Advisory: This story includes disturbing details about a murder trial.
The jury at murder trial learned more about what happened to samples taken from the body of a 13-year-old girl found dead in a Burnaby park six years ago.
On July 21, 2017, two days after the grim discovery, RCMP Forensic Laboratory technologist Jeremy Fenn examined a swab taken from inside her body and found “frequent spermatozoa” as well as skin cells, according to testimony at the trial of Ibrahim Ali this week.
Ali has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of the girl, whose body was found in Central Park on July 19, 2017.
The victim cannot be identified because of a publication ban.
Fenn was on the witness stand at the B.C. Supreme Court trial in Vancouver Tuesday.
An expert in the identification of human sperm and other biological substances at the RCMP National Forensic Lab in Surrey, he testified about 13 exhibits taken from the girl, including multiple swabs, a clump of hair, fingernail clippings and a blood sample.
The first exhibit he examined was a vaginal swab with “blood-like staining throughout the entire swab,” according to Fenn.
Under the microscope, a clipping of the swab revealed skin cells and “frequent spermatozoa,” Fenn said.
He explained “frequent” meant he saw more than 10 sperm cells.
Two other internal swabs also revealed "frequent" sperm.
But an examination of an oral swab and a clump of hair with a dried, sticky substance in it did not reveal sperm or evidence of semen, Fenn said.
After examining the exhibits, Fenn said he sent them to the lab’s analytical section for DNA extraction.
DNA evidence is crucial for the Crown’s case as there were no witnesses to the killing, according to the Crown.
The Crown’s theory is that Ali attacked the girl in Central Park, dragged her into the forest and strangled her while sexually assaulting her.
In her opening statement to the jury in April, Crown prosecutor Isobel Keeley said the court would hear DNA evidence that Ali’s sperm was found inside the girl and that “numerous witnesses will testify to their respective roles in the collection, continuity and testing of DNA-related exhibits.”
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