4/04/07 (ME):
Crime Scene Expert Contradicts Defense
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There was no pool of blood found in Crystal Perry's kitchen or the knife drawer, a crime scene expert has testified at the murder trial of Michael Hutchinson, accused of stabbing her more than 50 times in 1994.
The only blood to be seen in the kitchen was a trail of small drops leading from the area of her body near the kitchen door into the kitchen, and on a countertop under a paper towel dispenser, said Craig Handley, who investigated the scene at Perry's home on Route 93 in Bridgton.
There was also blood on the wall near the kitchen door that led outside, he said in Cumberland County Superior Court.
His testimony contradicted what defense attorney Robert Andrews told jurors in opening statements Monday.
Andrews said his client, who was 19 at the time, had consensual sex with Perry, 30, in her bedroom on the night of May 11, 1994, then walked into her living room and saw a man walk through the door. Hutchinson approached the man and was cut on the hand with a knife, then went to the kitchen to get a knife out of a drawer but was knocked unconscious, his attorney said. When he came to, he saw the man plunging a knife into her body repeatedly, Andrews said. The intruder fled and so did Hutchinson, Andrews said.
Handley has now cast doubt on that story. He said on the witness stand that he never saw any trace of blood on the floor of the kitchen where Andrews said Hutchinson had lain unconscious while bleeding from a cut on his hand. Handley said he never saw any bloody handprints smeared on the linoleum in the area where Hutchinson would have pushed himself to his feet after regaining consciousness.
Handley also said he checked in the knife drawer in the kitchen and detected no blood on any of the utensils. His testimony took most of the morning and all afternoon.
The jury watched a videotape Handley had made of the white ranch-style house inside and out on the morning of May 12, 1994.
Inside, Perry's body could be seen near the kitchen door lying on the floor on her right side clad in a blue terry cloth robe. A large pool of blood was seeping from under her torso. There also was blood between her legs, above her bent knees.
Handley said he lifted samples of dried blood and swabbed for samples of wet blood to send to the Maine Crime lab for testing. He sprayed on floor and wall surfaces a chemical that highlights in blue-black any blood that is unseen by the naked eye. He showed photos of blue-black footprints that led along the kitchen floor.
Handley noted drops of blood that differed in texture and color from the pools under Perry's body. He also said there were smears of blood on a kitchen phone and near a light switch on the wall near the door. Blood spattered the wall under the phone, he said. Handley said there was evidence of a struggle in the living room where a cat's scratching post was broken from its base. There were pools of blood in the living room also.
The rest of the home appeared to have been undisturbed, including Crystal Perry's bedroom, where the bed sheets had been pulled back.
In addition to the footprints in the kitchen, several were found on the living room carpet. Investigators took photos and cut pieces of bloody carpet to take back to the lab for closer inspection, he said.
The only fingerprints Handley said he could find, along with a palm print, belonged to Sarah Perry, 12, who lived in the house with her mother. Those prints were on the kitchen door.
Sarah Perry, now 25, testified Monday that she fled the home to get help after waking to her mother's screams then seeing her lifeless body on the floor.
The absence of detectable fingerprints at the scene could be explained by several factors, Handley said, including the handling of certain abrasive cleansers by somebody such as a bricklayer. Those chemicals wear down the ridges and pores on the fingers that help to leave the unique patterns of fingerprints, Handley said.
Hutchinson was a self-employed mason from Bridgton and was working at a construction site in the area and lived about a mile and a half from Perry's home at the time of her slaying. During cross-examination, Andrews suggested the fact that Hutchinson's profession might help explain why Hutchinson's prints weren't found in the home.
Hutchinson, 32, was arrested a year ago after his DNA matched blood and semen samples from the crime home.
The case continues.
© X-Pro 2007
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