MACHIAS, Maine — The murder trial of Kailie Brackett and Donnell Dana, who prosecutors say stabbed Kimberly Neptune more than 480 times at her apartment on the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation, drew testimony Thursday from the state’s Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, who detailed and showed the gruesome knife wounds found on Neptune.
Dr. Liam Funte told the jury the autopsy confirmed Neptune died from blood loss, contributed in large part by a knife wound to the neck that tore the carotid artery. He inferred that many of the hundreds of cuts Brackett and Dana are accused of making could have happened after Neptune had already died.
Funte also confirmed some of the wounds were consistent with Neptune fighting back against her attackers.
In the cross-examination of Funte, Brackett’s defense attorney Jeffrey Toothaker focused on the toxicology report from Neptune’s autopsy, which showed small amounts of alcohol, cannabis, and benzodiazepines in her system.
The state then called three more detectives from the Maine State Police Evidence Response Unit, including Detective Chad Lindsey who described interrogating Dana in the days following the crime, noting scratch marks on his body.
For its final witness, prosecutors called upon Melissa Dana, who lives on the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Reservation and knew both Neptune and Brackett. There was no specified relation between Melissa Dana and Donnell Dana.
Melissa Dana claimed to have seen Brackett in the time around the killing, wearing a clown mask and a jacket, despite it being unseasonably warm. Melissa Dana then identified Brackett in a video showing a person approaching the outside of Neptune’s apartment from Thunder Road and then retreating to the street. Before Melissa Dana’s testimony, the defense confirmed the lack of crime scene blood at Brackett’s home.
On Wednesday, the defense will begin calling its witnesses as the murder trial of Kailie Brackett and Donnell Dana enters its fourth day.