Opinion ID: 3135291
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Defendant next argues that the State failed to prove him guilty of aggravated kidnaping, aggravated criminal sexual assault, and first degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt. When considering a challenge to a criminal conviction based upon the sufficiency of the evidence, our function is not to retry the defendant. People v. Milka, 211 Ill. 2d 150, 178 (2004). Rather, we must determine “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Emphasis in original.) Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560, 573, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 2789 (1979); People v. Collins, 106 Ill. 2d 237, 261 (1985). In reviewing the evidence we will not substitute our judgment for that of the trier of fact. People v. Collins, 214 Ill. 2d 206, 217 (2005). The weight to be given the witnesses’ testimony, the credibility of the witnesses, resolution of inconsistencies and conflicts in the evidence, and reasonable inferences to be drawn from the testimony are the responsibility of the trier of fact. Milka, 211 Ill. 2d at 178; People v. Evans, 209 Ill. 2d 194, 211 (2004). A conviction may be sustained on circumstantial evidence, provided the elements of the crime have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Milka, 211 Ill. 2d at 178; People v. Buss, 187 Ill. 2d 144, 211 (1999). “The trier of fact need not, however, be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt as to each link in the chain of circumstances. It is sufficient if all of the evidence taken together satisfies the trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt.” People v. Hall, 194 Ill. 2d 305, 330 (2000). With these principles in mind, we consider the evidentiary record in detail. The Victim In 1987, Amy Schulz, then 10 years old, lived with her father Dennis, brothers Adam and Ryan (then aged 14 and 12, respectively), and stepmother, Esther, in a mobile home located a half mile south of Kell, Illinois. Kell is situated in Marion County just north of County Line Road, which separates Marion County to the north and Jefferson County to the south. On July 1, 1987, the date of Amy’s disappearance and murder, Amy spent the day with her father and -42- Ryan at her father’s vacuum cleaner business in Salem. According to Dennis Schulz, they returned home at 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Amy changed her clothes, putting on a pair of red, homemade shorts, a red shirt, white socks, and white tennis shoes. Amy sauteed some mushrooms for herself and went to visit Gwen and William Willis, her “step-grandparents.”4 The Willises lived 100 yards north of the Schulzes across a field. Gwen Willis testified that she and Amy ate blackberries in the backyard, after which Amy returned home. Later that evening, Dennis Schulz gave Amy a flashlight and sent her into town to tell Ryan that Biscuit, one of the family dogs that was missing earlier, had been found. Because Jefferson Street is the only road that leads from the Schulz home into Kell, Dennis expected that Ryan and Amy would meet up at some point. Amy stopped at the Willis home around 8:30 p.m., stayed a short time, and then left, walking north on Jefferson Street toward Kell. Ryan never saw Amy, and Amy never returned home. Amy was last seen by neighbors Cathy Simmons and Paul Sherwin, who saw Amy walking south on Jefferson Street at about 9:10 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., respectively. The following morning an oil-field worker discovered Amy’s body on a dirt oil lease road in rural Jefferson County. Vehicle Sightings Cathy Simmons, who was 16 years old at the time of Amy’s murder, lived in Kell and knew the Schulz family. She testified that on the evening of July 1, 1987, she and her sister Cheri took a walk and saw Amy. Amy asked if they had seen her brother; Simmons told her no. Simmons and her sister finished their walk, arriving back home at 8:45 p.m. or 8:50 p.m. Simmons stayed on the front porch for a half hour. At about 9:10 p.m., Simmons again saw Amy, who was headed south on Jefferson Street. About 5 or 10 minutes later, Simmons saw a tan, older model vehicle, which she had seen twice earlier that evening, also headed south on Jefferson Street. Simmons saw the taillight configuration on the tan-colored car for about 30 seconds, and worked with a police artist to produce a sketch. The taillights in 4 Gwen Willis was Esther Schulz’s mother; William Willis was Gwen’s husband. -43- the sketch were similar to the taillights on her parents’ vehicle, but were not a match with the taillights on defendant’s vehicle. Simmons was not sure whether the drawing accurately reflected what she saw that night. Simmons offered conflicting testimony as to whether defendant’s vehicle was the same color as the vehicle she saw on July 1, 1987. She also admitted telling the defense investigator in a May 2002 interview, after being shown photographs of defendant’s vehicle, that defendant’s car was not the car she saw on July 1, 1987. She noted, at that time, that the taillights were different and that defendant’s vehicle had no rust on the right passenger wheel well, unlike the vehicle she saw in 1987. She also told investigators on July 2, 1987, that the driver of the vehicle was on the thin side, a description that would not fit defendant. Defendant’s brother, Kenneth, testified that in August 1987, defendant, who was 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighed about 250 or 260 pounds. Simmons’ sister, Cheri Norton, also testified regarding the walk they took the night Amy disappeared. Norton recalled that they saw a vehicle in town that evening that they did not recognize, but she could not provide a description of the vehicle. Darlene Prior, a Kell resident, testified that on the night of July 1, 1987, she left her sister’s home, which was located on Jefferson Street, at about 9 p.m. On her way home, Prior noticed a creamcolored car which resembled a car she used to own–an older Dodge Polaris–going faster than she thought it should. The taillights looked similar to the taillights in the police sketch. Prior did not recall telling officers on July 10, 1987, that the taillights on the car she saw did not look like those in the drawing. The Crime Scene Richard Caudell, a crime-scene technician with the Illinois State Police, processed the crime scene. Because Caudell died prior to defendant’s retrial, Caudell’s testimony from defendant’s first trial was read to the jury. Caudell testified that the victim was found on a dirt, oil-lease road in Jefferson County about 108 feet west of where the lease road meets county road 1975 east (a north-south dirt and oil road). The victim was lying on her stomach, nude, covered with dust -44- and dirt, with a large amount of blood around her head. A large open wound on the right side of her neck exposed the spinal cord area. Caudell observed shoe impressions on the victim’s back and hairs “stuck in the rectum area.” Caudell also observed a set of tire tracks that began at the entrance to the oil lease road and ended 17 feet from where the body lay, as well as a shoe impression in the mud about six feet from where the tire tracks ended. The shoe impression, which was similar to the shoe impressions on the victim’s back, was located on what would be the driver’s side. Although he observed no trail of boot prints leading to the body, he observed the same tread design on the ground beside the body. Caudell made plaster casts of the tire tracks and shoe impression, and bagged the victim’s clothing which was found on road 1975 east. The underpants had been cut or ripped up the sides, and the red shorts and T-shirt had been turned inside out. The victim’s shoes and socks were also recovered. Donald Ostermeyer, a defense expert in crime-scene techniques and the recovery of evidence, was critical of Caudell. Ostermeyer testified that Caudell should have removed the hairs from the body immediately to prevent loss, and that Caudell compromised the crime scene by placing a sheet over the body. Ostermeyer was also critical of Officer Anthis, the case agent assigned to investigate the matter, because he did not view the crime scene until July 3, 1987. He further testified that police should have talked to oil-field workers about the tire prints. The State and defendant offered evidence that the distance from Kell to the crime scene was approximately 12 miles. Officer John Kemp testified that the most direct route would take approximately 14 minutes to drive, ending in a desolate area of the county. According to Kemp, unless the driver knew the area, “you would basically wander around through there for an extended period of time before you came back to something you recognized to get you back to a main road.” The State offered testimony from Officer Kemp and Russell Hails, a local farmer, which the State argued demonstrated that defendant was familiar with the area. According to their testimony, the last family that lived down the road from where the body was found was the Hufford family. Their home was located about a half mile from the crime scene. Susan Hufford married -45- defendant’s brother Kenneth, and Deborah Hufford married defendant’s brother Michael.5 The Huffords lived at that location until the mid-1980s. According to Joan Sutherland, Susan and Kenneth lived at the Hufford home for a short time. In addition, Officer Kemp testified that defendant previously lived at County Line Road and Harmony Road, about 4½ miles from where the body was found. The Autopsy Dr. Steven Nuernberger performed an autopsy on July 3, 1987. The autopsy revealed an incised wound to the victim’s neck, made by a nonserrated blade, which began left of the midline and had four separate starting marks. The four marks fused into one deep cut that ended behind the right ear, severing the jugular vein and the carotid artery on the right side of the neck and cutting into the cartilage between the fourth and fifth vertebral body in the spinal cord. In addition to the incised wound, Dr. Nuernberger observed hemorrhaging to various neck muscles and the right eye, and that the larynx had been crushed. He observed no ligature marks. Dr. Nuernberger testified that these injuries were consistent with strangulation effected by human hands grasping the victim around the neck. Three distinct areas of hemorrhaging beneath the scalp indicated that the victim had also sustained three blows to the head. In addition, the inner surface of the upper and lower lips were torn and bruised, suggesting that “[s]he had been smacked across the mouth.” The victim’s right ear was torn off at the base, and she had numerous abrasions and contusions. Dr. Nuernberger observed a discreet heel print in dirt on the lower back, and a second heel print on the upper right back that was delivered with “a lot of force,” injuring the skin. Further examination revealed a subtle abrasion of the labia majus, but no vaginal penetration. Anal penetration, occurring either shortly before or after death, was evident, as was a fracture of the right first rib occurring during the same time frame. 5 At the time of the events at issue here, Michael was married to Tina, who was also a witness in this case. -46- An examination of the internal organs revealed trauma to the right kidney and that the liver had been torn almost in half, indicating that “a lot of force” had been applied across the abdomen. Based on the small amount of internal bleeding that occurred in connection with the liver injury, Dr. Nuernberger concluded that the injury occurred postmortem. Dr. Nuernberger testified that based on his examination, the victim was strangled first, possibly into unconsciousness, after which her throat was slit. The pool of blood at the location where the body was found, and the absence of a trail of blood, indicated that the body was not moved after her throat was cut. In addition, exsanguination from the incised wound was more rapid than normal “because someone stepped on her back and squeezed the blood out of her body.” Nothing at the crime scene suggested to Dr. Nuernberger that the confrontation between the victim and her attacker was prolonged; the confrontation could have occurred in a “frenzied few minutes.” Dirt on the victim’s feet indicated that the victim may have been dragged. Finally, Dr. Nuernberger testified that based on the stomach contents, if the victim last ate at approximately 6:30 p.m., death occurred between three to four hours later, i.e., between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Boot and Tire Impression Evidence David Brundage, an expert in footwear and tire track identification with the Illinois State Police, examined the plaster casts of the tire and boot impressions from the crime scene. Brundage determined that the boot print was made by a Texas Steer brand boot sold only by K mart stores. Brundage acknowledged that the Texas Steer boots that were among defendant’s possessions in Montana had a different lug pattern on the sole and could not have left the prints at the scene. Brundage did not attempt to size the plaster casts of the boot impressions. Dr. Nuernberger, however, testified that the shoe impressions on the victim’s back appeared larger than his size 9½ shoe, although the doctor admitted that shoe size was not his area of expertise. The State also offered testimony from William Bodziak, an expert in footwear impressions, that the boot which left the print at -47- the crime scene was a size 12. Pursuant to directions from Bodziak, Officer Kemp measured defendant’s feet using three different methods. Based on Kemp’s measurements, Bodziak concluded that defendant’s feet are “approximate 12s.” Bodziak could not determine the size of the shoe that left the print on the victim’s back, but testified that it was larger than a size 7. Defendant countered this evidence with testimony from Nicholas Petraco, an expert in footwear analysis, that the boot that left the prints at the crime scene was a size 7 or 8. In contrast, defendant’s Texas Steer boots were size 12 triple E. According to Petraco, the style of the Texas Steer boot that left the prints at the scene was not available in a triple E width. Marvin Edelman, a senior buyer at Meldisco, the company that manufactured Texas Steer boots, confirmed that the style in question was manufactured in sizes 7 through 13 in medium width only. Edelman noted, however, that if a customer needed a wider width, he or she could simply go up a half size. In addition to Petraco’s testimony, defendant offered the testimony of his brother, Michael Sutherland, and the testimony of Charles Parker, formerly a special agent with the Illinois State Police. Michael recalled that on the night of July 1, 1987, defendant was wearing his black lace-up boots, and Parker testified that none of the boots in the Sutherland household matched the prints at the scene. Tina Sutherland (Michael’s wife) also testified that defendant was wearing black lace-up boots that evening. David Brundage also examined the plaster casts of the tire impressions found at the scene and concluded that the prints were made by a bias-belted tire, rather than a radial tire. Brundage sent a black and white photo of the best plaster cast to over 100 tire manufacturers and distributors for help in identifying the tire that left that print. Plaiston Tire and Laramie Tire suggested, respectively, that the print could have been made by a Dean Polaris or Falls Persuader tire, both manufactured by Cooper Tire. Steve Cramer, the operations manager for consumer relations at Cooper Tire, also believed the print could have been made by a Cooper Tire brand tire and suggested that Brundage obtain a used Falls Persuader tire for comparison. In September 1987, Brundage obtained a used Falls Persuader tire and concluded that the plaster casts from the crime scene were consistent -48- with the Falls Persuader tire. Brundage also testified that the prints could have been created by a Dean Polaris tire. He explained that the minor differences between a Falls Persuader tire and a Dean Polaris tire that are visible when the tires are new disappear with wear. Brundage admitted that David Mires, Cooper Tire’s chief engineer, offered a different opinion. Mires maintained that the print was not made by a Cooper Tire brand tire but by a Goodyear Custom Super Cushion, possibly mounted on a trailer. Brundage explained that he valued Cramer’s opinion over Mires’ opinion because Cramer’s job at Cooper Tire was to evaluate damaged tires, “so he was used to looking at tires in a worn condition,” whereas Mires’ job involved the design of new tires. Mark Thomas, an engineer in the tire mold design group at Cooper Tire, was aware that Mires did not believe the print at the scene was made by a Cooper Tire brand tire, but he did not recall whether he spoke to Mires about the possibility of the print being made by a Goodyear tire. Thomas testified that the print from the scene showed the same number of ribs, grooves, and sipes, and the same repetitive pitch design, as either the Dean Polaris or Falls Persuader tire. He further testified that, based on evidence of “malwear,” the tire would have been mounted on the front of the vehicle. According to Thomas, 300,000 Falls Persuader and Dean Polaris tires were produced from 1972 to 1987. In October 1987, Brundage traveled with investigators to Montana to examine defendant’s vehicle, which had a Falls Persuader tire in the right front position. Brundage determined that, with the exception of additional wear, the tire on defendant’s vehicle exhibited all the same class characteristics as the plaster cast and that it could have made the impressions at the crime scene. A positive identification was not possible because the individual characteristics were either obliterated or very unclear on the plaster cast. In November 1987, investigators provided Brundage five additional tires from other vehicles for examination. In a report dated December 4, 1987, Brundage concluded that three of the tires, in addition to the tire from defendant’s vehicle, could not be excluded or identified as creating the print at the scene. At trial, however, his conclusion changed. Brundage testified that only one of the tires he examined could have made the print: defendant’s tire. Brundage -49- testified that the day before he took the witness stand, the prosecutor had asked him to reevaluate the tires, which he did, at the prosecutor’s office. Brundage explained that the reason for the change in his opinion was that the investigation of the tires he conducted in the prosecutor’s office the previous day was “a more thorough investigation” than the one he had conducted in his laboratory in 1987 and that he had a little more knowledge about tires currently than he did 17 years earlier. The defendant offered testimony from a friend and mechanic, Ronald Lawrence, that sometime after July 24, 1987, but prior to defendant’s trip to Montana, he changed all four tires on defendant’s vehicle. Lawrence admitted, however, that in a March 1994 affidavit he stated that he changed three tires on defendant’s vehicle between July 28 and August 4, 1987. Lawrence also admitted testifying at a prior hearing in 1998 that he had changed 10 tires on defendant’s vehicle between the date of the murder and late August. Vicki Lawrence, Ronald’s wife, also testified that on July 24, 1987, defendant was at their home for their son’s tenth birthday party. Vicki was upset because her husband came home from work and changed the tires on defendant’s car, rather than coming inside the house for the party. The first time Vicki went outside they were changing the right front passenger tire; the second time she went outside they were changing “the other tire.” Vicki acknowledged that she provided an affidavit in this case in March 1994 that made no mention of this. In addition to the Lawrences, defendant’s mother, Joan Sutherland, testified that she gave a statement to police on October 26, 1987, in which she advised investigators that her son had changed the front tires on his vehicle after Amy’s murder and prior to his departure for Montana. William Anderson, with Gator Tire, testified for the State that he examined the right front tire from defendant’s vehicle to determine whether it had been on another vehicle. If the tire had been removed by hand, he would have expected to see marks on the rim, which he did not see. -50- Human Hairs Recovered From the Body Richard Caudell, the crime-scene technician, observed hairs “stuck in the rectum area” of the victim. Dr. Nuernberger, who performed the autopsy, also observed hairs “adherent to the anal crease and the buttocks  by fecal matter.” Kenneth Knight, a forensic scientist and expert in hair and fiber analysis, examined the hairs recovered from the victim’s rectum: eight Caucasian head hairs, which were consistent with Amy’s head hairs; two Caucasian pubic hairs, which had been forcefully removed from the source; one Caucasian hair of undetermined body origin; and one animal hair, whose species could not be identified. The pubic hairs were used to screen suspects because of their location on the victim and the fact that the victim was prepubertal and thus had no pubic hair of her own. In July 1987, Knight conducted microscopic comparisons of the two pubic hairs found on the victim with pubic hair standards from Dennis, Esther, Adam and Ryan Schulz, Gwen and William Willis, and 23 other individuals. In making his comparisons, Knight considered 23 characteristics, including the hair’s relative length and color; the hair’s configuration, i.e., whether the hair was straight, curly, or wavy; whether the tip of the hair was tapered, broken, rounded, cut or shaved; whether the root was retched, putrid, or bulbous; the size of the shaft; whether the base of the hair was pigmented or damaged; the scale pattern; and the cuticle. Knight explained that to make a determination that an unknown hair could have originated from the same source as a known standard, all the characteristics present in the unknown hair must be present in the standard, with no unexplained differences. When a difference exists that cannot be explained, the source of the known standard must be excluded as a source of the unknown hairs. Based on his microscopic analysis, Knight concluded that the pubic hairs recovered from the victim were dissimilar to the pubic hairs standards from the Schulzes, Willises, and the 23 other individuals and did not originate from them. Knight also microscopically compared the two pubic hairs with pubic hair standards from defendant and determined that the hairs were consistent with each other. Knight noted a difference in pigmentation in the shaft of defendant’s hair, but considered this difference insignificant. Knight concluded that the pubic hairs found on the victim could have originated from defendant. According to -51- Knight, five other examiners reviewed his work with regard to defendant’s hair standards, and all five examiners agreed with his conclusion. The pubic hairs recovered from the victim and the standards obtained from defendant were also subjected to mtDNA analysis. Harold Deadman, the State’s expert on forensic analysis of hair, fiber, and DNA, testified that human hair comparisons based on microscopy are quite difficult because microscopy involves a subjective examination, and the “ability to get the right answer depends on the skill of the person doing the comparison.” Deadman further testified that mtDNA analysis is a more objective technique and, when performed after microscopy, functions “as kind of a quality control mechanism,” likely to pick up a mistake by the microscopist. Neither method, however, provides absolute identification. The differences between nuclear DNA and mtDNA were explained by Harold Deadman, as well as John Planz, an expert in the application of DNA and mtDNA techniques in forensic testing, and Terry Melton, whose lab, Mitotyping Technologies, performed the mtDNA analysis in this case. Generally, nuclear DNA is found in the nucleus of a cell and is transmitted by both parents to their offspring. In contrast, mtDNA is housed in the mitochondria of a cell, found in the cytoplasm surrounding the nucleus. No paternal contribution is made to mtDNA; it is inherited only maternally. Thus, a mother, her children, the mother’s siblings, and the mother’s maternal ancestors all have the same mtDNA. A nuclear DNA molecule has a “double helix” structure and contains three billion “base pairs” consisting of four chemicals: adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine. Although mtDNA also exhibits a “double helical” form, it is more compact and contains only about 16,569 base pairs. Scientists conducting DNA analysis of two samples compare the sequencing of the base pairs in certain control regions on the DNA strands. A match between two nuclear DNA profiles is much more discriminating than a match between two mtDNA profiles. Terry Melton testified that her laboratory performed an mtDNA analysis of the two pubic hairs found on the body, and blood samples obtained from defendant and William Willis, Amy’s step-grandfather. Melton explained that the mtDNA is first extracted, then copied and -52- sequenced, producing a “string of chemical bases 783 long.” The sequences from the known sample and unknown sample are then compared. A single difference is inconclusive. Two or more differences means that the donor of the known sample, along with the donor’s maternal relatives, are all excluded as the source of the unknown sample. A complete match between the two sequences means that the known individual, and his or her maternal relatives, cannot be excluded as the donor of the unknown sample. If a match is obtained, a search of the “Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods” (SWGDAM) database reveals how rare or common the sequence may be in the general population, allowing for further statistical analysis. John Planz explained that the SWGDAM database, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintains and controls, contains over 4,000 mtDNA sequences from primarily North American populations and is constantly growing. The mtDNA sequencing performed at Melton’s laboratory disclosed numerous differences between the mtDNA sequences in the two pubic hairs found on the victim and in Willis’ blood. Thus, Willis was excluded as a possible donor of the two pubic hairs. However, a comparison of the mtDNA sequences from the unknown hairs and defendant’s blood produced a match. Melton’s laboratory analyzed a third hair of unknown origin removed from the sheet used in transporting the body to the morgue. The mtDNA analysis excluded Willis, the victim, and defendant as the source of the hair. Melton did not find the absence of a match significant. She testified that because humans shed between 75 and 100 hairs per day, it is not uncommon to find hairs at a crime scene that are unrelated to the crime. Melton’s laboratory analyzed a fourth hair, identified as a human hair from the victim’s rectal crease. The mtDNA sequence in this hair was identical to the mtDNA sequences in the two pubic hairs recovered from the body, as well as the mtDNA sequence obtained from defendant’s blood. To determine the significance of the match between the mtDNA from the three hairs found on the victim and the mtDNA in defendant’s blood, a search was made of the SWGDAM database. Melton testified that this type of sequence had never been observed in the database, indicating a certain rarity in the population. Statistically, -53- the sequence observed here would not be expected to occur in more than six one-hundredths of one percent (.06%) of the North American population. Stated differently, at least 99.94% of the North American population would not be expected to have this type of mtDNA sequence. Melton further explained: “So the vast majority of people will not have this type, and we place that with what we call a 95 percent confidence. So five percent of the time it could be different, but it’s not likely to be more than that 95 percent of the time.” Melton also clarified that “we cannot ever eliminate the possibility that a maternal relative [of defendant] was the donor” of the hairs found on the victim. Testimony from various family members established that defendant had numerous maternal relatives, and that defendant, Michael Sutherland, Kenneth Sutherland, and their uncle Walter Sinclair, all lived within eight or nine minutes of each other. Melton further testified that no measurable pooling of genes exists in any of the regions of the United States that have been sampled, and she has not seen mtDNA sequences that appear to be abundant in one region that are not abundant somewhere else. “[W]e don’t have any indication that we would go out into a particular city or town and start seeing one type picked at random over and over again. Not if we have a population to choose from of some size.” William Shields, a defense expert in population and molecular genetics, reviewed Melton’s mtDNA reports. Shields testified that Melton’s reputation in the scientific community was very good and that the laboratory results Melton obtained were “good clean results.” Shields disagreed, however, with Melton’s statistical analysis and her use of the SWGDAM database. In his opinion, Melton underestimated the frequency of the mtDNA sequence in this case, thus overstating the significance of the match. Shield’s disagreement stemmed from the notion of “population substructure, the fact that the frequency of genetic types will differ among groups of different kinds.” To illustrate his point, he offered the following example: “Red heads have a reasonably low frequency. If you look at the whole world’s population. And, in fact, if I was in  what used to be called the Belgium [sic] Congo, and somebody told me a red head committed a crime, I could -54- probably find that there were only three or four red heads in the population , which would give me a pretty good handle on what was going on. The frequency would be very low . But if I went to an Irish village in a particular place in Ireland, where 90 percent of the people are red heads, it would have very little meaning. That’s the difficulty.” Shields noted that in this case, there are at least three individuals besides defendant who share the same mtDNA, but that this information is not reflected in the SWGDAM database used by Melton. He testified that a way to insure that the worth of the evidence is not overestimated is to develop an “upper limit,” i.e., a frequency that the true frequency is not likely to be greater than. Shields testified that because the population in the geographic area of the crime is not known, the best estimate of the likelihood that someone drawn at random from that population would be a match with the mtDNA from the crime scene is the largest number seen in any populations that are known. The largest such number seen in any population reflected in the SWGDAM database is 1 in 12, reflected in the Thai population. “What it means is we think that if the Thais could have this level of matching, so could a local population that we’ve not sampled.” Robert Makuch, a defense expert in biostatistics, agreed with Melton’s calculations, but disagreed with her conclusion that “we can exclude 99.93% of the population as contributors of the questioned sample.” Melton’s report, which Makuch reviewed, stated that, based on a database of 4,142 mtDNA sequences, “the 95% confidence limit is 0.000722, or .07%,” meaning that “there is a 5% chance that the true frequency in the population exceeds 0.07%.” Makuch explained that, multiplying 4,142 by .07 yields a value of 3. “So what it really is saying within 95 percent confidence,  it would be reasonable for us to see between zero matches and up to three matches with a data base of this size.  [B]ut then to turn it on its head and then to say that we can exclude 99.93 percent of the population is in biostatistics, it’s simply an inappropriate conclusion for those kinds of data.” Makuch also testified that from a practical standpoint, we know that defendant’s siblings have the same mtDNA. -55- In rebuttal, the State called Bruce Budowle, a senior scientist with the FBI who had a primary role in developing the SWGDAM database. Budowle did not disagree with either Melton’s calculations or Makuch’s calculations, testifying that the results each obtained are simply expressed differently. Budowle did, however, disagree with Shields’ worst case scenario that the mtDNA frequency in this case is one in 12. Budowle also testified that even in small communities, the pooling of a particular mtDNA sequence does not occur to the degree necessary to affect case interpretation. Additionally, Harold Deadman testified that knowing defendant has brothers would affect only the associative value of the mtDNA evidence, but not the value of the microscopic hair comparisons. Deadman testified that even the hair from identical twins could be microscopically dissimilar. Thus, although Deadman had not seen any reports concerning microscopic examinations of the hair of defendant’s siblings and other maternal relatives, he would not expect their hair to be microscopically similar to defendant’s hair. Fibers From Victim’s Clothing and Defendant’s Vehicle Kenneth Knight, who examined the human hair recovered from the body, also examined the fiber evidence recovered from the victim’s clothing and defendant’s vehicle. Knight testified that where two fibers are consistent with each other, i.e., have no significant or meaningful differences, the conclusion is that the fibers “could have originated” from the same source. Harold Deadman testified that a cross-transference, i.e., a two-way transfer of fibers, adds evidential value because the odds of finding these fibers by chance is small, which makes the likelihood that the objects were in contact much greater. According to Deadman, to find any more than a small number of matching fibers by pure coincidence is very unlikely. Knight testified that among the fibers found on the victim’s clothing were three gold fibers and one gold tuft (comprised of over 30 individual fibers) found on the socks; six gold fibers found on the shoes; nine gold fibers found on the underpants; eight gold fibers found on the shorts; and three gold fibers found on the shirt. Knight compared these fibers with carpet standards from the front and back of defendant’s vehicle. With the exception of one gold fiber from the -56- shirt, all of the individual gold fibers and the gold tuft were consistent with the carpeting in defendant’s vehicle. Specifically, Knight testified that the fibers were all large-diameter, trilobal, polyester fibers, consistent in color, fluorescence, and refraction. The gold fiber on the victim’s shirt that was inconsistent with the carpeting was a mediumdiameter gold fiber made of nylon. That fiber was consistent with the fabric in the front and back seats of defendant’s vehicle. Knight was provided carpet standards from the victim’s environment, including the Schulz residence, the Willis residence, and Salem Vacuum Cleaners (Dennis Schulz’s business), for comparison with the gold fibers found on the victim’s clothing. Knight concluded that the gold fibers and the gold tuft did not originate from the victim’s environment, as represented by these standards. In addition, Knight contacted J.P. Stevens & Co., whose name was listed on the carpet tag removed from defendant’s vehicle. Robert Woosley, previously with J.P. Stevens and now a consultant for the automotive carpet industry, testified that the gold polyester carpet identified by the carpet tag was manufactured exclusively for Chrysler. According to Gary Mallett, formerly with the Chrysler corporation, the type of carpeting installed in defendant’s vehicle was used only in certain models for model years 1977 and 1978. Erring on the high side, Mallett estimated that the same type of carpeting was installed in 80,450 vehicles. Harold Deadman testified that, assuming all the vehicles in which the same gold carpeting was installed still existed in 1987, the odds were one in 1,400 of picking a car at random with the same carpeting. Kenneth Knight further testified regarding the fibers recovered from defendant’s vehicle, which was transported in a rental truck from Montana to Mt. Vernon, Illinois, for processing. Knight testified he did not know how many persons were in the vehicle after July 1, 1987, the date of the murder. Other testimony indicated that a gas station employee drove the car briefly late in the day on July 1, 1987, and that during the period from October 10, 1987 (the date the car was found in Montana), and October 28, 1987 (the date the car was processed), at least two park rangers had been inside the vehicle. In addition, testimony from Officer Anthis, who had flown to Montana and arranged for the transport of the vehicle to Illinois, suggested that -57- the car could have been driven a short distance when the Jefferson County police conducted their initial investigation of the vehicle. Knight testified that over 6,000 red fibers were recovered from the vehicle and all but 19 were dissimilar to the victim’s clothing. Specifically, 12 cotton fibers and 4 polyester fibers from the front passenger carpeting were consistent with the victim’s shirt, which was a red polyester and cotton blend. In addition, one red fiber recovered from the front passenger carpeting, and two red fibers found on the front passenger seat, were consistent with the victim’s red shorts. Knight considered this match significant because the victim’s shorts were homemade out of a fabric not typically used for clothing: a multilobe, large-diameter polyester fabric. Harold Deadman also considered the red fibers uncommon. The 19 red fibers were inconsistent with carpet standards obtained from the victim’s environment, as well as clothing and a bedspread found in defendant’s vehicle. Fiber standards from the two park rangers who were inside the vehicle were not provided to Knight for comparison. Randall Bresee, a defense expert on fiber analysis, criticized Knight’s methodology, testifying that Knight’s observations were largely subjective. According to Bresee, Knight failed to perform a quantitative analysis of the fibers, such as counting the delusterant particles, measuring fluorescence, and computing the fiber diameter values and modification ratios (a quantitative measure of fiber shape). He also testified that the visual color comparison Knight performed is error-prone, and that the better method would have been to identify the dyes used to color the fibers. Bresee noted that Hoechst Celanese, the company that produced the polyester used by J.P. Stevens in the manufacture of the carpeting at issue here, could not specifically confirm that it produced the fibers found on the victim’s socks. Bresee also opined that any polyester Hoechst Celanese produced that was “off spec,” or surplus, would have gone into the marketplace into other goods. Thus, the same fibers found in the carpeting used in 80,000 Chrysler vehicles would also be found in other goods such as residential carpeting, floor mats, and crafts. -58- Dog Hair Kenneth Knight testified that animals generally have three types of hair: fur, which insulates the animal; guard hairs, which protect the animal; and tactile hairs, such as whiskers. Guard hairs are used for comparison because they have the largest number of characteristics to compare. Knight recovered 32 guard hairs from the victim’s clothing: 14 from the socks, 4 from the shoes, 4 from the underpants, 4 from the shorts, and 6 from the shirt. In addition, he obtained a single guard hair from Richard Caudell, which Knight was informed had been removed from the victim’s underpants. Knight compared these hairs with hair standards from defendant’s dog, Babe, a black Labrador retriever, and concluded that the hairs found on the clothing were consistent with Babe’s hair and could have originated from Babe. Knight also compared the dog hairs from the victim’s clothing with hair standards from nine dogs in the victim’s environment, including five dogs owned by the Schulz family. The hairs found on the victim’s clothing were dissimilar to these hair standards. In addition, Knight examined one dog hair recovered from the transport sheet. This hair was also consistent with Babe’s hair and dissimilar to the hair standards from the victim’s environment. Knight testified that during the processing of defendant’s vehicle he observed animal hair throughout the vehicle and that all of the tapings from defendant’s vehicle contained dog hair. Knight sampled 90 hairs from the front right passenger carpeting, which he concluded were consistent with Babe and could have originated from Babe. Several of the dog hairs found on the victim’s clothing, as well as standards from defendant’s dog, were provided to Joy Halverson of QuestGen Forensics for mtDNA testing. Halverson testified that the same mtDNA process used on human hair is used on animal hair, but the number of base pairs compared is 655. Like human mtDNA, dog mtDNA does not distinguish among maternal relatives. Halverson tested eight animal hairs from the victim’s clothing and standards from Babe and concluded that the eight hairs were a match with Babe. In order to determine the significance of the match, Halverson compared the mtDNA sequence found in this case with the 345 sequences contained in a dog DNA database she developed. The sequence in this case appeared nine times in her database, indicating a frequency of 2.6%. She explained that dog mtDNA is less -59- discriminating than human mtDNA and that a “match” in this case means that if the dog population in general were sampled, one out of 38 times the same mtDNA sequence would be seen. Halverson also testified that evidence suggests no correlation between a dog’s breed and its mtDNA sequence. Thus, a German Shepherd and a Dachshund could have the same mtDNA and two German Shepherds could have different mtDNA. Christopher Basten, an expert in statistical analysis of DNA results, reviewed Halverson’s report. He testified that the database Halverson used was valid and a reasonable approximation of dogs throughout the United States. According to Basten, an alternative way of expressing the results Halverson obtained is to say that it is “38 times more likely if Babe or a litter mate is the source than if it’s some unrelated dog.” Basten applied a confidence interval to Halverson’s results and obtained a “likelihood ratio of 21, which says that it’s at least 21 times more likely if Babe or a litter mate is the source than if it’s some random dog. And you could also say it’s one in 21.” Robert Makuch, a defense expert on biostatistics, challenged the validity of Halverson’s database, testifying that 345 sequences is a small number to be representative of the entire dog population of the United States. He also testified that the method of obtaining the sequences must guard against bias and that a random sampling of dogs from each of the 50 states could produce a database different from the one Halverson compiled. Defendant’s Knives Federal park ranger Robert Burns testified that among the items he turned over to Jefferson County police were four knives found at defendant’s campsite, including a hunting knife, a “bayonet-type knife,” a “survival knife” with a long blade and serrated back edge, and possibly a pocket knife. Officer Kemp also identified certain knives in court as belonging to defendant. Investigators found no blood on these knives or any of the other items from defendant’s vehicle and campsite. Dr. Nuernberger testified that any sharp, nonserrated blade or sharp linear object could have been used to cut the victim’s throat. -60- Defendant’s Whereabouts on July 1, 1987 Evidence established that on July 1, 1987, defendant, who lived in Dix, Illinois, with his parents, went to his regular place of employment in Mt. Vernon, where he worked from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Joan Sutherland, defendant’s mother, testified that defendant ate dinner with her that evening, and that they usually ate dinner between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. After dinner, defendant went to the home of his brother Michael. Tina Sutherland, Michael’s wife, testified that on July 1, 1987, defendant was at their home in Texico, Illinois, which is located about five miles and five minutes from defendant’s home. Although Tina did not recall when defendant arrived, she recalled that he and Michael watched a violent, bloody movie and that defendant left in his vehicle after the movie ended at 9:30 p.m. Defendant was wearing bib overalls, a white tank “T-shirt,” and black boots, which he laced up in her kitchen before he left. Tina admitted that when she spoke to police in November 1987, she told them that defendant left at 8 p.m. or 8:30 p.m., and that she gave testimony to that effect at a hearing in 1989. Tina testified that she did not recall the name of the movie defendant and Michael watched until defendant’s present counsel showed her a TV guide for that date. The movie they watched was “Red Sonja,” which ended at 9:30 p.m.–15 minutes after Amy disappeared. Michael Sutherland testified that defendant arrived at their home at 5:30 p.m. or 6 p.m. Defendant was wearing black lace-up boots, which he took off to watch the movie. The movie involved sword fighting. Michael initially told police defendant left around 9 p.m., and testified at the prior hearing that defendant left after the movie. When defense counsel provided Michael a TV guide for July 1, 1987, Michael was able to identify the movie they watched as “Red Sonja,” which ended at 9:30 p.m. In rebuttal, the State called Sherry Witzel, who, in 1989, was an intern for the Jefferson County public defender, assisting defendant’s prior counsel. Witzel testified that in May 1989, either Tina Sutherland or Susan Sutherland gave her a copy of the TV guide for July 1, 1987. The same woman later told Witzel that defendant was at her home on the night of July 1, 1987, and that defendant and his brother watched a movie titled “Big Trouble in Little China.” Witzel -61- remembered the name of the movie because she watched the same movie. “Big Trouble in Little China” ended at 9 p.m. The State also offered evidence that on the night of July 1, 1987, at 10:57 p.m., Joan Sutherland, defendant’s mother, received a telephone call from defendant; a belt had broken in defendant’s car. Mrs. Sutherland testified that she met defendant at a gas station in Mt. Vernon, approximately 15 miles from her home. She arrived well after 11 p.m. Mrs. Sutherland and defendant made two trips in her pickup truck to an Amoco station on the interstate to get the correct size belt. Defendant installed the belt and Mrs. Sutherland followed him home in her truck. En route, police stopped their vehicles and spoke with them briefly. They then drove home. Defendant was at home the next morning and did not act unusual. State Trooper Jane Middleton testified that on July 1, 1987, she was requested to assist in the search for Amy Schulz by setting up a point on the Marion-Jefferson county line to stop vehicles to see if anybody had seen Amy. The location was about two-tenths of a mile west of Jefferson Street. Middleton used her flashlight to flag down motorists. At about 12:30 a.m. on July 2, 1987, Middleton tried to flag down defendant’s vehicle, but defendant did not stop until Middleton “hollered real loud.” He stopped 500 feet east of her. Middleton identified defendant’s vehicle from photographs and testified that the driver was heavier set, with brown, unkempt hair, and facial hair. She made an in-court identification of defendant, testifying that she recognized him from his eyes and mouth, although she viewed him primarily from the side. Middleton stated that defendant did not want to look at her and that he appeared nervous. She made a note of the stop in her report of July 7, 1987, but did not identify him by name and could not recall the license plate number. On cross-examination, Middleton testified that what she wrote in her report was simply, “At approximately 12:30 AM on the 2nd I checked the vehicle but could not remember the license plate or the registered owner.” Larry Martin, formerly a cashier at Harper’s Gas Station in Mt. Vernon, testified that one evening in early July 1987, prior to July 4, he noticed a bigger man in bib overalls on the lot working underneath the hood of his vehicle, which was an older model. After 10 to 15 minutes, the man used the restroom for a minute or two, came inside and made a telephone call, and then returned to his car. The man -62- asked Martin to help him move his vehicle to the south side of the building. Martin sat in the driver’s seat and steered, while the man pushed. The man waited inside for his ride, and left with an older woman in a pickup truck. When Martin left the station at midnight, the man’s vehicle was still on the lot. About 30 minutes had passed from the time Martin noticed the man, to the time the man was picked up. According to Officer Anthis, the most direct route from the crime scene to Harper’s Gas Station in Mt. Vernon is about 20 miles and would take about 22 to 24 minutes to drive. ••• Before considering the sufficiency of the State’s evidence, we note that we have omitted from the foregoing summary any reference to the extensive evidence defendant presented at trial which he argued established that William Willis, the victim’s step-grandfather, committed the crimes with which defendant was charged. Defendant has abandoned this argument on appeal, and we therefore find it unnecessary to recount this evidence, particularly the testimony of the numerous witnesses whom, as children, were molested by Willis. Moreover, the jury could have reasonably rejected defendant’s theory of the case where the mtDNA evidence excluded Willis as a donor of the two pubic hairs found on the victim’s buttocks. Although defendant argued that the hairs were unrelated to the crime, the jury could conclude otherwise based on the sexual assault evidence and Dr. Nuernberger’s testimony that the hairs were adhered to the anal crease and buttocks by fecal matter. As to the sufficiency of the evidence, defendant argues that the State’s evidence, contrary to the arguments the State made during closing, failed to connect him to the crime. The State argued in closing that defendant was familiar with the rural road where the body was found and that his whereabouts during the critical period from the time the victim disappeared (approximately 9:15 p.m.) to the time of death (no later than 10:30 p.m.) were unknown. The State also argued that the hair and fiber evidence linking defendant to the crimes could not be simply “coincidence,” particularly where carpeting, animals, and numerous individuals in the victim’s environment were eliminated as possible sources of the hair and fiber. Finally, the State argued that the tire prints, boot prints, defendant’s knives, and the vehicle -63- sightings in Kell all had evidentiary value and pointed to defendant. Defendant contends that even if the jury believed all of the State’s witnesses and disregarded the evidence defendant presented, the State failed to meet its burden of proof. We agree with defendant that some of the evidence introduced by the State failed to connect defendant to the abduction, sexual assault, and murder of Amy Schulz. The boot-impression evidence, for example, established at most that defendant’s shoe size was the same size as the boot that left the print at the scene and that defendant owned a pair of Texas Steer brand boots different from the style that left the print at the scene. In addition, the knives that were among defendant’s possessions when he was arrested in Montana, which the State put before the jury, contained no trace evidence linking defendant to the crimes. Furthermore, evidence suggesting that defendant’s vehicle was the tan-colored vehicle seen on the night of July 1, 1987, was marginalized when the State’s witness acknowledged that she told defense investigators, after seeing photographs of defendant’s vehicle, that his car was not the car she saw on July 1. Of the remaining evidence, no individual item is compelling. Nonetheless, we cannot say that the remaining evidence, taken together, and viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, “is so unreasonable, improbable, or unsatisfactory as to justify a reasonable doubt of defendant’s guilt.” People v. Smith, 185 Ill. 2d 532, 542 (1999). The State’s tire-impression evidence established that defendant’s vehicle, which had a Falls Persuader tire in the right front position, could have left the impressions at the scene. Although the credibility of the State’s tire expert, David Brundage, was called into question when he testified inconsistently with his 1987 report, the weight and credibility of his testimony were for the jury to resolve. See Milka, 211 Ill. 2d at 178. Any conflict in the evidence stemming from the disagreement between Cooper Tire’s Mark Thomas and Steve Cramer on the one hand, and David Mires on the other hand, as to the manufacturer and style of tire that left the print at the scene, and any conflict as to whether defendant changed the tires before leaving for Montana, were likewise for the jury to resolve. See Milka, 211 Ill. 2d at 178. -64- The State’s evidence also established that the numerous gold fibers found on the victim’s clothing were consistent with and could have come from the gold carpeting and upholstery in defendant’s vehicle, and that the gold fibers did not come from the victim’s environment, as represented by certain carpet standards. Evidence also established that certain red fibers found in defendant’s vehicle, which experts considered uncommon, were consistent with and could have come from the victim’s clothing, and that these same red fibers could not have come from the clothing and bedspread found in defendant’s vehicle. Although no expert could testify definitively that defendant’s vehicle was the source of the gold fibers found on the victim’s clothing or that the victim’s clothing was the source of the red fibers found in defendant’s vehicle, the State’s expert, Harold Deadman, considered the association a strong one: “Each of the fiber associations that  were reported in this case have a very small probability of occurring by chance, some more common than others. But each one has a small probability of occurring by chance. The combination of all of them occurring by chance is so small that in my opinion the probability that Amy Schulz was not in the Sutherland vehicle shortly before or after she was killed is extremely remote.” (Emphasis added.) The State’s microscopic and mtDNA evidence also established that the dog hairs recovered from the victim’s clothing could have originated from defendant’s Labrador retriever, Babe, but could not have originated from the dogs in the victim’s environment. Additionally, the State established that defendant could have been the donor of the two pubic hairs found on the victim’s buttocks, as evinced by the microscopic hair comparisons and mtDNA analysis. We acknowledge, as every DNA expert in this case has, that mtDNA evidence cannot exclude defendant’s maternal relatives–including his brothers and uncle–as donors of the pubic hairs. We also acknowledge that the State offered no evidence directly excluding defendant’s brothers and uncle as suspects. Nonetheless, “speculation that another person might have committed the offense does not necessarily raise a reasonable doubt of the guilt of the accused.” People v. Manning, 182 Ill. 2d 193, 211 (1998), citing People v. Herrett, 137 Ill. 2d 195, 206 (1990). -65- Defendant notes that the State’s own witness Tina Sutherland provided his alibi when she testified that defendant left her home on the night of the murder at 9:30 p.m. when the movie “Red Sonja” ended. The jury learned, however, that Tina Sutherland’s testimony that defendant left at 9:30 p.m. conflicted with her testimony at an hearing in 1989 (defendant’s first trial) in which she stated that defendant left at 8 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. Furthermore, the evidence was conflicted as to which movie defendant and his brother may have watched that evening. The jury resolved this conflict against defendant. Defendant also directs our attention to the expert testimony he offered which contradicted the State’s forensics findings, as well as evidence he argues demonstrates that police mishandled the investigation. We are cognizant that defendant mounted a vigorous defense, calling numerous expert and lay witnesses to spotlight what defendant regarded as weaknesses in the State’s circumstantial case. Our function, however, as a court of review is not to retry the defendant or to substitute our judgment for that of the jury. Milka, 211 Ill. 2d at 178; Evans, 209 Ill. 2d at 211. The jury heard the evidence; it was “not obligated ‘to accept any possible explanation compatible with the defendant’s innocence and elevate it to the status of reasonable doubt.’ ” Evans, 209 Ill. 2d at 212, quoting Herrett, 137