Expert Used To Challenge Dibartolo Story Forensic Scientist Testifies Where Wife Fell After Being Shot

Spokane prosecutors spent the seventh day of Tom DiBartolo’s murder trial showing jurors more evidence they hope contradicts his account of his wife’s murder.

It was also DiBartolo’s 43rd birthday Monday, an occasion not observed in court.

Prosecution witness Ray Pellegrin testified that when Patty DiBartolo was shot in the head last Nov. 2, her body fell close to a minivan parked at the entrance to Lincoln Park.

Pellegrin’s testimony was meant to throw further doubt on statements DiBartolo made after the shooting.

He has said he and his wife were returning to their minivan when two men approached demanding money. DiBartolo said one man went inside the front passenger door, searched the glove box and found a .38-caliber handgun there.

Seconds later, the man fired once, striking Patty DiBartolo, 39, in the head. DiBartolo said he rushed the gunman but was shot in the abdomen during the struggle.

DiBartolo said that as the two men ran off he went through the van’s sliding door to get his own pistol from the front seat. He fired three shots at the fleeing men, he said.

Only then did he find his wife’s body on the ground near the van, he said.

DiBartolo is charged with first-degree murder in his wife’s death. Prosecutors say his motive was to end the marriage of 19 years and collect $100,000 in insurance money.

Without saying it directly on Monday, prosecutors wanted Pellegrin’s testimony to raise jurors’ doubts about how DiBartolo could grab his gun without tripping over his wife’s body on the pavement.

Pellegrin, a Washington State Crime Lab forensic expert, told jurors he found several drops of blood against the rear passenger hubcap and rear splashguard.

Based on the shape of the drops, he determined Patty DiBartolo’s head came to rest roughly even with the rear passenger wheel, and about four inches away from the side of the van.

Prosecutor Jim Sweetser asked Pellegrin to mark that spot on the courtroom floor next to a life-size, two-dimensional model of the van.

Sweetser then asked Pellegrin to mark a second spot 64 inches from the first mark. The second mark on the floor was even with the passenger door handle.

Defense attorney Maryann Moreno challenged Pellegrin’s testimony by insisting he had no evidence that Patty DiBartolo’s legs extended straight and parallel to the side of the van when she fell to the ground.

“Bodies bend, legs bend, the waist bends, isn’t that right?” Moreno asked Pellegrin.

He admitted he had no evidence proving the location of Patty DiBartolo’s legs when she fell. “But I can make a reasonable conclusion about the direction of the legs,” he replied.

, DataTimes