Laura Bryant, a chemist in the DNA unit of the state police crime lab, tested about 30 items and obtained DNA samples from 11 people involved in the case, including Neil, Rachel, Lillian, and members of the Matterazzo family. Here are some of the items and their results:
- Handle of the .22 Colt revolver (serial number R52151) - a mixture; Neil matched the major profile
- Barrel of the revolver - a mixture with Rachel as the major profile
- Gun case that the revolver was kept in - mixture of Neil, Joe Matterazzo, and possibly Joe's son Zachary
- Trigger lock of revolver - mixture; Neil is the major profile
- Green metal ammo can handle and lock - mixture; Neil is the major profile
- Cylinder of revolver - mixture; Neil is a possible contributor
- Red-brown stains on the bedroom wall - matched Rachel
- Federal Ammunition .22 caliber ammo box - mixture; Zachary is a potential contributor, inconclusive for Neil
- Black gun case handle - mixture with Neil, Rachel, Joe, Priscilla, Joe's son Anthony, and Rachel's uncle Lloyde Cooke as potential contributors
- Trigger lock in black gun case - mixture with Anthony as a potential contributor, everyone else, including Neil, is excluded
- Rachel's underwear and vaginal swabs - Neil was the major male profile, not too surprisingly
- Trigger of revolver - mixture; Joe matched the major profile; Neil excluded
For each of the DNA matches she described, Bryant gave the odds that a random person would have a similar match. In every case she described as a match, the odds were always greater than 1 in a trillion, and occasionally reached the quadrillions. Athough Neil's DNA was on a lot of the items associated with the gun, other people's was too, as many people, including Neil, had used Joe's guns to go target shooting. Weinstein tried to create reasonable doubt by pointing out that DNA that is found on an object does not indicate when someone handled the object, who handled it last, who handled it longest, or who gripped it the hardest.
Next, a mother and daughter who own a flower shop together testified that Neil called from England to order three flower arrangements for Rachel and Lillian's funeral. For one arrangement, Neil requested an orange rose and a white lily, and a card that read, "My Orange Rose and My Lilly For Always." He did not attend the funeral.
Two of Neil's friends from England, Benjamin Prior and Dashiel Munding, testified next. They met Neil in 1998 through the Universitiy of York's rowing club and often socialized with him, Rachel, and another friend named Richard Skinner. After the murders, Neil stayed at Munding's house in London to escape the pack of media camped outside his house in Worksop.
Both friends said Neil told them that he returned home from a shopping trip to find his wife and baby dead and then drove to his in-laws' house. Prior said that Neil went to the Matterazzos' house to obtain a gun to commit suicide, but was unable to get in and drove to Priscilla Matterazzo's work to explain what had happened. Then Rachel's family congregated at the Matterazzo home to grieve. Neil called the police from there, according to Prior, and began to "sort of feel slightly isolated" before he decided to leave for England. According to Munding, however, Neil went to his in-laws' home to make sure none of the guns were missing and called law enforcement from Priscilla's work. In addition to conflicting with each other, the accounts Neil gave his friends conflict with what he told police. Neil told law enforcement that he did not call anyone for help after finding Rachel and Lillian's bodies and that he left for England without speaking to any of Rachel's family.
Munding was with Neil immediately before he was arrested by British police on February 9, 2006. Neil received a call from his father Cliff early in the morning, during which Cliff told him that the police were looking to arrest him and wanted him to return to the family home in Worksop. Munding walked with Neil to the nearest Tube station and then received a call from the police, who apparently had changed their minds and wanted to arrest Neil immediately. When Munding told him, Neil said that he didn't want to meet the police because he wanted to see his family one more time before being arrested, and asked if there was another way off the platform.
Prior testified that Neil and Rachel appeared to be "a really loving couple" but their financial situation was "quite perilous." Neil told his friend that he had considered filing for bankruptcy and that Rachel spent large amounts of money to furnish their house. Munding said that Neil was a "quiet guy" and that Rachel "was the more outgoing of the two."
At the end of the day, the jury finally began to hear computer evidence. Det. Lawrence James of the Medford Police Department examined three computers in the case. He said that there were three usernames on Neil's Toshiba laptop: "Ent," "Internet and Photos," and "Contract." The "Ent" account was password-protected and had administrative privileges, and it had been used to do a Google search on "how to kill with a knife" on January 16, 2006.
At the beginning of the day, Judge Kottmyer ruled that the prosecution could introduce some evidence of Neil's alleged visits to sex sites. Specifically, she ruled that they could introduce evidence that the "Ent" user joined the site Adult Friend Finder, sent e-mails through the site, checked email after 11 am on January 20, 2006, and downloaded maps on January 18. Thankfully, the judge excluded Neil's profile on Adult Friend Finder, which contained a nude picture that may or may not be him. Judge Kottmyer instructed the jury that the evidence that is allowed cannot be used to determine if the defendant "has misbehaved in some manner or has a bad character," but merely to evaluate his relationship with his wife, his state of mind, any any possible motive.
Tomorrow, the internet evidence will continue, so stay tuned.
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