FBI expert testifies in Koury trial

MURDERED: Dr Eddie Koury. FILE PHOTO
MURDERED: Dr Eddie Koury. FILE PHOTO

EVIDENCE supplied by the police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dominated proceedings in the Koury murder trial in the Port of Spain High Court yesterday, with a DNA examiner from the US agency testifying.

The heavily guarded official, Rhonda Craig, began testimony at the trial of five men accused of killing businessman Dr Eddie Koury in 2005. The case is being conducted before Justice Malcolm Holdip.

Craig who arrived at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain, under heavy police guard, will continue giving evidence today. She said she examined samples taken from Koury’s fingernails and matched them to several pieces of evidence she received from the TT police in 2005, at the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.

According to Craig, there were DNA matches of Koury on samples taken from shoes, a trunk mat and a gun. Other samples on clothing, which included jerseys and denim jeans, were inconclusive.

Craig began her evidence by giving her qualifications. She holds a BA in biology and chemistry with an emphasis in molecular biology from the University of North Carolina and a Masters in biology, with an emphasis on molecular biology from the UNC. She joined the FBI in 1998 and is a qualified forensic DNA examiner for the bureau.

She also went through the processes involved in analysing DNA and much of her testimony was technical as she explained the terminology.

Craig said she received 52 unknown evidence samples from retired ASP Nadir Khan in relation to the case on October 11, 2005. These included swabs taken of Koury’s fingernails, pieces of clothing and the soles of shoes.

She said for her analysis she did not need to know if the samples came from an accused person, but notes relating to the evidence supplied to her were provided by Khan.

According to the prosecution’s case there were DNA matches to Koury’s on the shoes of at least three of the men – Donaldson, Murray and Moore, and a gun found at a house in D’Abadie where three were arrested.

DNA samples found on the back headrest of the back seat did not exclude Koury’s DNA, however, Koury’s blood was also found on the trunk mat of a stolen taxi, which was also allegedly used to transport his body.

In her evidence, under cross examination from Donaldson’s lawyer, Pamela Elder, SC, the FBI’s analyst went through the testing protocols and the results and what they meant.

She said she did not test all 52 samples as it was not something the FBI lab did because of a scarcity of resources.

Of the samples she tested, random match possibility tests were conducted which is used to measure in population genetics. She used the FBI’s US database, which contains samples of four major racial groups: Caucasians, Afro Americans, south eastern Hispanics and south western Hispanics.

She also matched the DNA to the FBI’s Trinidad database, which comprised of 200 samples from people who claimed to be from this country; Jamaican database and Bahamian database.

Craig could not say what was the ethnic composition of the database.

She also said she analysed the samples given to her by the TT police and while admitting that cross-contamination could occur at the collection stage, including the deliberate “planting” on objects, she said she would not know if this did occur.

“I was asked to determine the presence of DNA on items,” she said.

Koury, the managing director of ISKO Enterprises, an import and distribution company in Macoya, was abducted from his office on September 21, 2005. Two days later, his headless corpse was found in central Trinidad. His head has never been found.

On trial for his murder are Shawn James, Caleb Donaldson, Jerome Murray, Terry Moore and Robert Franklyn.

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