By Justin Schneider
May 16, 2008 08:05 pm
—
ANDERSON — Through a series of expert witnesses and pieces of evidence, the prosecution in the murder trial of Jesse Lee Pitts attempted Friday to connect the accused killer to the victim.
During the third day of Pitts’ trial, Madison County Prosecutor Tom Broderick called witnesses from the Anderson Police Department, the Indiana State Police and a DNA testing laboratory. Their collective testimony places DNA evidence from the alleged killer and the deceased on what is believed to be the murder weapon.
Pitts, 21, stands accused of murdering 14-year-old Anderson High School freshman Amanda Brinker in September 2007.
Anderson Police Department Detective Bill Richardson was the first to take the stand. He served search warrants for and collected evidence from Pitts’ home, a pickup truck found at the residence, and a red Chevrolet Cavalier registered to Pitts’ girlfriend, Barbara Howard, that he was known to drive.
“While executing a search warrant at the residence on Southwood Drive, there were a few areas I focused in on,” Richardson said of Pitts’ home. “There was a trash bag on the floor and some other areas, on the dresser, which appeared to have some red stains with hair attached.”
The stains on the dresser tested negative for blood, but the trash bag contained a green sweatshirt stained with blood. While searching the Cavalier, Richardson also discovered blood and hair stuck to the jack handle that police believe to be the murder weapon.
On the heels of Richardson’s testimony, the prosecution called to the stand Tyler Sager, a forensic expert with the Indiana State Police lab in Indianapolis. Sager confirmed the presence of blood on the sweatshirt and the “tool end” of the jack handle.
Sager explained his collection techniques, which included cutting swatches of clothing upon which he observed stains and using cotton swabs for stains found on other materials. He said his examination process included a “presumptive” test for blood that can be seen and a “confirmation” test to determine whether the substance is, in fact, blood.
“Presumptive testing indicates the possible presence of blood,” Sager said. “Further testing is need to confirm the presence of blood.”
Some samples were then sent to Orchid Cellmark, a DNA testing facility in Nashville, Tenn., along with genetic material taken from both Pitts and Brinker. DNA analyst Julie Ellis of Orchid Cellmark, who compared lab results against the “standards” of Pitts and Brinker, testified next.
From the evidence submitted, Ellis testified that a pair of pants and shoes both contained matter consistent with Brinker’s standard. The jack handle, meanwhile, contained material consistent with Brinker, Pitts and a possible third contributor.
“A third contributor means there is a minor possibility of a person there and that there is not enough there to compare with,” Ellis said.
A cigarette butt found at the scene contained DNA material from at least two people, including one male.
Pitts faces 45 to 65 years in prison if convicted. The trial will continue Monday in Madison Superior Court 3.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.