DNA of deceased, both accused can’t be ruled out from alleged murder weapon, jury hears

The DNA of both men accused of murder and the Sarnia senior found stabbed to death in his bathtub could not be excluded from the alleged murder weapon, the jury learned Wednesday.

Article content

Noah Brown, 31, and Tomlinson, 38, have both pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and breaking and entering the death of Allen Schairer, a 62-year-old retiree and photographer who lived alone on Devine Street near Tecumseh Park. He was discovered stabbed to death on Jan. 26, 2021, after police found his car abandoned on city outskirts, the trial has heard.

Article content

Sobia Malik, a biologist from the Center of Forensic Sciences who handled the case three years ago, testified Wednesday all three of them could not be excluded from a mixture of blood found on the blade of the police knife recovered from a hedge on Devine Street. Statistically, there was very strong support for Tomlinson’s DNA and strong support for Brown’s, but very limited weight for Schairer’s, Malik told the jury.

Article content

Tomlinson’s DNA also couldn’t be excluded from blood found on a storage tote in Schairer’s bedroom and the test showed very strong support he was the true donor, Malik said. Brown and Schairer were excluded.

Schairer couldn’t be excluded as the source of blood from three swabs from his bathroom and it was very strong, but Tomlinson and Brown were excluded, she said.

Also, Brown and Schairer couldn’t be excluded as the source of blood found on Brown’s right shoe seized from his girlfriend’s apartment, but the statistical weight was very limited for Brown and uninformative for Schairer, she said. Tomlinson was excluded.

No DNA profiles were found on fingernail scrapings taken from Schairer, she added.

But Malik confirmed during cross-examination late Wednesday afternoon from Terry Brandon, Tomlinson’s lawyer, testing cannot tell if the DNA came from a direct or indirect source or the timing of it.

Article content

Brandon will continue cross-examining Malik when the trial continues Thursday.

Earlier Wednesday, Sarnia police Sgt. Aaron Johnston finally wrapped up his testimony after three straight days on the stand. He confirmed Tomlinson appeared to have an injury inside the knee area of ​​his left leg when he took pictures of him in late January 2021. A close-up of the injury he photographed was shown to Johnston, who was the case’s lead forensic identification officer.

“That’s right, looks like a scab,” he told the jury.

The questions about the injury came from Michael Moon, the defense lawyer for Brown. After Brandon spent all day Tuesday cross-examining Johnston on photos he took three years ago, Moon took his turn Wednesday. He also focused on steps Johnston and his fellow investigators took at the crime scene and while collecting evidence, including how they handled the knife.

Article content

Moon later turned his attention to a dust footwear impression Johnston captured and compared it to the tread pattern of the shoes police seized from Brown’s girlfriend’s house. After looking at the pattern, Moon told Johnston they can agree whoever’s footprint was recovered from Schairer’s home was not Brown’s.

“I can’t really make a fair judgment,” Johnston responded.

As he gave his answer, the Crown and Brandon both stood up, leading to the jury being excused. After they returned, Johnston further explained he can’t identify footwear when comparing a 3D image to a 2D dust impression.

“It’s not a fair general analysis,” he added.

Johnston later confirmed to Moon the footwear impression was taken from the kitchen, not far from where one knife was missing from a block and blood staining was found on the cupboards.

During the Crown’s re-examination, Johnston confirmed there was a small tear in a black glove Tomlinson had been wearing on his left hand. He was asked by prosecutor David Rows if the tear was smaller, larger, or the same size as the blade of the knife.

“It’d be comparable to a portion of the tip of the blade,” he responded.

[email protected]

@ObserverTerry

Article content