Doctor’s DNA not in victim’s home
DNA recovered from blood on shoes belonging to murder accused Venod Skantha almost certainly came from slain Dunedin teen Amber-Rose Rush, a forensic scientist says.
The 32-year-old doctor denies killing the 16-year-old, who was found dead in her Corstorphine home on February 3 last year.
The High Court at Dunedin heard from ESR forensic scientist Timothy Power yesterday, who said blood found on Skantha’s grey suede shoes was 800,000 million times more likely to have originated from Amber-Rose than anyone else.
Power told Crown prosecutor Robin Bates the DNA evidence was ‘‘extremely strong’’.
The shoes were recovered from a Balclutha garage, where a key witness in the trial and Skantha went to stay on the morning of February 3, 2018, the day AmberRose was found dead in her bedroom.
Skantha’s DNA was recovered from inside the shoe.
Further testing of small droplets of blood found on the passenger side window of Skantha’s silver BMW also contained Amber-Rose’s DNA.
A mixed DNA profile – likely to have come from Skantha and Amber-Rose – was also recovered from the inside passenger door of the vehicle.
Power, under cross-examination from Jonathan Eaton, QC, said it would not be unusual for Skantha’s DNA to be found in his own vehicle, given that he often sat in the passenger seat.
Power also confirmed none of
Amber-Rose’s DNA was detected on Skantha’s watch.
Earlier this week, the key witness told the court he drove Skantha’s vehicle to Amber-Rose’s house on the night of the murder, and waited in the vehicle for Skantha to return.
Power said DNA analysis was carried out on items sourced from several scenes, including AmberRose’s Clermiston Ave home, Skantha’s Duxford Cres home, and the Balclutha property where he went in the days after the alleged murder.
No DNA profiles connected to the accused were recovered from the teen’s home.
Swabs from a spare key, found in the door by her brother after her murder, showed most of the DNA was from Amber-Rose. The minor DNA was too complex for testing, Power said.
DNA connected to the key witness was recovered from a spray bottle found in the kitchen of Skantha’s home.
Police allege Skantha murdered Amber-Rose on February 2, 2018, because he feared she would end his medical career by going to police and his work about his behaviour.
It has emerged during the trial that Skantha allegedly indecently assaulted Amber-Rose and offered her money for sex. Skantha’s defence argues the doctor was not in Amber-Rose’s bedroom on the night of the assault. Skantha also denies four charges of threatening to kill.
The trial continues.
Dangerous fire risk days in some parts of New Zealand could double by 2050, a fire scientist warns.
The warning comes as about 130 fires in New South Wales and Queensland rage on, a ‘‘sobering reminder of what is around the corner’’ according to the country’s Rural Fire Service commissioner.
Scion Rural Fire Research Group fire scientist Grant Pearce says New Zealanders need to be readying themselves to live in a country more at risk. ‘‘There is clear evidence the climate is changing and these kinds of conditions are becoming more frequent . . . over the next few decades we will see more severe weather which leads to fires.’’
Research by Niwa and Scion had shown New Zealand’s fire risk to 2050 was likely to rise significantly due to climate change – increases in temperature, wind speed and lower rainfall or humidity, Pearce said.
Regions already identified as hotspots – Marlborough, Canterbury and the East Coast of the North Island – currently experience 30 fire weather days a year but that could increase by up to 10 days a year by the period 2040-2059, he said.
Pearce said even in areas where fires were less common – like coastal North Otago, the lower North Island, Manawatu¯ and Whanganui – that risk could increase from five to eight severe fire weather days a year to 15-20. ‘‘That is a really dramatic increase.’’
Climate change’s higher temperatures combined with less rainfall could significantly increase the risk of fire, bringing with it extreme events on the scale of those currently being experienced in New South Wales and Queensland.
‘‘We are also expecting fire seasons to get longer; that is due to the summer conditions starting earlier – that is what we are seeing in Australia currently.’’
Summers are longer and hotter, and four of the past six years have been among New Zealand’s warmest on record, and nine of the world’s 10 warmest years have occurred since 2005. As well as increased bushfires, New Zealand may also experience more fire whirls and tornadoes, Pearce said. The Pigeon Valley fire –
New Zealand’s largest forest fire in 60 years covering more than 2300 hectares near Nelson – prompted an independent review, which found wildfires would occur more frequently. Released in October, the report said there was ‘‘a general lack of awareness within the Nelson and Tasman community around the risk, to them, of unplanned fire’’.
Pearce said it was time to prepare for the risk of fire more thoroughly.
With about 14,000-15,000 firefighters in the country, it would be sufficient to fight wildfires and they could draw from other places if needed, he said.
However, he said New Zealand may need more firefighting aircraft, a move away from the small helicopters currently used.
Blood found on Venod Skantha’s grey suede shoes was 800,000 million times more likely to have originated from Amber-Rose than anyone else.