DNA analyst gives testimony about sweatshirt in Boney trial

By Grace Schneider

An Indiana State Police DNA analyst said today that DNA on a gray sweatshirt found at the Camm family murder scene was identified during tests last year with four different people - Charles Boney and his former girlfriend, as well as Kimberly Camm and her son, Bradley.

The sweatshirt is one of the most damaging pieces of physical evidence linking Boney to the crime scene. But the testimony for now didn't point the finger at Boney, who is accused of three counts of murder and conspiracy with co-defendant David Camm.

David Camm's wife, Kimberly, 35, and their two children, Bradley, 7, and Jill, 5, were found shot to death in the family's Georgetown-area garage in September 2000. Both Camm and Boney now are accused in the deaths.

Although Camm was convicted of the murders nearly four years ago, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed his conviction, and the 41-year-old former Indiana state trooper was charged again in September 2004. His trial is now under way with jury selection in Warrick County, where the case was moved because of pre-trial publicity.

Boney, who was absent Wednesday after a jail fight with a fellow inmate, appeared in court this morning wearing a black eye patch. His uncovered eye and the rest of his face were slightly swollen, and one side of his shaven head had what looked like reddish scratches.

A nurse examined Boney Wednesday, at the request of Floyd Circuit Judge J. Terrence Cody, and found him fit to continue with the trial. The jury was told only that Boney had voluntarily waived his right to appear during the trial.

Like the first three days, much of this morning's trial testimony focused on the crime scene and the investigations, both immediately after the 2000 murders and after Camm was charged again in 2004.

His defense team from Bloomington has consistently pushed for additional testing of evidence originally collected from the crime scene to support arguments that police appeared to have rushed to judgment about Camm's alleged role.

The additional tests by a private lab prompted police to broaden their investigation. They questioned Boney for the first time last February, and then, based on his statements and the evidence, re-cast their theory of the murders with Camm and Boney both having a role.

Lynn Scamahorn, a DNA analyst with the state police's Evansville lab, testified that early last year she performed additional tests after investigators learned that Orchid Cellmark, a Maryland-based fingerprinting and DNA laboratory, had found DNA from Boney and other people on the sweatshirt.

Her tests on a collar confirmed that Boney's DNA was on the sweatshirt, as well as that of Boney's former girlfriend Mala Singh Mattingly.

Also, Scamahorn said, the DNA of Kimberly and Bradley Camm also was found on the shirt. She said Kimberly Camm's DNA appeared in several places on the front, sleeve and back of the garment.

Her son's DNA was found in two spots on two places a couple of inches below the front shirt collar, Scamahorn said.

Under cross examination by Boney lawyer Patrick Renn, Scamahorn said that in a few instances, where mixtures of DNA from Kimberly Camm, Mattingly and Boney were found, it's scientifically impossible to draw any conclusions about how the DNA was deposited on the shirt.

Jurors submitted five questions about Scamahorn's tests on Camm's basketball shoes; Kimberly Camm's shoes, which were found at the crime scene; and the DNA found on shoe laces on David Camm's shoes.

David Camm's shoes, a sock and a shoe lace contained DNA from Kimberly Camm, Scamahorn said. Nothing turned up in the testing of Kimberly Camm's shoes, which were placed on the roof of her Ford Bronco, Scamahorn said. Nor was anything found on the bottoms of the basketball shoes.