deadmonton - the trial of michael white - november 21st, 2006
Liana White, 29, was stabbed to death July 12th, 2005.
Michael White, then 28, was charged with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body.
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The trial resumed after a four-day break with more testimony coming from a forsensics expert concerning blood-presence tests conducted inside the White residence.
Court heard from Const. Fons Chafe that visible bloodstains were found on the wall, baseboards, the nightstand as well as on bedding in the couple's master bedroom.
Chafe said he observed the bedroom bloodstains on July 16th, 2005.
Luminol tests proved positive for blood in the hallways of the house, the entrance, on the garage floor and in the back of Liana White's SUV.
A sample of blood tested at a lab came back with a positive match for Liana White.
He said size and shape of some stains found in master bedroom were consistent with a bleeding nose.
Others were consistent with what the officer has seen during incidents of a beating, kicking or punching.
Chafe said some of the blood stains were the projected type, and had landed on the bed's quilt, a pillow and catching the protruding edge of a nightstand.
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"One way of creating that type of blood stain distribution is by application of force [to a blood source]," he testified adding the pattern was "consistent with stab wounds" matching what was later found on Liana's body.
Stabbing tends to produce fewer blood stains than bludgeoning would, the expert said.
Chafe told the jury the blood stains along the baseboards indicated a blood source likely being prone on the floor when force was applied.
Stains on the wall, baseboards and other surfaces were from small droplets, a sign of force. On vertical surfaces some spots were circular, indicating the blood had flown almost horizontally.
In most cases the stains were less than a millimetre in size.
Chafe testified the blood stains were consistent with a medium amount of force, such as the kind used in a beating, a kicking or a stabbing, as opposed to a shooting.
He also testified there was evidence of an attempted clean up in the home.
Chafe said blood marks found were consistent with "having been wiped," preventing him from determining how much blood there was originally.
He said there were strong signs of wiping in the rear of the Explorer.
Other stains on the floor were consistent with something being dragged through them.
Chafe then faced the most detailed cross-examination the case had seen so far.
He acknowledged to defence lawyer Laura Stevens that luminol can produce false positives, and that it was the only test he used to check for blood on the flooring or in the SUV.
Chafe said the Luminol findings matched the overall evidence when a different test, used for the visible stains, pointed to there having been an attack beside the bed.
When Chafe was asked that if all Liana's blood had been spilled in the bedroom there should have been "an excessive amount" there, he stated there have been cases where little blood escapes from wounds.
Chafe was then taken to task over the 60-centimetre-long blade of grass found in the pocket of a pair of pants that were inside a garbage bag placed outside the White's house.
He had earlier testified that it was similar to the length of grass found at the body recovery site.
Chafe acknowledged he was not an expert on grass types and did not check for long grass near the house.
The police officer was also asked why soil and insect sample were not taken from the body recovery site that may have indicated how long the body was lying in the ditch.
Chafe said he saw no bloodstains on plants at the site and saw no need to collect such samples.
The trial continued November 22nd, 2006