Defense expert: Aguirre’s feet larger than shoeprints found at scene of Ruby Doss’ death in 1986

A defense expert testified Thursday that Richard Aguirre’s feet are four sizes larger than shoeprints found at the scene of Ruby Doss’ death in 1986.

Doss, 27, was found beaten and strangled near Playfair Race Course on a misty January night.

It’s the third week of 59-year-old Aguirre’s trial for the killing of Doss.

Aguirre’s attorney, Karen Lindholdt, called footwear and impression evidence expert Bill Bodziak to testify.

A retired FBI agent and consultant, Bodziak testified that Aguirre’s naked foot is 11.26 inches long from heel to toe.

Bodziak conducted his analysis from a photo of a shoeprint taken by forensic technicians at the crime scene in 1986 and said the shoeprint was 10.57 inches.

“With regard to the one impression I was focusing on, his left foot, is substantially larger than the outsole impression at the Doss scene,” Bodziak said.

Bodziak focused on one image in particular in which a piece of wood found near Doss’ body is partially visible. The wood helps place the shoeprint in relation to other pieces of evidence collected. Lindholdt has noted that investigators are unsure where each image was taken from the spread-out scene.

Prosecutor Richard Whaley questioned Bodziak extensively on issues with how the original photographs were taken that cause problems in getting an accurate measurement of the shoeprints decades later.

Bodziak enlarged the photograph to be true to size then took factors like camera angle and placement of the ruler into consideration.

When photographing a shoe impression, he said, the camera should be on a tripod and on the same plane as the impression, Bodziak said. The ruler should be level with the print.

In this instance, the ruler used was a wooden school ruler, not what Bodziak would advise today.

However, he said in this case those issues only affect measurements in “very, very, very minimal” ways.

Prosecutors pointed to evidence that people’s feet flatten out over time, meaning Aguirre’s feet could be larger in 2023 than in 1986. Bodziak disagreed that this would have a significant effect.

The defense has pointed to Aguirre’s feet being larger than the shoe impressions on scene as key to their case.

Prosecutors have largely dismissed the shoeprints. The now-retired lead detective on the 37-year-old cold case, Kip Hollenbeck, testified that no one has been able to figure out who made the prints.

The photographs were sent to the FBI for analysis but that did not result in investigative progress, Hollenbeck said.

Aguirre’s trial is set to continue through Tuesday. Next week, both the defense and prosecutors plan to call DNA experts to testify.