LAST UPDATE | 20 May 2019

A FORENSIC SCIENTIST has told the murder trial of Ana Kriegel that she found DNA matching that of Boy A in semen staining found on a black top discovered in the room where Ana was found. 

Marce Lee Gorman of Forensic Science Ireland said there were two areas of a black strapped top which had semen staining on them. 

Lee Gorman said that when she tested the clothing she was able to generate a mixed-DNA profile. She said the profile matched both Boy A and Ana Kriegel. There was also a third unidentified DNA profile found.

Lee Gorman said there were two possibilities considered in her analysis of the staining. The first was that the DNA belonged to Ana, Boy A and another unidentified person or that it came from three unrelated people. She said she estimated that statistically, the first option was 1,000 million times more likely.

The forensic scientist said that no other semen was found on the other clothing found in the room where Ana was discovered.

Two boys, known as Boy A and Boy B, have pleaded not guilty to the 14-year-old girl’s murder on 14 May 2018. Boy A has also been charged with aggravated sexual assault – a charge he also denies. Both boys were 13 years old at the time of the alleged offences.

Ana’s body was discovered in a disused house three days after she disappeared in May last year. 

It is being alleged by the prosecution that Boy A murdered Ana and sexually assaulted her. It is the prosecution’s case that Boy B assisted the murder and knew what was going to happen. 

The court heard how Ana’s DNA was also found when she tested the sample from the black top. Lee Gorman explained that this mixed sample can occur if the item of clothing being tested is worn against the skin of the person wearing it.

Lee Gorman, showing the garment to the court, said that it had been damaged to a point where it could not be worn again. She said she observed that the right shoulder strap was stretched and pulled. She said this strap was “quite elongated” and that the stitching had ravelled. 

The scientist added that the top was torn along the hem from the top to the bottom. She said the left shoulder strap was completely severed.

Lee Gorman said it was not possible to say when the semen was deposited on the top.  

The forensic scientist told the court that she also examined a bra which was found in the room where Ana’s body was discovered. 

Lee Gorman said the bra was damaged and that the bridge fabric joining both cups was torn apart. She said it would take “a lot of pulling and tugging” to separate that piece of fabric.   

The court also heard that the two hooks and eyes and clasp at the back of a bra found in the room had been were stretched out and bent, which she said was possibly caused by pulling.

A mixed DNA profile was generated from the bra. The minor DNA sample was male in origin but it could not be determined who it belonged to. 

Afternoon evidence

This afternoon, the court heard how gardaí carried out a number of interviews with Boy B following his arrest on 24 May. Boy B was accompanied by his mother and a solicitor for the interviews which happened over the course of two days.

Sergeant Patrick Duggan told the court how special provisions were made at the garda station due to Boy B’s age. There was to be no other prisoners brought to that garda station so he would be the only person there and he wasn’t put in a cell.

The court heard that he was kept on the second floor of the station where there were chairs and tables. Bedding was brought in at night.

The jury was then shown the start of the first interview conducted between Boy B and gardaí. In the video, Boy B is asked if he understood the difference between right and wrong. He told gardaí that good would be giving a homeless man money and bad would be taking money off a homeless man. He is then asked to tell the difference between truth and lies.

Boy B gave an example saying if you did something bad then the truth would be you saying exactly what happened. He said if you lie, then it’s a “fake story”.

He told gardaí that he had visited an abandoned house near the local park a number of months prior to Ana’s death. He said he and his friends had gone exploring.

Searches of Boy B’s home

Earlier today, the Central Criminal Court heard details of searches carried out at the home of Boy B on the 24 May – the day the two boys were arrested in relation to the murder of Ana Kriegel.

A number of iPads, mobile phones and other electronic devices were seized during this search.

A roll of blue builders’ tape was also found in the shed of the house. The father of Boy B told gardaí that he had bought it in a builders’ providers in Dublin and that he had not used the tape in around six months.

The court heard that a black flick-knife was also found in Boy B’s bedroom, a room which he shared with an older brother.

A number of pairs of runners, a phone Sim card, two backpacks, a Playstation 4 and a USB key were also seized. 

The trial continues.