Opinion ID: 2517841
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Murder Investigation

Text: Criminalists with the police and sheriffs departments examined the crime scene in Garden Grove on December 17, 1989. Marsha MacWillie photographed and collected physical evidence, and Kenny Wong collected biological evidence. They found the white cloth applique that Nguyen had carried from work in a parking space along the back wall of the shopping center. Inside the dumpster alcove nearby, where Nguyen was found, there was one women's shoe, a pair of underpants, and a pair of women's jeans that was turned inside out. Other items included a .25-caliber bullet casing, shoe prints on paper debris, and hair and blood specimens. [4] Another criminalist, Elizabeth Thompson, analyzed the hair specimens to determine whether they came from Nguyen or defendant. Thompson testified that one of the recovered hairs was consistent with defendant's pubic hair and inconsistent with Nguyen's pubic hair. The other crime-scene hairs, some with bloody roots, were consistent with strands taken from Nguyen's head. Criminalist Mary Hong tested blood at the crime scene to determine whether it came from Nguyen or defendant. At trial, Hong identified Nguyen as a possible donor of the blood and excluded defendant. Criminalist Sharon Krenz examined shoe prints found on paper debris in the dumpster alcove and the Nike shoes that defendant wore when arrested in Missouri. As described below, Krenz used an overlay method whereby she compared plastic transparencies of the sole pattern on defendant's shoes with photographs of the crime scene specimens. Krenz testified that defendant's shoes were consistent with partial shoe prints found on a label sheet and a small square sheet. MacWillie, who had processed the crime scene, examined Nguyen's Toyota MR2 for fingerprints after defendant's arrest. The car was in police custody in Missouri at the time. MacWillie lifted 27 sets of prints from the car, three of which came from the exterior or trunk and were too faint, smudged, or unworkable to analyze. As to the 24 workable prints, MacWillie testified that 13 of them were defendant's, many of which were found in and around the driver's compartment. The 11 remaining prints were never identified. Eight of them came from the hood of the car, and did not belong to defendant or Nguyen. MacWillie found three unidentified prints inside the car, but could not exclude defendant of Nguyen as the donor. Criminalist Nathan Cross test-fired the gun that defendant used to shoot Officer Robinson shortly before being arrested in Missouri. Defendant's firearm was a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol. At trial, Cross identified it as the same gun that had fired the bullet removed from Nguyen's brain during the autopsy, as discussed below.