Autopsy lists Zimbabwe opposition leader’s crash wounds

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – An autopsy shows a key Zimbabwe opposition leader suffered skull and rib fractures in a fiery helicopter crash that killed him, his wife and three others in New Mexico earlier this year.

State medical investigators released autopsies for Roy Bennett and his wife, Heather, on Friday, nearly six months after they died in the wreck outside Raton as they were travelling to a friend’s property in the area.

The autopsy for Heather Bennett showed she suffered head and chest injuries, as well as burns that covered most of her body.

Autopsies for the other crash victims killed were released last month.

The Bennetts’ deaths were met with an outpouring of grief in Zimbabwe after the crash. A white man who spoke fluent Shona, Bennett had won a devoted following among Zimbabweans for passionately advocating political change.