of injuries found on his body”.
A second autopsy is under way in Brisbane to formally determine Byron’s cause of death, and an investigation has been opened by the Coroners Court of Queensland.
