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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Conflicting DNA evidence presented at trial

Associated Press

TWIN FALLS, Idaho – A defense witness presented conflicting DNA evidence in the trial of an 18-year-old Bellevue woman charged with murdering her parents.

Sarah Johnson, who was 16 at the time of the September 2003 killings, is accused of shooting her mother in the head while she slept and then turning the rifle on her father as he came out of the shower of their Bellevue home.

But a forensic scientist, Keith Inman, testified Friday at her trial that the DNA of an unknown male was found on several pieces of evidence at the crime scene, including the rifle and spent cartridges.

“The existence of the unknown male DNA changes things,” Inman said. “It certainly shifts the weight to someone else being the shooter.”

The prosecution has maintained that Sarah Johnson shot her parents because they did not approve of her relationship with a 19-year-old man.

Prosecutors successfully argued for a change of venue because of pretrial publicity, and the trial that began Feb. 8 in Boise is scheduled to resume Monday.

Inman’s testimony went against that of other DNA experts who testified last week.

Kristine Paulette, from a Texas laboratory, testified on Thursday that hair taken from the .264-caliber rifle used to shoot the Johnsons contained DNA that matched Sarah Johnson’s profile.

After the slayings, investigators found a right-handed latex glove, a left-handed leather glove and the blood-spattered pink bathrobe belonging to Sarah in a trash can. DNA analyst Amber Moss, from the same Texas laboratory, testified that the robe, stained with blood belonging to Alan and Diane Johnson, also showed traces of Sarah’s DNA.

Cynthia Hall, a DNA expert with the Idaho State Police, matched blood spots on the bathrobe and DNA samples found on the brown leather glove to Sarah’s mother, Diane. Hall also said blood spots found on the bottom of the wool socks worn by Sarah the morning of the shootings were found to match Diane Johnson’s DNA.

But Inman said Friday that DNA from the same unknown male also was discovered on the bathrobe and latex and leather gloves. That unknown DNA also was found on the rifle, its scope, a used gun cartridge and an insert from a box of ammunition.

Inman said a particular bloodstain from a second unknown source was found on the rifle.

Inman conceded Sarah Johnson’s DNA was found in the leather glove, which could support the prosecution’s claim that she was the shooter.

Investigators testified earlier that no blood was found on Johnson or the clothes she wore the morning of the shootings.

Prosecutors allege bedsheets and a comforter that covered Diane Johnson’s head when she was shot prevented blood from hitting the shooter. They point to a hole in the top sheet surrounded by blood as proof Diane was shot through the covers.

Todd Grey, the chief medical examiner for the state of Utah, said the sheet over Diane Johnson’s head was not enough protection from keeping the shooter clean.

He said he did not believe the hole found in the sheet was from a gunshot.

“If a sheet is shot at close range you would see ripping of the hole and sooting at the edges,” Grey testified. “I do not see those features on this defect.”

Investigators did not keep the comforter for evidence.