Autopsy report from the Office of the Chief Medical Consultant Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Simeon Owizz Koroma (OCME) has pointed out that Elijah Bryan Pratt, 40, who died on Monday 9th February 2026 at Hastings, was brutally killed. The autopsy, which the Pathologist performed on the remains of the deceased at the Connaught Teaching Hospital Mortuary on Tuesday 17th February, indicated that the Cause of Death is "Multiple blunt force fractures/injuries of head, face, neck and chest due to (or as a consequence of) severe, brutal, horrific, frenzied and fatal physical assault including manual strangulation with fingernail excoriation."

The postmortem result further delved into the severity of the damages done to the deceased body parts as follows:
"Extensive Skull Fractures (fronto-temporo-parieto-occipatal aspects); Dislocation Fractures of the Cervical Vertebrae with Corresponding Spinal Cord Injuries at Levels C2-C6-Neurogenic Shock-Fractured Horns/Wings of the Hydid Bobe, Laryngeal, Cricoid and Thyroid Cartilages-Fractured Manubrium Sterni."

Follow the fatal incident on Monday night at Hastings on the outskirts of Freetown, the deceased legally wedded wife, Mrs. Eleanor Pratt called some members of her husband's social club - Marvel Family - and other associates on the phone and told them her husband had fallen from the staircase of their premises, and he was rushed to the Chinese Friendship Hospital at Jui where the medical personnel pronounced his death.

The death of Father Eli was initially reported to the Hastings Police Station. But owing to pressure from his concerned colleagues because of unnecessary delays, the matter was transferred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters in Freetown at their request.

At CID, Mrs. Eleanor Pratt, who had hastily relocated to her mother's premises following that fatal night, has since been detained to help with the investigations.

As at press time, there was no development about whether Father Eli's suspected assailants have been arrested or his wife has confessed her action in the brutal killing of her husband.

It could be recalled that in the early 2024, Superintendent Ade Caulker of Regional Crime in the East District was brutally killed at Hastings. His fiancee, child, and other suspects were apprehended.