HARRISBURG — A Harrisburg man "suffered a violent death," when he was beaten innumerable times with a hammer at a "drug house" in February 2013 in the city, a forensic pathologist told a Dauphin County jury Tuesday.

"The whole left side of his head was caved in," Dr. Wayne Ross testified as the second day of Jonathan Cornish's murder trial began. Cornish, 56, is accused of killing his roommate, 50-year-old Jose Vazquez.

Jonathan Cornish

Members of the Vazquez family wept and comforted one another, as Ross described the horrible wounds in great detail.

Although he could identify at least five distinct hammer blows to Vazquez's head, there may have been many more strikes, Ross said. He said Vazquez's scalp was a mass of bruises, and pieces of bone from Vazquez's shattered skull had been driven into his brain.

Hammer wounds also were found on Vazquez's left arm and leg, probably the result of Vazquez's vain attempt to defend himself, Ross said.

Ultimately, he said, Vazquez died from traumatic brain injury.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Johnny Baer is seeking a first-degree murder conviction and life prison sentence for Cornish. Also, the prosecutor claims Cornish is guilty of attempted murder for a failed hammer attack on Vazquez's brother, William.

The defense claims Cornish didn't commit the murder, that some other unknown person attacked Vazquez, and that Cornish merely found the mortally wounded Vazquez in his second-floor bedroom of the house they shared in the 1500 block of Vernon Street.

Ross said it was evident that Vazquez was beaten while he was in bed. He said he drew that conclusion from Vazquez's blood-soaked bedsheets and the considerable blood spatter all over the bedroom walls.

A 2.6-pound hammer recovered from the murder scene was the weapon used in the killing, Baer contends.

Questioned by Senior Assistant Public Defender Michael Duda, Ross said he found needle marks, indicative of drug use, on Vazquez's arms during an autopsy. Duda and Baer stipulated that alcohol, and traces of cocaine and heroin were in Vazquez's blood.