Forensic scientist testifies about evidence contamination at state lab in 1986, says knowledge of DNA has since changed practices

A former Washington State Patrol Crime Lab employee’s DNA was found on Ruby Doss’ shirt and jacket after he examined the items without gloves, a forensic scientist testified Tuesday.

It’s the third week of former Pasco police officer Richard Aguirre’s bench trial over the killing. Doss was found beaten and strangled in an industrial area off of East Sprague Avenue.

Anna Wilson, a forensic scientist at the crime lab, testified Tuesday afternoon about testing Doss’ jacket and blouse for DNA in October 2019.

Wilson swabbed the collar area of the jacket and blouse, along with the pussycat bow on the blouse. Then she used a device similar to a carpet cleaner to squirt water on the area and then suck it back up, she said.

That hydrates any DNA cells, which are then collected in a solution and tested.

“I was specifically told to target the area that may have been touched by a perpetrator if they strangled the victim,” Wilson said.

She found a mixture of DNA from three people on both items.

On the jacket, Doss’ DNA was 48%; William Morig, a forensic technician who examined the items in 1986, contributed 49%; and an unknown contributor had 3% of the sample.

The blouse sample was 35% Doss, 61% Morig and 4% unknown contributor.

Wilson said she saw a photo of Morig examining the clothing without gloves.

“Our current standard, they were not following,” Wilson said.

DNA testing was extremely new in 1986, and scientists did not understand fully how DNA transferred.

“It was standard practice not to take the precautions not to leave DNA,” Wilson said.

All former crime lab employees have their DNA entered into a database to be cross-referenced because of this issue, Wilson said.

The unknown samples, Wilson said, did not contain enough DNA to be entered into the national DNA database.

Aguirre was excluded as the third contributor.

A state lab employee, Jeremy Sanderson, testified about being asked to check other labs’ work and evaluate if the DNA profiles were enough to upload into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database in 2009.

If not enough DNA markers are found in the sample, it can’t be entered into CODIS, Sanderson said.

Three partial male profiles were found in Doss’ underwear, the waistband of her pants and testing from other parts of her body. The profiles were found in a mixture of DNA in which Doss was the predominant source. The partial profiles were too limited to enter into CODIS, he said.

They were eligible for comparison to specific DNA profiles, he said.

Michelle Galusha testified about her analysis of the condom extracts in 2002 while working at Bohdi, another private lab. She was able to develop the first full profile from the sperm portion of the DNA taken from the condom.

She was unable to develop a profile from the non-sperm portion.

Other labs went on to do similar work, as witnesses testified to Monday.

Aguirre’s trial is set to continue through mid-December.