Jurors Hear Testimony About Evidence Found At The Scene Where Doctors Were Killed In South Boston
BOSTON (CBS) - On Wednesday - Day 7 of Bampumim Teixeira's murder trial - the jury heard testimony from criminalists, who identified a knife and described evidence found at the scene of the murder.
Teixeira's accused of the fatal stabbing of doctors Lina Bolanos and Richard Field inside their South Boston penthouse.
In court, Boston Police Criminalist Kathryne Hall identified a knife found inside the couple's home.
"I documented that I observed reddish-brown staining on the knife," said Hall.
During her testimony, Hall identified more than a dozen pieces of evidence, including the clothes last worn by Field and Bolanos. Hall said they were saturated with a cleaning solution and had reddish-brown stains. The jury was then shown a photo Hall took of a woman's sweater connected to a blouse.
"I documented a mass of silver duct tape adhering to the right and left sleeves - the cuff areas - binding the two items together behind the back," said Hall.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Steven Sack pointed out an error made with labeling boots that were evidence.
"When you analyzed them, did you write, 'There is a mistake in the barcode?'" asked Sack.
"I documented what was on the barcode on my examination worksheet and then documented what was in the bag I received," said Hall.
The jury heard from several other criminalists from the Boston Police Crime Lab. One testified that DNA belonging to Teixeria was detected from evidence recovered from the crime scene. Another testified that no fingerprints belonging to the defendant were found.
"There are lots of different factors behind why you can touch something and not leave a print behind, but certainly wearing gloves and covering up the surface of your hand would prevent you from leaving any fingerprints," said Boston Police Criminalist Amanda Armstrong.
Thursday is expected to be another long day of testimony. The prosecution could rest its case before the end of the week.
