CSI style investigation reveals King Richard III was killed by 'two blows to the head'

A new scientific research says that King Richard III was probably killed by blows to the head and pelvis during a ‘sustained attack’.

17:30 17 September 2014

Forensic teams at the University of Leicaster recently conducted a CSI style investigation into the death of King Richard who was killed at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August, 1485. Based on the scientific research, the English king, they assert, probably died as a result of two blows to the head during a “sustained attack.”

His remains were found in 2012 under a car park. CT scans were used on his 500-year-old skeleton to identify the weapons used and to determine his injuries.

Sarah Hainsworth, study author and professor of materials engineering, said: "Richard's injuries represent a sustained attack or an attack by several assailants with weapons from the later medieval period.

"Wounds to the skull suggest he was not wearing a helmet, and the absence of defensive wounds on his arms and hands indicate he was still armoured at the time of his death."

Meanwhile, Guy Rutty from the East Midlands pathology unit, said that the weapon used could have been a staff or the tip of an edged weapon.

He said: "Richard's head injuries are consistent with some near-contemporary accounts of the battle, which suggest Richard abandoned his horse after it became stuck in a mire and was killed while fighting his enemies."

Richard was born in 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. His reign was just 26 months before he became the last English king to die in battle, having met his end at Bosworth in 1485.