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Witnesses for the defense took the stand Wednesday in a move to discredit the DNA evidence linking Donald “Doc” Nash to the murder of Judy Lynn Spencer, a 21-year-old Salem woman who was strangled and shot in the neck in 1982.
Nash, a boyfriend and cohabitant with Spencer at the time, was arrested 26 years later and charged with capital murder, in 2008, after fingernail clippings taken from Spencer’s body revealed the presence of his DNA. Testing for DNA was not employed by criminal investigators in 1982.
Defense witness, Senior Forensic Scientist Stephanie Beine, cited three case studies by which DNA samples collected from the fingernails of victims were not affected by water submersions, showers, baths or handwashings undertaken by the victims. The only variables affecting the quantity or quality of DNA samples included those on people who bit their nails, individual nail lengths and the amount of time couples spend together, she said.
When asked her opinion by Defense Attorney Frank Carlson about the Missouri Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory test that revealed a mix of both Nash and Spencer DNA on Spencer’s clippings, Beine said, “I do not believe this is a significant finding.”
Beine said cohabitants frequently capture and hold foreign DNA, depending upon the closeness of the couples and how much each individual sloughs skin.
“The general population doesn’t do a surgical wash-down when they wash their hands,” Beine said to the jury. “Thirty-seven percent of couples showed some foreign DNA.”
Moreover, Beine said she did not agree with the finding of a 1-to-1 ratio of Nash’s and Spencer’s DNA discovered on Spencer’s fingernails, as proposed by DNA Analyst Ruth Montgomery in court on Tuesday.
Montgomery maintained that mere “casual contact” between Nash and Spencer would not result in the levels of mixed DNA that was found on Spencer’s fingernails.
The last person to see Spencer alive, her friend, Janet Jones Edwards, testified Monday she saw Spencer wash her hair shortly before she left Edwards apartment.
When asked whether shampooing hair would remove DNA, Beine answered it would depend upon a variety of variables, including whether soap or a detergent-based shampoo was used, or whether soap was even used, or the force and the amount of time spent shampooing.
Although Beine admitted she did no DNA testing on any of the evidence in the Spencer case, she said she completed “more than a minimal review” of the police reports and the MSHP Laboratory case files.
Witnesses for the defense took the stand Wednesday in a move to discredit the DNA evidence linking Donald “Doc” Nash to the murder of Judy Lynn Spencer, a 21-year-old Salem woman who was strangled and shot in the neck in 1982.
Nash, a boyfriend and cohabitant with Spencer at the time, was arrested 26 years later and charged with capital murder, in 2008, after fingernail clippings taken from Spencer’s body revealed the presence of his DNA. Testing for DNA was not employed by criminal investigators in 1982.
Defense witness, Senior Forensic Scientist Stephanie Beine, cited three case studies by which DNA samples collected from the fingernails of victims were not affected by water submersions, showers, baths or handwashings undertaken by the victims. The only variables affecting the quantity or quality of DNA samples included those on people who bit their nails, individual nail lengths and the amount of time couples spend together, she said.
When asked her opinion by Defense Attorney Frank Carlson about the Missouri Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory test that revealed a mix of both Nash and Spencer DNA on Spencer’s clippings, Beine said, “I do not believe this is a significant finding.”
Beine said cohabitants frequently capture and hold foreign DNA, depending upon the closeness of the couples and how much each individual sloughs skin.
“The general population doesn’t do a surgical wash-down when they wash their hands,” Beine said to the jury. “Thirty-seven percent of couples showed some foreign DNA.”
Moreover, Beine said she did not agree with the finding of a 1-to-1 ratio of Nash’s and Spencer’s DNA discovered on Spencer’s fingernails, as proposed by DNA Analyst Ruth Montgomery in court on Tuesday.
Montgomery maintained that mere “casual contact” between Nash and Spencer would not result in the levels of mixed DNA that was found on Spencer’s fingernails.
The last person to see Spencer alive, her friend, Janet Jones Edwards, testified Monday she saw Spencer wash her hair shortly before she left Edwards apartment.
When asked whether shampooing hair would remove DNA, Beine answered it would depend upon a variety of variables, including whether soap or a detergent-based shampoo was used, or whether soap was even used, or the force and the amount of time spent shampooing.
Although Beine admitted she did no DNA testing on any of the evidence in the Spencer case, she said she completed “more than a minimal review” of the police reports and the MSHP Laboratory case files.
Beine also cited a contamination event associated with laboratory tests done at the MSHP Crime Laboratory, and when questioned about the test, she admitted the laboratory itself documented the contamination and did not proceed with the test on the collected specimen.
In cross-examining Beine, Assistant Attorney General and Prosecutor Theodore Bruce asked her to briefly review another case study completed by the same DNA analysts from which she cited.
The study showed that the only factor of consequence associated with reportable levels of mixed DNA was when a male had physical contact with another person within 24 hours before sampling.
Bruce also elicited Beine’s finding that Montgomery did utilize accepted practices and protocols associated with analyzing DNA samples.
“I do not dispute Montgomery’s findings that Nash’s DNA was present,” Beine said.
She also confirmed the fact there was no evidence of a third person’s DNA associated with Spencer’s nail clippings.
Spencer’s body was found by farmers one day after she went missing.
Defense witness James Nickles recounted his discovery of Spencer’s body by an old abandoned one-room schoolhouse, located 12 miles west of Salem in rural Dent County. At the time of Spencer’s killing, Nickles rented the land to graze his cattle, and he was walking around the property observing his cattle when he noticed something unusual near the schoolhouse.
“There had been a large party, a lot of rubbish and beer cans were around,” Nickles said.
Nickles followed dragging marks to Spencer’s location, believing someone may have captured one of his cows.
“Something caught my eye, and I looked down a saw a human foot,” Nickles said.
Another defense witness, retired MSHP Forensic Chemist Carl Rothove, testified gunshot-residue tests done on Nash the day after Spencer was murdered returned a negative result. Additionally, blood tests completed on Spencer revealed a blood-alcohol content of 0.18 percent, or more than twice the legal limit.
A former Salem Police Department dispatcher, Jennie Boxx, said Spencer had called for a police escort a few times within approximately one month before she was killed, because someone was following her.
An early recess was ordered by Senior Judge Douglas E. Long Jr. at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday after the court reporter suddenly became ill.
The Nash trial continues at 9 a.m. today at the Phelps County Courthouse. The trial is expected to last through today.
If found guilty by the jury, Nash faces a sentence of life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole.
Bruce confirmed he waived the death penalty sentence in an “informal agreement,” and court documents cite the waiver was filed with the court on July 2.
