Summary of tweets for Thursday, April 27th - Day 12
State witness:
Katherine Dace, a forensic biologist for Idaho State Police.
Nate Eaton
@NateNewsNow
·
11h
NEW THREAD: Judge Boyce says we need to be done today by 3:20 p.m. and tomorrow will be a shortened day. Court will be held from 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. tomorrow with no lunch break.
Next witness is Katherine Dace - a forensic biologist for Idaho State Police. She has worked there since 2016. Rob Wood is questioning Dace.
Dace describes her education history and job responsibilities. Dace received JJ Vallow's autopsy samples including hand swabs, nail swabs, etc. She received teeth and plastics from the burial site. She received swabs from Lori's apartment and a chain and pendant.
She also received 18 hand tools at the Daybell property.
Dace received duct tape from the hand, ankles and mouth. She received duct tape from the plastic bag that was wrapped around the head. "Most of the tape and plastic had apparent blood and decomposition fluid present. I tested all the items for blood, which was positive."
On the tape, she looked for irregular edges that someone may have torn the tape with their teeth and left behind saliva. Dace also collected hair and fibers from the tape.
There was blood "all over everything," Dace says. Wood asks about the chain and pendant. There was no blood on those items.
Dace tested a knife for blood that was found in Lori's apartment. It tested negative. A swab on the wall tested a very faint positive for blood.
Dace did blood testing on the tools found at Chad's house. "I found several presumptive positive blood stains on the tools and on several of the tools I found what could be charred flesh," she says. Dace photographed the tools and took samples of the flesh to do DNA testing.
Wood asks to admit several photos Dace took of the tools and material she collected during her exam.
John Thomas flips through the pages of the exhibits and Lori looks at them as he does so.
We see an image of a shovel on the screen. Dace took the photo during her exam. She outlined areas she sampled on the shovel.
The next image is a close-up of the shovel. The following exhibit shows what Dace collected off of the shovel including the portion she took for DNA analysis. She was not able to generate a DNA profile from the sample.
The next photo is another shovel. There was material on the shovel that caught her attention. "Some of the shovels had what appeared to look like ash or dirt." This shovel had something Dace thought could have been flesh.
The next photo is a close-up of what Dace collected from the shovel. The next photo shows the piece of material she ran for DNA. Dace was not able to obtain a DNA profile from the sample.
We now see a photo of another shovel. "I looked for blood and collected debris and other material from the blade of the shovel," she says.
We now see an image of the backside of the shovel. There was a "soft texture" on the shovel so Dace collected it for DNA. She thought it could be biological remains.
We now see a close-up of a photo taken from under a microscope showing material that was tested for DNA. A DNA profile WAS obtained for this sample.
Dace received a DNA sample from Lori Vallow, JJ Vallow, Tylee Ryan, Melanie Gibb and Dennis Trahan. Dace compared the DNA profile she obtained on the shovel to others. It matched Tylee Ryan's DNA.
Dace says the probability the DNA is Tylee's is 604 octillion -- that's 604,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. (27 zeros)
We now see an image of a pick ax. There is some material on the eye of the pick ax blade. There was some material that was apparently dirt but the material on the center of the pick ax was dark "with an oily texture. It had a dark, greasy ring around it."
We are shown a close-up image of material Dace was able to collect. She was able to obtain a partial DNA profile from a female. She compared it to Lori Vallow, Tylee Ryan and perhaps Melanie Gibb (she doesn't remember if Melanie Gibb was compared).
Dace says there an extremely high probability the DNA is Tylee's (she gave a number but I didn't catch it).
We now see the handle of a pick ax. Wood asks if Dace was able to do a DNA profile from the evidence she collected. Dace was and it matched Tylee Ryan's DNA.
Dace describes the testing she did on duct tape. We now see images of hairs collected from tape from the plastic and the duct tape the body was wrapped in - not the tape wrapped around his arms.
Dace was not able to test the hair but it was sent to a lab. Wood has no further questions for Dace. Thomas will cross-examine the witness.
Thomas asks about Dace's background working in a lab in Texas. He asks about the hair Dace found. She says it was found from a piece of tape.
Dace says the tape arrived inside an autopsy bag. Most of the tape was still stuck to the bed that indicated it had been received that way, she explains.
Thomas asks if it's possible the hair could have been floating around the body bag and got stuck to the tape. Dace says it's posssible.
Thomas asks how many DNA samples have ever been collected. She responds there is a population database from individuals who volunteered their DNA and it contains around 1,700 samples. There are other databases that could contain other DNA, Dace says.
Dace completed her report in April 2021. She says they only report their results back to the submitting agency and then it's up to them if they want to do follow-up testing.
The tools did remain in the state lab pending permission to consume the blood stain on the handle of the pick ax. Thomas has no further questions.
Wood has one brief follow-up question. Dace is released from the witness stand and is free to go.
link:
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