Jurors view Wichita crime scenes / DNA ties Carrs to victims [Wichita Massacre day 13]

http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/4354939.htm

DNA ties Carrs to victims
A KBI expert says genetic evidence is found on clothing and in the triplex. Later, jurors tour the crime scenes.
Ron Sylvester - The Wichita Eagle - Thu, Oct. 24
A DNA expert for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation provided powerful testimony Wednesday in the capital murder trial of Jonathan and Reginald Carr.
Sindey Schueler, the expert, said Jonathan Carr's DNA profile turned up in a spot on the carpet at 12727 E. Birchwood Drive. That's the triplex where a surviving witness said she and her four friends were raped and terrorized by two men before being driven to a snowy field and shot in the head.
Four died that morning, including Heather Muller, whose blood dotted the clothes of Reginald Carr. The clothes were collected by police in an apartment on East 21st Street, where Carr was arrested.
Schueler said the odds of those signature molecules belonging to anyone else besides Muller are one in 6 quadrillion. By comparison, only 110 billion humans have ever walked the earth, according to estimates.
DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid. It's the so-called genetic fingerprint that determines everyone's individual characteristics.
The prosecution's conclusions won't go unchallenged, however, especially by Reginald Carr's lawyers. They are expected to open their defense today.
They don't deny that Muller's blood was found on Reginald Carr's sweater, two undershirts, and a pair of cutoff sweat pants he wore as underwear peaking over the top of baggy jeans.
His girlfriend, Stephanie Donley, testified that she saw him in those clothes only two hours after the killings. Police found them in the apartment where they arrested Carr, amid a pile of property stolen from the Birchwood residence.
But Reginald Carr could have picked up the small blood drops, the lawyers say, by simply rubbing against someone else, like his younger brother.
There's no shortage of Jonathan Carr's DNA. Schueler testified that semen found on the carpet of the triplex belonged to him. She also testified it was his DNA that police collected from swabs taken from the survivor of the attack. The woman is not being named because The Eagle does not identify sexual assault victims.
Earlier in the day, before the DNA evidence began, jurors were taken on a tour of the crime scenes they have heard about the past three weeks.
Escorted by law enforcement vehicles, the city trolley carrying the jurors drove slowly past the east Wichita house where 55-year-old Ann Walenta was shot the night of Dec 11, 2000, while sitting in her car. She later died of her injuries.
The jurors were shown the triplex on Birchwood Drive and the soccer field where the shootings occurred.
They also viewed the four ATMs from which the five friends were forced to withdraw money, the house to which the survivor ran for help, and the apartment complex where Reginald Carr was arrested. The trolley did not stop at any of the sites.
While the jury toured, lawyers remained in the courtroom with Sedgwick County District Judge Paul Clark to work out details of closing arguments, jury instructions and jury deliberations.
Clark ruled that the Carrs could be convicted of a crime other than capital murder, including the lesser crimes of first- or second-degree murder, but not voluntary manslaughter, as the defense requested.
Prosecutors and each of the two defense teams will each have two hours to make closing arguments.
Because the large amount of physical evidence will not fit in the jury room, deliberations will take place in the courtroom, with its windows covered, Clark ruled.
Contributing: Associated Press

For detais about the murders see: The Wichita Massacre
Wichita Massacre Trial Threads:
Wichita to revisit brutal slayings as testimony begins - 10/07/2002
Deputy recalls moment of discovering bodies [Wichita Murders] Day 1 - 10/07/2002
WICHITA MASSACRE TRIAL UNDERWAY Day 1 - 10/08/2002
Legal wrangling opens Carr trial [Wichita Murders] Day 1 - 10/08/2002
Carr trial: Survivor describes sexual attacks by armed intruders [Wichita Massacre] Day 2 - 10/09/2002
Witchita Case of Black Racist Crime Survivor's testimony horrifies courtroom Day 2 - 10/10/2002
Woman testifies that Carrs killed her friends in a soccer field [Wichita Massacre Day 3] - 10/10/2002
Prosecutors Downplay Racial Element in Kansas Murder Trial - 10/11/2002
Reginald Carr had $996, victims' credit card, watch [Wichita Massacre Day 4] - 10/11/2002
Wichita Massacre Audio of 911 Call by Female Survivor with Court Room Video Footage From Day 1- 10/11/2002
Victims' belongings linked to defendant [Wichita Massacre Day 5] - 10/12/2002
Trial opens window into night of fear - 10/13/2002
Media Ignore Kansas Interracial Mass Murder - 10/14/2002
AP Finally Reports Wichita Trial... But Mentions "White Supremacist" Support - 10/14/2002
Nosey mom tips off cops (Wichita Massacre) Day 6 - 10/15/2002
'I was afraid,' witness says [Wichita Massacre Day 6] - 10/15/2002
ATM photos shown in Carr trial [Wichita Massacre Day 7] - 10/16/2002
Testimony on cellist slaying fills Carr trial [Wichita Massacre Day 8] - 10/17/2002
Survivor says she caught STD [Wichita Massacre Day 9] - 10/18/2002
Carr trial to focus on guns and DNA [Wichita Massacre Day 10] - 10/19/2002
Luck, vivid memories helped cops [Wichita Massacre] - 10/20/2002
Wichita Massacre -- The Latest in the Black Racist Hate Crime Trial- Carrs linked to crime scene - Day 11 - 10/22/2002
Hate crime reversed By Armstrong Williams - 10/23/2002
Evidence in Carr trial gruesome, unavoidable [Wichita Massacre Day 12] - 10/23/2002

"Wichita Massacre" murder trial "Ping List"
Please let me know if you want on (or off) this list.

Thanks for the ping, and for keeping this in the news.

Thanks again for keeping us all up to date on the progress of this trial.

I am impressed with the job the prosecution team is doing. They have an overwhelming case against these guys, and they are banging those nails in, one after the other. I don't think the defense is going to get too far with its "might be" defense.

Kudos too for the trial judge for refusing to let the jury consider a voluntary manslaughter verdict. I don't know how the defense lawyers could even ask for that with a straight face, given the evidence presented.

I have a good feeling that this case is going to come out the right way.

It's not sounding very good for these two vermin. The old SODDI defense seems to be falling apart pretty quickly.

Hopefully one of the Carr's question to the police regarding "do you feel anything when they give you the leathal injection" will be answered. My former residence was within 1/4 mile of the Birchwood triplex where the five were abducted. My morning jog used to take me right by that address.

I hope the two Carr brothers expire shortly.

DNA links Carr brothers strongly to scene and to one of the victims

Heather Muller proved the quadruple homicide victim most strongly linked to brothers Reginald and Jonathan Carr through DNA evidence presented this morning at the capital murder trial of the Jonathan and Reginald Carr.

Sindey Schueler, a DNA expert with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, presented findings this morning of blood belonging to Muller on the boxer shorts police took from Jonathan Carr shortly after his arrest.

On Wednesday, Schueler began her testimony with lab test results showing Muller's blood on the underwear worn by Reginald Carr.

Muller's DNA was the strongest connection to both Carr brothers found in dozens of pieces of evidence collected by police from a triplex at 12727 Birchwood. A surviving witness said she and her four friends were attacked and robbed during a home invasion at the triplex, before being taken to a nearby soccer field and shot.

Through statistical comparisons, Schueler said she was able to determine that on both pairs of the men's shorts, the odds of the blood belonging to someone besides Muller was 1 in 6 quadrillion.

A quadrillion is more than all the known stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

---Through statistical comparisons, Schueler said she was able to determine that on both pairs of the men's shorts, the odds of the blood belonging to someone besides Muller was 1 in 6 quadrillion.---

I'd say unless someone tries to play some OJ jury style BS this is a done deal.

Hopefully so.

I've also read that the jury is spending more and more time eyeing the defendants and less time watching the witness box. Maybe the evidence has already convinced them and they don't need any more testimony to decide.

I expect the defense will keep trying the Some Other Dude Did It strategy, but 1 in 6 quadrillion is a pretty steep barrier to overcome.

Say, I was wondering if you and/or anyone else in Wichita knows whether not calling this a hate crime has hurt the distrcit attorney politically?

Just curious, thanx.

Say, I was wondering if you and/or anyone else in Wichita knows whether not calling this a hate crime has hurt the distrcit attorney politically?

I live up KC way but I haven't seen anything that suggests there will be any backlash against District Attorney Nola Foulston as long as the scum brothers get the death penalty.

Anything less would probably do some damage to her political future.