Nickels DNA included on handcuff sample

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EPHRATA - A Washington State Patrol analyst testified David Nickels' DNA was included on a sample found on handcuffs located on Sage Munro's lawn.

Nickels' trial entered its eighth day of testimony, with witnesses testifying to seeing Nickels and Erick Alsager together in a Helena bar about two weeks after the murder, and about the DNA found at the murder scene. Nickels reportedly confessed to Alsager about the shooting.

Defense attorneys Jackie Walsh and Mark Larrañaga questioned the relationship between Nickels and his ex-girlfriend Marita Messick, Alsager's character and what it meant for Nickels' DNA to be included in the DNA found on the handcuffs.

Nickels, 31, Helena, Mont., is charged with first-degree murder in Grant County Superior Court. He is accused of shooting Munro outside of his Ephrata home on Dec. 29, 2009.

Anna Wilson, a Washington State Patrol Crime Lab DNA analyst, testified about a mix of DNA found on a pair of handcuffs. Police found the handcuffs on Munro's lawn. Wilson testified she found what was likely skin cells on the handcuffs.

"What I got was actually a mixture of at least three individuals on the handcuffs," she said. "A mixture is just multiple people are contributing to the sample that I have, and because there are so many numbers, I can't say, 'There is just this one person.' It's a mixture of at least three people. Those three people, I can't separate out because they've all contributed about the same amount of DNA."

With the information from the handcuffs, Wilson can say whether a particular person's DNA is included in the mixture or excluded from the mixture. She tests the samples against 13 indicators.

When Wislon tested Nickels' DNA against the mix of DNA found on the handcuffs she determined he was included in the mix.

"That means all of his numbers, his entire profile all those numbers are in the mixture from the handcuffs, so he's included as a contributor in that mixture," she said. "I did statistics to give weight to my conclusion, and so based on the US population, it is estimated that one in 2,300 individuals is a potential contributor to the mixed profile on the handcuffs."

Investigators need to determine how many people had access to the handcuffs to the crime scene to determine whether it's possible another person contributed the DNA found on the handcuffs.

Wilson tested samples from other people involved in the case including Rex Lain, Lain's father, three women and Ian Libby. Defense attorneys propose Libby killed Munro.

"I compared (Libby's sample) to ... the handcuffs," she said. "He was excluded."

Maquelle Stankey, Michelle Erb and Michael Kleeman all testified to seeing Nickels in a Helena bar shortly after Munro's death. All three testified they could hold a conversation in the bar.

Stankey, a friend of Nickels, testified about meeting Nickels in the bar and catching up with him. When investigators contacted Stankey about the murder, she testified to calling Nickels about the murder.

"I just called him and asked what was going on, and if he had done it," she said. "He just laughed it off a little bit (and) was very light-hearted about the whole situation."

Nickels denied committing the murder to Stankey, she said; adding he just made jokes about the situation.

Erb testified Nickels seemed happy and was buying drinks for everyone, saying he was buying Washington Apple shots.

Kleeman testified to seeing Alsager and Nickels speaking to each other. Alsager later told Kleeman about the conversation he had with Nickels, where Nickels reportedly confessed to killing Munro.

Walsh questioned Wilson about using the entire sample found on the handcuffs, preventing defense attorneys from testing the sample.

Wilson testified she contacted the Grant County Prosecutor's Office in February 2010 about using the entire sample because the handcuffs didn't have enough DNA on them to save a sample for defense attorneys.

"Once a sample is exhausted it can not be retested, is that right?" Walsh asked.

Wilson said Walsh was correct, so the lab has all the numbers, but doesn't have a way to test the sample again.

"The only thing they would be able to do is go through my entire case file and review what I did and then review the mixture profile," Wilson said.

Wilson found both male and female DNA on the handcuffs, and at least three people contributed to the sample, she testified.

"So when you say, 'At least three people,' there certainly could be more than three?" Walsh asked.

Wilson agreed there could, but there couldn't be any less.

Walsh presented Wilson with a hypothetical situation, asking about comparing the DNA indicators to phone numbers and if three people had a seven in their phone number whether a fourth person with seven in his phone number could be included.

"We have to go through each number series, so we have to go through the first set, and then the second set and then the third set," Wilson said. "In this hypothetical, there can only be one through nine, but in DNA typing profiles there can be many more than nine."

Wilson testified all of Nickels "numbers" are included in the mixture.

"We can't say he's a match because we can't pull out a single profile," she said.

Walsh questioned Wilson's statistics, pointing out handcuffs are portable, and could have come in contact with another possible contributor.

"We could sample everybody, but I don't have the means or funding or time to be able to sample everybody, and there probably would be a few people because of the statistics that may be included in this mixture," Wilson said. "That's why I give the statistics to you so it gives weight to my conclusion that he is included."

Wilson also testified she never tested the sample against Munro, saying police didn't provide a sample of Munro's DNA to the lab.

When Walsh asked Stankey whether Marita Messick seemed like a jealous person, she testified she did seem to be.

Stankey also testified Nickels told her to call police, and didn't encourage her to lie or withhold information from police.

"He said to talk to them and basically tell them whatever and kind of laughed it off," she said. "He was very light-hearted about the whole situation. He gave me the impression that it was just going to blow over, and not turn into something more."

Larrañaga questioned Kleeman about Alsager, and he called Alsager a storyteller, who liked to take pills before drinking alcohol. He added Alsager had always seemed honest to him.