MACHIAS, Maine — The trial of Kailee Brackett and Donnell Dana continued into its fifth day Thursday in Washington County Superior Court, where jurors listened to ongoing witness testimonies and cross examinations.
Brackett and Dana were both charged with murder in the connection of the death of 43-year-old year old Kimberly Neptune, who was stabbed nearly 500 times at her Washington County home in April of 2022.
State prosecutors Leane Zainea and Donald Macomber called several detectives and experts from the Maine State Police forensics and crime lab to the stand to testify. Those individuals included Detective Dana Austin, Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit Sgt. Christopher Cookson, Maine State Police Crime Laboratory forensic chemist Melissa Robitaille, and Maine State Police forensic chemist and DNA analyst Catherine MacMillan.
Defense attorneys Jeffrey Toothaker and David Bate also called their witness to the stand after the state prosecution rested.
When state prosecutors called Cookson as a witness, he testified about cellphone records that were found during the investigation.
Cookson explained that there were no call detail or cell phone records found for Dana because his phone was not in service at the time of Neptune's alleged murder. His phone was also not in service for at least a month before Neptune was killed.
Cookson said there was some call detail information found on Brackett's phone on earlier during the day of April 20 that showed her cellphone connected to cellphone towers in Pleasant Point, then traveling to Eastport, and then later showed her phone traveling back to Pleasant Point for the remainder of the day.
Cookson also testified that at some point on April 20, Brackett's cell tower connection overlapped with Neptune's cell tower connection, indicating arches in call detail information, meaning that during the time Brackett's phone was traveling from Pleasant Point to Eastport and back, she and Neptune were in the same general area. Cookson explained that the overlap in cell tower connection does not mean Neptune and Brackett were in the same car or actually together but simply that the two were in close enough range to pick up signal from the same cell tower.
Cookson said there was no call detail information that showed Brackett's phone overlapping with Neptune's cell tower connection during the hours Neptune was believed to be killed. Testimonies from day four of the trial suggest Neptune may have been killed between 11 p.m. April 20 and 2 a.m. April 21.
Cookson also explained Neptune, Dana, and Brackett all lived in the same general cell tower coverage area, making it possible for them to have all been using the same cellular tower regularly.
Maine State Police forensic chemist Catherine MacMillan testified that DNA from at least nine different people was found under Neptune's nails. MacMillan said Brackett's DNA was not found on any of the evidence gathered from the crime scene.
However, when it comes to Dana, there were some DNA cultures taken from the crime scene that were a positive match.
Robitaille said she was responsible for swabbing evidence that was collected from the crime scene and determining whether she could detect human blood on the items.
She said more than 50 items were submitted as evidence. DNA was collected from Neptune's interior doorknob; interior deadbolt; stairwell; first, second, fourth, sixth step, eighth, 10th and 12th steps of Neptune's stairs; the wall in the stairway; the rail at the top of the stairway; Neptune's pillow case; a scratch ticket from a jacket in Neptune's room; a receipt from a jacket in her room; the wall behind Neptune's bed; the bedroom floor; a Gatorade bottle; and a bottle cap.
DNA evidence was also collected from the black long-sleeved T-shirt and black-and-pink leggings Neptune was wearing, a black blanket, three pairs of folded socks. MacMillan said the DNA collected from these items, with exception of the socks, solely tested positive as Neptune's blood.
MacMillan said the socks showed there was a DNA mixture, with the majority of the DNA testing positive as Neptune's DNA. MacMillan said the minor DNA detected was a partial or limited genetic profile. After further testing, it was concluded that Y-STR testing, which is the testing for Y-chromosomal genes, was found as a partial match to Dana's DNA.
Three knives were tested for DNA. One knife had stains, but it could not be confirmed whether the stains were from human blood, MacMillan said. There was no blood detected on the other two knives that were submitted as evidence. It is unclear whether those knives were collected from the crime scene or found somewhere else.
In reference to the Neptune's home, MacMillan said blood stains on the interior doorknob and deadbolt tested positive as Neptune's DNA.
According to MacMillan, blood stains from the first step on the stairwell was determined to be a positive match for Neptune's DNA. The second step was a DNA mixture, with Neptune's DNA being the major component. MacMillan said further Y-STR testing was not completed.
Step four was also found to be a mixture of DNA, but MacMillan said there was not enough DNA to determine the mixture, and further Y-STR testing was not done.
When it came to step six, MacMillan said a mixture of DNA was found, with Neptune's DNA as a major component and DNA from at least three to four other individuals. The mixture was determined to be too complex to determine who the DNA came from, and the DNA profile was not comparable, MacMillan said.
The DNA found on step eight was an insufficient amount of DNA to do any testing at all MacMillan said.
The DNA found on the 10th step was found to be a mixture of DNA with Neptune's DNA as a major component and Dana's DNA as a minor component after further Y-STR testing was done, MacMillan said.
The 12th step was a DNA mixture with Neptune's DNA as the major component, but MacMillan said the DNA profile for the minor component was limited, and no further Y-STR testing was done.
There was also a blood stain collected from the wall of the stairwell that was found to be a single source of DNA profile that matched Dana.
During cross examinations, Dana's defense attorney Jeffrey Silverstein asked MacMillan to clarify how partial DNA is considered. MacMillan said partial DNA is a probability, and in this case Dana's DNA was found to be a match with a probability of one out of every 11 people who could also theoretically be a possible match.
MacMillan also clarified a DNA mixture does not mean blood from two people was found. Instead, she said a DNA mixture could be a mix between one person's blood and another person's bodily fluids like urine, saliva, vomit, or even skin cells. Silverstein pointed out that Dana and Neptune were roommates for at least two years and that Dana moved out in 2021.
MacMillan also clarified there is no way to pinpoint when a blood or DNA profile is actually deposited on an item when testing for DNA.
The prosecution doubled down saying that although it is not certain a DNA mixture is a mixture of two people's blood, it could be, and the possibility is there.
The trial will continue Friday, Dec. 15.