The story I posted was written by Richard Neville, an Australian author and journalist, and was published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney's major newspaper.

Its interesting that emerging contradictions cannot be reported without cries of "conspiracy" or unreliability. To me its just an unfolding process of examining further information, its not clear at this stage what the actual events or motives were. There is further information at:

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/bloodstainanalysis.asp

25 May 2004 - Bloodstain Analysis from Nick Berg Beheading Video – Forensic Irregularities Cast Doubt on Events
Excerpted from issue 9 of the HQ INTEL-ALERT:

Introduction: My reaction to the horrific nature of the now infamous Nick Berg video overshadowed any consideration of performing any type of forensic bloodstain pattern analysis of the decapitation of this victim. Frankly, it appeared to be a rather open and shut case – a cold-blooded murder, an al Qaeda made-to-order "snuff film" where the victim was a 26 year-old American contractor working in Iraq. He was reportedly killed on Saturday, 8 May 2004 in a particularly gruesome manner – his throat was cut and he was decapitated. His body was reportedly found near a highway overpass in Baghdad, where his head was fully separated from his body. As the week progressed, analysts at the Northeast Intelligence Network found the absolutely revolting video posted on an al Qaeda linked website. The video was downloaded on 11 May 2004 for analysis.

As Laura Mansfield began her analysis of the footage, specifically the audio statement being read by the primary assailant identified as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, I began to hear rumblings about oddities surrounding the footage. One of several "oddities" involved the blood evidence shown on the video. As I am certified in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis by the Laboratory of Forensic Science (Corning, New York, 10 May 2002) and a member of the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts-IABPA, I decided to take a closer look at the video. The following is my report that details my analysis of the bloodstain patterns only.

excerpts follow: This investigator isolated the decapitation scene from the time initial physical contact was made by the individual holding the knife (but not close to the victim) through the final frame of the video. In total, approximately 460 individual frames were viewed, although only 330 frames were analyzed due their relevance to this analysis.

lengthy forensic analysis deleted but available at link cited.

Based on the investigative analysis conducted, it is the professional assessment of this investigator that the blood pattern shown in the video is NOT consistent with the cutting or breaching of the carotid artery or arteries of a person where the victim's blood pressure would be considered to be within the normal range. Based on this observation alone, this investigator questions the authenticity of the video as it was been presented for bloodstain pattern analysis.

Arterial Spurting / Arterial Gushing: Characteristic bloodstain pattern on a target surface resulting from blood exiting under pressure from a breached artery. (these pattern are characterized by their size and shape).

Sources:

Bloodstain Patterns-Revised Edition MacDonell, Herbert Leon Laboratory of Forensic Science © 1997
Blood Dynamics A.Y. Wonder Academic Press Copyright © 2001
Crime Scene Handbook Lee, Henry Academic Press Copyright © 1998
Analyst's Remarks: The above analysis does not lessen or otherwise mitigate the events surrounding the murder of Nick Berg. It raises a number of questions, however, especially when combined with other reported anomalies associated with this matter.

Notice: This report is the proprietary work of the Northeast Intelligence Network and the HQ INTEL-ALERT newsletter. This analysis may be reproduced in its entirety with credit to HQ INTEL-ALERT. Copyright © 2004 Northeast Intelligence Network.