A university graduate allegedly murdered by her boyfriend, his ex-lover and her uncle was already dead when her car was set alight, a court has heard.
The body of Catherine Wells-Burr, 23, was discovered inside her burnt out Ford Focus by firefighters at a Somerset beauty spot.
Prosecutors allege that her boyfriend Rafal Nowak, 31, hatched a plot with his jealous former partner Anna Lagwinowicz, 32, and her uncle Tadevsz Dmytryszyn, 38, to kill her for her six-figure life insurance policy.
Nowak, a factory worker, is accused of smothering the business analyst as she slept at the couple's new home in Chard, South Somerset, on September 12 last year.
His former partner, Lagwinowicz – with whom Nowak is said to have rekindled a romance – joined her uncle in dumping Miss Wells-Burr's body in her car at a nearby roadside and setting fire to it, prosecutors allege.
Home Office pathologist Dr Hugh White told the jury at Bristol Crown Court Miss Wells-Burr's body was so badly burned by the fire that she was identified from dental records.
Dr White carried out several different tests on Miss Wells-Burr's body.
"It is my opinion that she was almost certainly dead when the fire started," he told the jury.
Dr White said Miss Wells-Burr had sustained a fracture to the back of her head, close to her right ear.
"There had been some sort of blunt force trauma to the back of the head but I cannot be more specific than that," he told jurors.
"This particular fracture had been exposed to the heat [of the fire] suggesting it had occurred before the fire started."
Dr White was not able to say whether the head injury had been inflicted on Miss Wells-Burr before or after she died.
Prosecutor Richard Smith QC asked Dr White whether it was possible Miss Wells-Burr had died as a result of asphyxiation or strangulation.
"There is nothing to indicate that this could not have occurred," he replied.
Dr Nicholas Marquez-Grant, a forensic anthropologist, told the court he also was "confident that the injury or damage to the back of the skull was caused prior to the fire."
Dr Marquez-Grant added that he was unable to say what had caused the head injury.
Polish nationals Nowak, of Willow Way, Chard; Lagwinowicz, of South Street, Taunton; and Dmytryszyn, of Holway Avenue, Taunton, all deny murder.
The case continues.