“It tells us these are mated pairs. The earring sent to my lab this year is the mate to the one found on the victim’s body twenty-two years ago. You can also see those same wear patterns in photographs taken of the victim wearing those same earrings.”
I flipped to the photograph I’d admitted as Exhibit 12. It was Ellie Luke’s high school senior photo. I zoomed in. Dr. Palmieri pointed out the same dullness in the metal at the top of the hoops.
“Thank you, Doctor,” I said. “I have no further questions.”
“Your witness, Mr. Cutler.”
Bennett Cutler practically plowed through me to get to the lectern. I looked at the back of the courtroom. George Luke sat still as stone, his face unreadable. As far as I knew, that was the first time he’d actually seen what his granddaughter found in Jamie Simmons’s horrible box.
“Dr. Palmieri,you don’t know if Ellie Luke was murdered, do you?”
Lois Palmieri barely blinked when Bennett Cutler asked the question.
“My findings are that the victim met with foul play,” she said.
“Foul play. Let me ask you again, you cannot say that Ellie Luke was murdered, isn’t that right?”
“As you pointed out, I’m not a medical doctor. I won’t testify about the specific cause of death. But Ms. Luke was most likely bludgeoned to death in the back of her head. It was not a self-inflicted wound.”
“Could a fall have caused that kind of defect to the back of her head?”
“I won’t testify to the cause of death in that way, Mr. Cutler.”
“You don’t even know whether the defect happened post mortem, do you?”
“That’s beyond my expertise,” she said.
“Dr. Palmieri, you were questioned about the things you found at Ellie Luke’s gravesite. I want to make sure I understand what you didn’t find.”
“By all means.”
“You didn’t find blood?”
“I did not.”
“You didn’t find DNA belonging to anyone other than Ellie Luke.”
“I did not.”
“Didn’t find skin or tissue samples under her nails or anything like that, right?”
“The victim didn’t have fingernails by the time we found her, Mr. Cutler.”
“Fine. So answer the question. You found no skin or tissue samples belonging to anyone but the victim. Isn’t that right?”
“That is correct. The tissue samples we recovered, such as they were, came from the victim’s scalp.”
“Got it. So isn’t it fair to say you found no physical evidence in terms of blood, hair, skin, or DNA belonging to anyone other than Ellie Luke, correct?”
“That is correct.”
Cutler scratched his chin and paced in front of the jury box. “So there was no physical evidence tying anyone to that crime scene, let alone the defendant, right?”
“I didn’t say that. There was physical evidence as I’ve described.”
“Clothing. An earring. Is that right?”
“That’s correct. Along with the victim’s remains themselves.”
