DNA links two men to Harrison, New City home invasion robberies, scientist says

By JONATHAN BANDLER

WHITE PLAINS — Two men on trial in a series of home invasion robberies were linked to some of the crime scenes by DNA recovered from items left behind, a forensic scientist testified as prosecutors wrapped up their case.

The DNA was found on a water bottle in a refrigerator, and on a cloth hat in a stolen Jaguar.

The testimony yesterday in Westchester County Court suggested that Ened Gjelaj was at the Harrison home of a couple who were tied up and robbed Sept. 28, 2004, and that his co-defendant Edmir Gega left the hat in the Jaguar after robbers fled a New City home Dec. 12, 2004.

Closing arguments are scheduled Monday morning, and the jury will begin deliberating in the afternoon.

The defense called no witnesses after the prosecution rested Wednesday. But Gega caught a break from Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli when she dismissed robbery, burglary and other charges against him related to the Harrison robbery and another in that town three weeks earlier. He faces up to 25 years in prison while Gjelaj could get up to 50 years if convicted in all three robberies.

Zambelli agreed with defense lawyer David Rich that prosecutors had offered insufficient evidence that Gega was involved in the two Harrison robberies.

None of the victims was able to positively identify any of the masked robbers who entered their homes, but the prosecution had hoped to link Gega to one of two cell phones believed to be used by the gang during the robberies.

One of the phones belonged to Gjelaj's sister, and records showed that it was in close proximity to the victims' homes during the two robberies. The other phone was traveling in that same area, and authorities contend it was the phone Gega was using at the time. It was later recovered at his home when he was arrested.

The prosecution also suggested that a conversation Gega had with a detective about his belief that Jews were responsible for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was similar to comments a robber allegedly made to the victims in the second Harrison robbery.

The last home invasion occurred Dec. 11, 2004, when a New City woman was tied up in her home as robbers ransacked the house and emptied the safe. They fled in her husband's Jaguar, which police found the next morning. Inside was a cloth hat, and testing of white flakes inside yielded a DNA mixture to which Gega was a likely contributor, testified Susan Flaherty of the Westchester County forensics lab. She said the possibility that someone else could have been a contributor was 1 in 122 billion.

She also testified about saliva found on a water bottle in the West Avenue home that was robbed in Harrison on Sept. 28. Gjelaj's DNA was a partial match to that saliva, she said.