You may be right. I can only go on how I'm reading it. The relevant quote is "the sclerae are white" (whites of the eyes). I would find it remarkable that if there were petechial hemorrhaging of the whites of the eyes, given it's investigative significance, that he would not have mentioned that. So, I think it very unlikely there was any. Maybe, for some reason, he just neglected to mention it.
I'm interested in where you gathered that there was petechial hemorrhaging in the whites of the eyes b/c I could find no reference to that at all. I could have missed something, but I didn't see it.
Children seem more prone to the eyelid petechiae in strangulation or asphyxia, rather than the sclera.
Here are just two study examples - there are many more available:
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American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology. 21(1):1-4, March 2000.
DiMaio, Vincent J. M. M.D.
Abstract:
Homicides due to asphyxia are relatively uncommon. To better understand the presentation of such cases, the files of the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office were reviewed from January 1, 1985, through December 31, 1998, for all such homicides. A total of 133 cases were found. The largest category was ligature strangulation with 48 deaths (21 male, 27 female). Petechiae were present in the conjunctivae and/or sclerae in 86% of the cases; fractures of the hyoid and/or thyroid cartilage were present in 12.5%. There were a total of 41 deaths from manual strangulation (27 female, 14 male). Petechiae were present in 89% of the cases. In cases of manual strangulation, fractures of the hyoid, thyroid, or cricoid cartilage were found in all the male victims and slightly more than one half of the female victims. Twenty-six cases of suffocation were found; 20 of the victims were <=2 years of age. Only 1 of these children had petechiae and/or scleral hemorrhage. Five deaths were due to choking. Three of the deaths involved adults who were gagged; 2 deaths involved infants with foreign material pushed into the mouth. Other categories of asphyxia were as follows: 9 deaths due to more than one form of asphyxia; 1 death due to hanging, and 3 deaths due to drowning. Rape was the motive in 66% of the female victims of ligature strangulation and 52% of those due to manual strangulation.
Dade County Medical Examiner Department, Miami, FL 33136.
Conjunctival petechiae were mentioned in 227 (4.5%) of 5,000 consecutive autopsy reports of the Dade County Medical Examiner Department. They were most frequently observed in those who had died natural deaths (particularly due to cardiovascular disease), followed by those who had died from asphyxia, head injury, and central nervous system disorders. The incidence of conjunctival petechiae in victims of homicidal asphyxiation was 78%. These data suggest that conjunctival petechiae most often are the result of hypoxia coupled with an acute increase in cephalic vascular pressure. The latter factor may be the consequence of mechanical vascular obstruction or acute right heart failure.