More gruesome evidence

Today the prosecution continued to present forensic evidence against Neil Entwistle. The most disturbing evidence of the day was the bloodstained clothes that Rachel and Lillian Entwistle were wearing when they were shot to death. Rachel's shirt and underpants and Lillian's pajamas and onesie were shown to the jury during the testimony of state police chemist Deanna Dygan. Dygan performed forensic tests for blood and gunshot residue on many objects in the master bedroom where the bodies were found, including bedding, clothing, and stains on the walls. She testified that there was blood on the walls, a pillow that was covering Lillian, a fitted sheet, and on all the items of clothing the victims were wearing. Additionally, Dygan said that there were three holes in the chest area of Rachel's shirt, two of which tested positive for gunshot residue. She also testified that Rachel's shirt and underpants tested positive for sperm cells, but she did not say whose.

Lillian was shot on the left side of her chest with what Dygan described as a contact shot, which means that the gun was touching her when it was fired. There was also an exit wound on her back. Neil's mother Yvonne wept when Lillian's clothes were shown to the court, and Neil appeared to be crying as well and reached for tissues to wipe his eyes.

Dygan also tested a black t-shirt and blue sweater that were found in the BMW that Neil left at Logan Airport when he fled to England. Neither blood nor gunshot residue could be detected on either item of clothing.

Additionally, Dygan testified that she swabbed the .22 Colt Diamondback revolver that is alleged to be the murder weapon, as well as its case, trigger locks, keys to trigger locks, and an ammunition can. There was a brown, gel-like material inside the muzzle of the gun, she said, but it tested negative for blood.

On cross examination, Elliot Weinstein again stressed that investigators in the case were not open minded enough. "You certainly didn't have any idea about who might be responsible for the deaths of the two bodies?" he asked. Dygan admitted that she had written that Neil Entwistle was the suspect in her report. "That colored your thinking throughout this entire investigation, didn't it?" Weinstein asked. Dygan said that it did not.

Like chemist John Soares, Dygan admitted that other people, including Rachel's friends Joanna and Maureen Gately, had been in the house before her, and she could not be sure if the crime scene was in its original condition by the time she examined it. Additionally, Weinstein stressed that no one had set up potential trajectories of the gunshots, that Dygan herself did not test fire the Colt revolver or any other weapons, and that her statement from Friday that Rachel and Lillian were shot from fewer than 18 inches away was just a general statement about guns, not the alleged murder weapon in particular. Finally, he pointed out that evidence can easily be contaminated.

The next witness of the day was John Drugan, also a chemist in the state police crime lab. He testified that Rachel's hands tested positive for gunshot residue, indicating that she had either fired a gun, handled a gun, or was near a gun when it was fired. However, the steering wheel and car keys in Neil's BMW tested negative for gunshot residue, as did his blue sweater and thirteen knives found in the Entwistles' home.

Finally, state police trooper Stephen Walsh testified that the bullet found in Rachel's chest matched the .22 revolver. He first explained how various types of guns work and said that the bullet had the same direction of rifling as the alleged murder weapon. He could not say for certain which gun the bullet was fired by, however.

I saw on the news that witnesses are expected to testify tomorrow about Neil's internet activities and later about additional forensic and DNA evidence. I'm not sure whether the judge has ruled on a defense motion to exclude evidence about alleged visits to sex sites, but there was a bench conference at the end of the day today, and when Neil walked back to his seat, his lawyer Stephanie Page patted his arm as if she was consoling him. Perhaps the judge made a ruling on that motion that the defense wasn't particularly happy with ... but that's just speculation. I really hope the judge doesn't let the prosecution introduce a nude picture that is allegedly of Neil. I don't see how that could possibly be relevant to this murder trial, especially if it isn't actually him. Prosecutors could give the jury a perfectly good idea of Neil's online activities without showing the actual picture. Its prejudicial effects would certainly outweigh its minimal usefulness.