黑料福利社

At Randy Shea Gardner鈥檚 April trial in the murder of Julian Wabinga, his attorney told jurors that prosecutors didn鈥檛 provide them with enough evidence.

Specifically, Marjorie Alumbaugh said the state failed to provide DNA testing of what she considered key pieces of evidence, such as the gun prosecutors said was the murder weapon or a door on the floor of the barn where Wabinga was buried that appeared to have blood on it.

That trial ended in a mistrial, with one juror saying that prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gardner killed Wabinga.

On Thursday, at Gardner鈥檚 third trial in the killing of Wabinga in 2017, a forensic specialist and a scientist from the Washington State Patrol鈥檚 crime lab testified in Yakima County Superior Court about how samples of were gathered and tested.

Gardner, 53, is charged with first-degree murder in Wabinga鈥檚 death, and second-degree assault and felony harassment for threatening to shoot Douglas Irwin if he didn鈥檛 help him bury Wabinga, 45.

Prosecutors allege that Gardner fatally shot Wabinga on a summer day in 2017. Wabinga鈥檚 body was discovered June 5, 2018, when Gardner called Yakima County sheriff鈥檚 deputies to the home in the 500 block of Old Naches Highway and began digging up Wabinga.

This is the third time that Gardner has been tried for Wabinga鈥檚 death.

In 2022, a jury found Gardner guilty of all three charges and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, the latter charge stemming from Gardner鈥檚 1996 aggravated assault conviction in Utah, where authorities say Gardner bludgeoned a woman with a rock, raped and strangled her, ran over her with a motor vehicle and left her for dead.

But that conviction was overturned two years later when the Spokane-based Division III Court of Appeals found that sheriff鈥檚 detectives ignored Gardners鈥� request when they first questioned him. The court reversed Gardner鈥檚 conviction and returned the case to superior court for retrial.

In his second trial in April, jurors deadlocked, triggering a mistrial. A juror told the 黑料福利社 that the jury was split 8-4 in favor of acquittal, with the juror saying that it wasn鈥檛 that he believed Gardner was innocent but prosecutors failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was guilty.

Amanda Trickey-Morris, a forensic specialist with the sheriff鈥檚 office, testified Wednesday and Thursday about arriving at the scene and observing the exhumation of Wabinga鈥檚 body. Near where Wabinga was buried in the cluttered barn was a door frame and a door lying on the ground that was covered with dirt and appeared to have what looked like bloodstains.

Trickey-Morris said she performed a presumptive test on the stains that showed it could be blood from a mammal. On cross examination, Trickey-Morris said a human is also considered a mammal.

The samples were sent off to the state crime lab for more definitive testing, as well as three latex gloves that were found in the hole, a pair in Wabinga鈥檚 shorts pocket and a third one near his body.

The Kimber 9mm pistol that witnesses said Gardner used was recovered from a pawnshop and set to the state lab for testing, Trickey-Morris said.

Laura Dolezal, a forensic scientist from the state crime lab鈥檚 DNA section, said she conducted DNA tests of the evidence submitted, including part of Wabinga鈥檚 jawbone and two teeth. She said that the door swabs did not show material of human origin, there was no blood on the gun but a partial DNA sample was consistent with three individuals. But due to the sample鈥檚 complexity and lack of genetic information, she could not make a match.

She obtained a DNA sample from one of Wabinga鈥檚 teeth and, after comparing it with samples from his parents, determined that there was a one-in-930-quintillion chance that it could have come from anyone other than their child.

Nine-hundred-and-thirty-quintillion is 112 billion times the Earth鈥檚 current population.

鈥淚n short, are you saying the tooth belonged to the child of these two parents?鈥� defense attorney Etoy Alford asked Dolezal.

鈥淭he statistic indicates very strong support for originating from (the Wabingas),鈥� Dolezal said.

She said there was no DNA found on any of the gloves.

Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, Yakima County鈥檚 former medical examiner, testified that an autopsy showed Wabinga was shot twice, with the first shot striking him the thigh bone, while the second was fired into the left side of his head and passing through to the right side, where was lodged under the skin around the hinge point for the lower jaw.

Reynolds said the fact that Wabinga鈥檚 thigh bone, one of the strongest in the body, was shattered by the bullet suggests that Wabinga was standing, putting weight on the bone at the time he was shot. He said that shot would have knocked Wabinga to the ground, in extreme pain.

He said the second shot was delivered while Wabinga was on his right side, as it appears his head was against something hard that kept the bullet from exiting his head.

Reynolds said one of the wounds was a perfect 9mm in diameter.

Also testifying were retired sheriff鈥檚 Lt. Robert Tucker and sheriff鈥檚 Sgt. Joel Panattoni, who responded to the call for the body in the barn from Gardner.

Tucker said Gardner wanted him to witness him unearthing the body, while Panattoni said he asked Gardner 鈥渉ow far down it was鈥� and Gardner told him a foot-and-a-half.

On cross examination from Alumbaugh, Panattoni said his question was about the depth of the body, and he understood that is what Gardner meant when he said 18 inches, as opposed to how far down Gardner had dug.

He said that at one point Gardner hit something, and Panattoni said he smelled 鈥渢he smell of death,鈥� which he said was not there before.

Deputy Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Petersen told Naught he expects to rest his case Monday after putting his final witnesses on the stand, including Gardner鈥檚 ex-mother-in-law, ex-wife, and the man Gardner is accused of threatening to shoot if he did not cooperate in burying the body.

The trial, which began June 8, is scheduled to go for 10 business days.