Woman who died on train to Denver was suffocated, expert testifies

The 28-year-old woman who died in her seat on an overnight train to Denver nine years ago suffered injuries that indicate she was suffocated, including a tooth imprint on the inside of her lip, a national expert testified Monday during the murder trial for the woman’s boyfriend .

The tooth imprint on Marina Placensia’s lower lip suggests that her lip was pressed into the tooth with a significant amount of force as she was suffocated, testified Bill Smock, a physician with the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky and expert in strangulation who also testified in the George Floyd case.

“Ms. Placensia was suffocated to death,” Smock testified. “She died because she couldn’t breathe. Period. This is homicide. Death at the hands of someone else. Literally the hands of someone else