Connor Morris trial: Court hears forensic evidence

Michael Murray appears in the Auckland High Court accused of murdering Connor Morris. 3 August 2015 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Jason Oxenham.

As the first week of the Connor Morris murder trial wound down the jury heard from forensic scientists tasked with analysing samples taken from various crime scenes connected to his death and the street fight that led to it.

Michael Thrift Murray, 34, has denied murdering Mr Morris.

ESR forensic scientist Sarah Cockerton attended the scene examinations after Mr Morris' death.

Part of her job was to analyse particular items police had seized from the scenes.

The alleged murder weapon, described by the Crown this week as a sickle, had swabs taken from the blade and handle areas.

"Initally when the sickle came in it was called a 'slasher'. We changed the name to a scythe and that's what we were calling it," Ms Cockerton explained in court this afternoon.

One swab was taken from a blood stain on the handle of the of the weapon.

"From the area where the metal part meets the handle... fairly near the handle," said Ms Cockerton.

Another sample was taken from the curved part of the blade and the piece of metal that connected it to the wooden handle.

Swabs are taken for the purpose of further testing, including DNA testing to establish who the blood came from.

Samples were also taken from a vehicle and from inside houses within the wider Don Buck Rd scene.

Ms Cockerton said she also examined a machete at 401 Don Buck Rd, where the accused lived and a bloodstained white t-shirt seized from number 403c. There was no blood on the machete.

A number of samples were collected from Mr Morris after he died including fingernail clippings. They were examined to see if they were bloodstained - two samples from each hand tested positive for blood.

Johanna Veth, also a forensic scientist, was tasked with analysing the samples collected at the scenes for DNA.

DNA from at least two people were identified on the blade of the sickle.

The court heard that DNA found on the blade of the sickly was 6 million times more likely to be from Mr Morris' than anyone else. DNA found on the handle was 5 million times more likely to be Murray's than another person.

The Crown will conclude its case on Tuesday when they will call their final witness, a pathologist.

He cannot testify on Monday due to a scheduling conflict so Justice Edwin Wylie adjourned the trial until 10am on Tuesday.

The defence will then begin calling evidence.

WHAT IS ESR?

The Institute of Environmental Science and Research is a Government-owned research institute. ESR forensic scientists attend crime scenes and use a range of nspecialised techniques to detect biological and non-biological evidence for the police. The evidence is collected, analysed and the results used to reconstruct the sequence of events.
Among the services ESR provide police are: bloodstain pattern and tyre print analysis, detecting, collecting and preserving forensic evidence including blood, fibres, impressions, glass and fabric damage; reconstructing and representing events and preparing reports and presenting evidence in court.