Ricardo Marquez trial update: Witness testimony sheds more light into what may have happened to Erika Gaytan
EL PASO, TX - The murder trial of Ricardo Marquez continued today, and witnesses provided their testimony to the court.
An officer with the El Paso Police Department was the first witness of the day, and his testimony revealed that he was the one that collected evidence from Marquez's brother-in-law's Jeep. Pictures of the Jeep's cargo area were shown, including a mat that had been sprayed with luminol by the officer. The mat had illuminated, indicating that blood may have been on it, but the officer would not confirm if it was indeed blood. He stated that various things can cause illumination, such as copper, iron unrelated to blood, dirt, and plant-based items.
The rest of the witnesses included forensic experts and scientists from the Department of Public Safety. Forensic scientist Jessica Gonzalez-Peña testified that she was able to confirm that blood was present on a mat found in Marquez's garage. Despite this, she could not confirm how old the blood was or if it could be attributed to Gaytan.
Kathy Serrano, another forensic scientist for DPS, stated that she was tasked with finding and identifying DNA from both Gaytan and Marquez. Using a DNA profile taken from Gaytan's toothbrush, she was able to compare the DNA found in the back of the Jeep to Gaytan. She found that the DNA had a probability of greater than 4 times that it could be Gaytan's. However, she testified that the probability was still too low to call the DNA a definitive match to Gaytan. Serrano then underwent cross-examination.
