Chapter 16 #2
“All right. So based on your thirty-plus years as a crime scene analyst, what conclusions were you able to draw about what happened to Ellie Luke?”
“Ms. Luke was likely killed somewhere else and placed at the base of that tree in those woods. I can’t say for sure where she was killed, but I don’t believe it was nearby. I also believe someone took time with the body.”
“What do you mean?”
“To remove her jeans, put her shoes back on. Remove her panties. Someone cut a large hank of her hair. Also, the location of the body itself. It was protected. Away from where hikers would have naturally come upon it. And as I’ve indicated, partially buried.
It was also unusual that we found Ms. Luke’s complete skeleton.
Over that amount of time, I would have expected animals to carry part of it off. ”
“Do you have any way of knowing how long the victim’s remains were in that location?”
“Not precisely. But based on the vegetation and insect activity, it was consistent with the amount of time she’d been missing.”
“So you’re saying you believe the victim was lying under that tree since March of that year?”
“Mostly likely, yes.”
“Thank you. Dr. Palmieri, have you had occasion to analyze any other artifacts in connection with this case?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Can you tell me what those were?”
“Three months ago, items were sent to BCI and I was asked to conduct the analysis of them. They included an earring, a lock of hair, and a pair of underwear.”
One by one, I introduced photographs of the items Dr. Palmieri described. Then, I took her through the chain of custody of the lock of hair. Hayden would testify later where it came from, but for now, Dr. Palmieri could drop the first bomb.
“Dr. Palmieri, were you able to form a scientific opinion about the lock of hair sent for your analysis?”
“I was. I compared the length and cut marks to those found on the victim under that tree. The hair dye. Though we weren’t able to extract DNA from the locks sent in, we were able to match it to the victim.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the hair sample sent to my lab on September 1st of this year belonged to Elizabeth Luke. It matched the lock cut from her head.”
“Thank you,” I said. “What about the underwear?”
“Two pubic hairs were combed from the underwear. We were able to extract DNA from the roots. They were a match for Elizabeth Luke.”
“Okay, what about the earring?” The picture of the earring was up on screen. Dr. Palmieri authenticated it as being the earring she was sent from the Maumee County Sheriff’s Department.
“We subjected the earring to the same analysis as the one found at the scene twenty-two years ago. The metals matched. The stone matched. The earring back matched. Additionally, the wear patterns at the front top of the earring matched.”
“What’s significant about that?”
“On both the earring we found at the scene twenty-two years ago, and the one sent for analysis this year … there are distinct wear patterns at the top of the hoop. You can see it in Exhibits 25 and 39.”
I put the photographs side by side on the monitor. Dr. Palmieri used a laser pointer to show two dull patches in the metal just below the stem that would have gone into Ellie’s earlobe.
“Most likely, this is where the wearer would have grasped each earring before lining the stem up to go into the ear hole. It’s a similar wear pattern on both.”
“Which tells us what?”
“It tells us these are mated pairs. The earring sent to my lab this year is the mate to the one found on the victim’s body twenty-two years ago. You can also see those same wear patterns in photographs taken of the victim wearing those same earrings.”
I flipped to the photograph I’d admitted as Exhibit 12. It was Ellie Luke’s high school senior photo. I zoomed in. Dr. Palmieri pointed out the same dullness in the metal at the top of the hoops.
“Thank you, Doctor,” I said. “I have no further questions.”
“Your witness, Mr. Cutler.”
Bennett Cutler practically plowed through me to get to the lectern. I looked at the back of the courtroom. George Luke sat still as stone, his face unreadable. As far as I knew, that was the first time he’d actually seen what his granddaughter found in Jamie Simmons’s horrible box.
“Dr. Palmieri, you don’t know if Ellie Luke was murdered, do you?”
Lois Palmieri barely blinked when Bennett Cutler asked the question.
“My findings are that the victim met with foul play,” she said.
“Foul play. Let me ask you again, you cannot say that Ellie Luke was murdered, isn’t that right?”
“As you pointed out, I’m not a medical doctor. I won’t testify about the specific cause of death. But Ms. Luke was most likely bludgeoned to death in the back of her head. It was not a self-inflicted wound.”
“Could a fall have caused that kind of defect to the back of her head?”
“I won’t testify to the cause of death in that way, Mr. Cutler.”
“You don’t even know whether the defect happened post mortem, do you?”
“That’s beyond my expertise,” she said.
“Dr. Palmieri, you were questioned about the things you found at Ellie Luke’s gravesite. I want to make sure I understand what you didn’t find.”
“By all means.”
“You didn’t find blood?”
“I did not.”
“You didn’t find DNA belonging to anyone other than Ellie Luke.”
“I did not.”
“Didn’t find skin or tissue samples under her nails or anything like that, right?”
“The victim didn’t have fingernails by the time we found her, Mr. Cutler.”
“Fine. So answer the question. You found no skin or tissue samples belonging to anyone but the victim. Isn’t that right?”
“That is correct. The tissue samples we recovered, such as they were, came from the victim’s scalp.”
“Got it. So isn’t it fair to say you found no physical evidence in terms of blood, hair, skin, or DNA belonging to anyone other than Ellie Luke, correct?”
“That is correct.”
Cutler scratched his chin and paced in front of the jury box. “So there was no physical evidence tying anyone to that crime scene, let alone the defendant, right?”
“I didn’t say that. There was physical evidence as I’ve described.”
“Clothing. An earring. Is that right?”
“That’s correct. Along with the victim’s remains themselves.”
“Got it. But none of the things you found. The earring. The clothing. The body itself … you can’t conclude Ellie Luke was murdered from your findings. That’s not within your purview, is it?”
“Not as such,” she said.
“Good. Thank you. Dr. Palmieri, you’ve been at this a long time. That was your testimony?”
“I’ve been a crime scene investigator for thirty-plus years, yes.”
“You’ve worked on some relatively high-profile cases, haven’t you?”
“I suppose so.”
“You’ve written books about it too, haven’t you?”
“I believe my curriculum vitae was entered into evidence, Mr. Cutler. Are you asking me to list my publications?”
“No, thank you. You said you’ve consulted with BCI since you began teaching full time. But they aren’t the only organization you’ve consulted with, are they?”
“No.”
“In fact, you’ve consulted on television shows and movies too, haven’t you?”
“Once or twice, yes.”
“Once or twice. I would assume those consultations are more lucrative than working for the government or a university, aren’t they?”
“Objection, relevance,” I said.
“Mr. Cutler?” Judge Saul said.
“Your Honor, it’s proper cross for me to explore any biases this witness might have. I’m getting there.”
“Please do,” Saul said. “Overruled.”
“You’re aware this case has garnered national media attention, aren’t you?”
“I can’t say that I am,” Palmieri said.
“You can’t say that you are. Doctor, you’ve worked closely with an author by the name of Remy Redstone, haven’t you?”
“I was hired as a consultant by Mr. Redstone’s publisher, yes. Mr. Redstone and I exchanged some emails. He came to visit me on campus to interview me in person once, maybe five years ago.”
“You’re being modest though, aren’t you? Isn’t it true that Mr. Redstone has a character based on you in his latest series of crime thrillers? The Louise Palmer Mysteries. That’s you, isn’t it? Lois Palmieri, Louise Palmer.”
“Objection! Your honor, we’ve gone way afield of relevance now.”
“I agree. What’s your point, Mr. Cutler?”
“I’ll make it,” he said. “Doctor, isn’t it true that Remy Redstone has already approached you about your involvement in this particular case?”
“No. That is not true.”
“You didn’t take a phone call from Mr. Redstone in the last two weeks?”
“I received a call from Mr. Redstone. I didn’t speak to him. And if I had, and he had asked me about my involvement in this case, I wouldn’t have answered. I don’t discuss active investigations with members of the media.”
“But this one will make a pretty good book, don’t you think?”
“Objection! Your Honor, Mr. Cutler is fishing without bait at this point.”
“Sustained. Move on, Mr. Cutler.”
Cutler smirked as he took his place behind the lectern. “Doctor. These items you analyzed this year, you don’t know where they came from, do you?”
“They came from the Maumee County Sheriff’s Department. I believe I’ve already testified about chain of custody.”
“Sure,” he said. “But you don’t know where they came from before that, isn’t that right?”
“I’m not privy to that. I was asked to analyze them. I did. My findings are in my report and I’ve already testified about them.”
“Got it,” he said. “And in your findings, you can’t say who had access to them before they came into the Sheriff’s Department’s possession.”
“I cannot.”
“You didn’t find anything in your analysis of the earring, the underwear, the lock of hair that would connect them to anyone other than Ellie Luke, isn’t that right?”
“That’s correct.”
“No fingerprints. No DNA. No blood. Nothing like that on those items?”
“That isn’t what I said. I said the hairs found in the underwear belonged to Ellie Luke. We made that determination from extracted DNA from the roots of those hairs.”
“But you found no DNA belonging to anyone other than Ellie, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Thank you. I’m finished with this witness.”
“Ms. Brent?” the judge said.
He’d done all he could do. Lois Palmieri had tied the most damning items from Jamie Simmons’s treasure box to Ellie Luke’s dead body.
It would be up to Hayden to convince the jury who had possession of them all these years.
If she could get through it. If she could stand up to Bennett Cutler, this case would be all but over.
“I have no further questions,” I said.
“You may step down, Dr. Palmieri,” the judge said. “Ms. Brent?”
“The state calls Hayden Simmons to the stand.”