Autopsy, hairs, DNA dominate testimony at Candace Derksen murder retrial

A former cold case investigator assigned to draft a new list of suspects in Candace Derksen's 1984 murder was just 14 himself when the girl disappeared.

Jonathan Lutz told court on Monday — in the retrial's second week — he was tasked to review the unsolved case in 2006 and develop a standardized questionnaire to ask "a series of persons of interest."

Candace Derksen went missing on Nov. 30, 1984. Her body was found tied up in a storage shed not far from her family's home on Jan. 17, 1985.

It was the various hairs found at the crime scene that piqued the investigator's interest.

"They were suspicious," Lutz said. "[I'm] wondering why there is a pubic hair found on a deceased 13-year-old's body."

Lutz's questionnaire asked each person of interest for a voluntary DNA sample. His plan next would be to run comparisons between each individual's DNA and the hairs, among other evidence.

Grant completed the questionnaire in 2006 but declined to provide a DNA sample, Lutz said.

Grant's blood, however, was on file with the Winnipeg Police Service and Lutz obtained it with a warrant and had it sent to Molecular World, an independent lab, to see if there was any match.

The lab was selected because it offered a test the RCMP did not: mitochondrial DNA testing.

Court heard last week that a number of items at the scene including hair, the twine the teen was tied up with and chewed gum were subject to nuclear DNA tests at the RCMP lab but yielded no significant forensic information.

Lutz also decided to have the twine, and what was left of the DNA on it from previous tests, retested with another DNA method known as Y-STR.

The test only looks at the presence of Y chromosomes which Lutz said would be helpful in determining whether a male suspect tied the rope the teen was bound with.

Defence takes aim at independent lab

Grant's defence lawyer Saul Simmonds began his cross-examination raising questions about the lab Lutz sent the evidence to.

"You're not an expert in DNA," he told Lutz, who agreed. "You're relying on what came out of Molecular World."

Simmonds went on to ask if Lutz had a second opinion on results, which he did not.

"If Molecular World is incompetent or withholding any information, you wouldn't know that?" Simmonds said. Lutz agreed.

Simmonds continued to take aim at the reliability of mitochondrial testing — citing it's "not particularly discriminatory" and "10 per cent of the population" may have that same profile.

Lutz's request to have Molecular Lab conduct new tests on the twine and limited DNA extracts left on it came under fire.

Last week court heard the majority of the DNA found on the twine was "used up" during DNA testing in 2001.

Simmonds asked if Lutz requested a swab of the twine before asking the lab to "use the last DNA on the planet" pertaining to the twine.

Lutz told court he did not.

Grant was arrested in 2007 in connection to the teen's murder. The results of the 2006 DNA tests that led to his arrest will be delved into on Wednesday.

Simmonds concluded if what came out of the lab was "flawed" or inaccurate, so would the basis for Grant's arrest.

DNA from other persons of interest not tested

Simmonds continued to grill Lutz on the DNA samples obtained from other persons of interest.

Lutz testified that in May 2006, a sample was taken from a classmate of Candace's but he could not recall and did not have any record of it being sent to the lab for further testing.

Later in the afternoon the court entered a voir dire, a preliminary hearing over new evidence, where the defence pointed to the possibility of a "third party suspect."

Lutz was questioned about whether a Wrigley gum package found at the Derksen scene was re-tested along with a Wrigley gum pack found at a scene nine months later, where a 12-year-old girl was found alive, bound in a similar way.

Neither package was sent by him for testing, Lutz told court.

The similar second incident occurred the following school year after Candace's body was found.

Simmonds asked if Lutz tracked any students, teachers, or maintenance staff who moved from Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute to the school the second alleged victim attended, for any possible suspect leads.

Lutz confirmed he did not.

Acetone in teen's blood, urine

Earlier in the day, the forensic pathologist who performed Candace Derksen's autopsy took the witness stand.

Dr. Peter Markesteyn, the province's Chief Medical Examiner in 1985, attended the shed on the –25 C morning Candace's body was found.

He told the court the teen's was body "frozen" but it would be acetone later found in the teen's blood and urine that would lead him to conclude she died of exposure due to hypothermia.

Acetone, he explained, can be present when the body is no longer burning carbohydrates and begins burning fat which is "common" when people suffer exposure.

"It's reasonable to believe she would have died in 24 hours," Markesteyn testified, given the conditions.

However, he could not pinpoint when the teen may have died in the seven weeks she was missing, he said.

Markesteyn testified the teen was "hog tied" with twine and he observed "scratching" on her knees, bruising on her low legs and swelling of the right hand.

Despite the injuries, his examination and swab tests yielded "no evidence" of sexual trauma.

During cross-examination the defence asked Markesteyn if he recalled wearing a mask, gloves, hair net or protective clothing at the crime scene or during the autopsy, to prevent any DNA contamination.

Markesteyn testified protocols were different in 1985. He told court he could not recall if he was wearing gloves but said masks were not worn at the scene or during portions of the autopsy when he was dictating his observations. He agreed with Simmonds that it was possible he deposited his own DNA during the autopsy.

Markesteyn told the court was not asked for a hair or blood sample to eliminate him as a possible DNA contaminant.

The judge-only retrial began on January 16. Justice Karen Simonsen is presiding over the trial. Brent Davidson and Michael Himmelman are acting for the Crown and Saul Simmonds is representing Grant.