Opinion ID: 2640086
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Autopsy Results and Forensic Evidence

Text: Defendant's mother, Doris, sustained multiple penetrating stab wounds to the chest and back. Her most serious injury was a gaping knife wound to the throat that had been inflicted in a sawing motion, and that nearly decapitated her. It would have quickly caused death, and was likely inflicted last. Doris had no defensive knife wounds on her hands. Serological testing, including DNA analysis, established that Doris's blood was consistent with blood found on the rear seat of defendant's car, on the Disney shirt he apparently wore the day of the crime, on the jeans defendant and codefendant Lee wore the same day, and on one of the wool gloves found near Lee along Highway 170. Sonia Salinas was stabbed through the chest to the breast bone. She also suffered numerous deep incisions to her face and throat that intersected in the neck. Her carotid arteries and jugular vein were cut. These injuries would have quickly caused death and probably occurred last. Sonia had several deep defensive knife wounds on her hands. Serological and DNA analysis established that Sonia's blood was consistent with blood found on the front seat of defendant's car, on the Disney shirt (including the bloody handprint), on defendant's jeans and jacket, and on the bloody trail running between the areas at the crime scene where defendant and the victims were found. Sonia's blood also was consistent with blood found on items tossed along Highway 170, including the knife, defendant's fanny pack, the latex glove, and the plastic baggies found under the front seat of Lee's car. Codefendant Lee suffered an evisceration in which the knife had been thrust deeply into the abdomen and moved around. She sustained another stab wound to the back, and a large cut on the inside of the left leg, above the ankle. Serological tests, including DNA analysis, established that Lee's blood was consistent with blood found on Sonia's left shoe at the crime scene, and on items found along Highway 170. Such items included the fanny packs belonging to defendant and Doris, Sonia's purse, the blue sweater, one of the wool gloves, and the plastic baggies found inside Lee's car. Defendant Carasi suffered cuts on both hands. Serological testing, including DNA analysis, established that his blood was consistent with blood found on the Disney shirt, on his jeans and jacket, and on the bloody trail at the crime scene. Defendant's blood also was consistent with blood found on his fanny pack and the blunt-tipped knife recovered along Highway 170, and on the plastic baggies found in Lee's car. Dr. Eugene Carpenter, the pathologist who performed the autopsies, opined that each victim was restrained against a hard object. He testified that most knife fatalities involve injuries near the heart, not the throat, and that the large number of wounds sustained by Sonia and Doris was rare. On direct and cross-examination, the witness associated such injuries with domestic disputes and other crimes of passion. Dr. Carpenter further testified that defendant suffered at least one palm injury consistent with a knifer's wound, which occurs when the knife strikes bone, and the hand slides down the handle onto the blade. Cuts on Sonia's hands were consistent with her having repeatedly deflected and grabbed the blade. Steven Dowell, a criminalist specializing in tool mark analysis for the coroner's office, compared the knife found along Highway 170 to the victims' injuries. Several of Doris's wounds were consistent with the depth and width of the knife's blade. The blunted tip could have left certain irregular abrasions on Sonia's skin. No wound was inconsistent with the suspected murder weapon. Elisabeth Devine, a crime reconstruction specialist with the sheriff's department, opined that Sonia and Doris were probably first attacked inside the car on the passenger side, and that each victim ended up outside the car, where they received their lethal neck wounds. Devine believed more than one assailant was involved. It was likely that Sonia left the bloody handprint on the Disney shirt while grasping at her attacker, and that Sonia's shoe was in motion when it came in direct contact with blood from codefendant Lee's wounds.