Prosecution concludes at murder trial

WARWICK — The prosecution rested its case yesterday in the murder trial of James Richardson, accused of killing a Warwick woman in 2005.

Margaret Duffy-Stephenson, 37, was found slain in her Blackmore Street home on Nov. 18. She’d returned a few days prior from a wedding in Florida while her husband and son stayed behind to visit relatives. Duffy-Stephenson worked as a teacher’s aide for special education students at Archie R. Cole Junior High School in East Greenwich.

Since the trial began on June 7, the prosecution has called more than 20 witnesses to the stand, presenting its case in chronological order, hearing testimony about the days before and after Duffy-Stephenson’s murder.

Yesterday, the state’s last two witnesses, Dr. Dorota Latuszynski, a physician with the state medical examiner’s office, and Sharon E. Mallard, a forensic scientist at the state Department of Health, provided the remaining portions of the prosecution’s case: the autopsy report and DNA findings.

Duffy-Stephenson’s death was formally ruled a homicide on Nov. 19, 2005, the day after she was found. The cause of death, Latuszynski said, was an embolism — air was sucked into her veins through a wound in her neck — and exsanguination — the profuse loss of blood.

Latuszynski said she found incisions — long shallow cuts — and stab wounds on Duffy-Stephenson’s body. The largest wound was a series of cuts to her neck, which left a gaping hole beneath the chin. Duffy-Stephenson’s killer had sliced through her trachea, esophagus and carotid artery, which carries blood to the brain.

Using a laser pointer, Latuszynski outlined the jagged wound to Duffy-Stephenson’s neck on the photo projected in the courtroom.

“This is an incised wound to the neck,” she told the court. “See in the background is the backbone — the spine.”

Duffy-Stephenson didn’t succumb to her attacker easily. Her hands bore a series of cuts characteristic of so-called defensive wounds, Latuszynski said. In addition to her neck, Duffy-Stephenson sustained wounds to her chest, shoulders and stomach. Grouping some cuts for identification purposes, Latuszynski said she found 11 wounds on Duffy-Stephenson’s body — 8 of them stab wounds.

As a part of the autopsy, Duffy-Stephenson was checked for signs of forcible sexual activity. No rape occurred, Latuszynski said. Duffy-Stephenson’s finger and toenails were also clipped, in an effort to recover DNA from her attacker.

Those samples were sent to be analyzed by forensic scientist Mallard, who found male DNA beneath one of Duffy-Stephenson’s fingernails. By comparing the variations of genes, or alleles, at a particular position within the DNA structure, Mallard said that 99.9993462 percent of the population could be ruled out as the source of the DNA.

Richardson, she said, could not be included in that number.

That any evidence was found beneath Duffy-Stephenson’s fingernails at all was unusual, Mallard said. Many times, even in controlled tests, scientists are unable to recover any DNA from beneath fingernails, she said. DNA constantly transfers from surface to surface through blood, sweat, skin cells and semen, among other things, all of the time, she said. For DNA to embed itself beneath Duffy-Stephenson’s nails suggests she was involved in a struggle with her assailant, Mallard said.

“[It’s] not from a handshake,” she said. “It requires more than casual contact.”

Mallard testified she also analyzed blood samples left on the safe in James Stephenson’s office for DNA. She told the court she found DNA from Duffy-Stephenson and Stephenson, but not from Richardson.

Stephenson had been a suspect at the beginning of the investigation — a routine practice, according to testimony. His alibi withstood scrutiny, but the police continued to look at Stephenson because of the friendship he had with Richardson. Stephenson has since been cleared of any wrongdoing.

The defense is expected to begin presenting its case today. However, they are not required to present anything, Judge Darigan has said, since the burden of proof lies solely on the prosecution.

Richardson faces one count of murder and one count of burglary.