Defence in retrial for suspect in Winnipeg teen’s death questions DNA evidence

Burchill said he requested testing on other items — such as the 13-year-old girl’s jeans, jacket and gloves, hair, and twine used to bind her — hoping to find a new lead.

Under cross-examination, Burchill was questioned by the defence about how many people may have handled the evidence and how it was sealed while being stored.

The twine and hair were retested by an Ontario lab in 2007 and Grant was charged in May of that year.

Several additional DNA experts are slated to testify during the trial.

Grant was convicted of second-degree murder in 2011, but that conviction was overturned on appeal and a new trial ordered.

Also on Thursday, Grant’s lawyers read from letters sent to a former CJOB radio host in 1987. They form part of an application to introduce a theory suggesting someone other than Grant could have killed Derksen.

The application is part of a voir dire in which the judge hearing the case will determine whether the “third-party suspect” theory will be admissible in this trial.

Grant’s lawyers were not allowed to tell the jury about their theory in his previous trial. That was one of the reasons they were successful in getting the conviction overturned.

The letters reference a “girl from East Kildonan,” but it’s unclear who wrote them.

Grant’s lawyers have pointed to a kidnapping weeks after Derksen’s body was discovered. A girl was allegedly tied up not far from the Derksen crime scene. They say she was found in a box car when a passerby heard screaming.

Grant was in custody on unrelated charges at the time.

A police officer who investigated both cases said there were “some similarities.”

Grant’s lawyers were not allowed to mention the second case to the jury during the first trial.

(CJOB)

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Defence in retrial for suspect in Winnipeg teen’s death questions DNA evidence

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