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LEBANON, Mo. Things got heated between the prosecution and an expert witness on day seven of the murder trial for Susan Liz Van Note, who is accused of murdering her father and his fiance at Lake of the Ozarks in 2010.

The witness, John Wilson, a 31-year veteran of the Kansas City, Mo. regional crime lab, testified in the afternoon. He says when it comes to crime scene investigation, scientists tend to be more meticulous than patrol officers: they more thoroughly document and collect trace evidence, he argued.

Wilson has significant experience behind his claim: he has instructed classes in crime scene investigation for local police agencies.

The point of contention between Wilson and Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Zoellner was Wilsons claimbased on bullet paths through the victims bodiesthat the attacker was significantly taller than Liz Van Note.

In November of 2010, the defense requested Wilson investigate the scene of the Oct. 2, 2010 attack. He reviewed police photos and reports, and also examined physical evidence such as a robe and a rug from the Sunrise Beach lakefront home where William Van Note and Sharon Dickson were shot and stabbed.

Wilson says he took anatomical data across a large population and measured the defendant. Then he gathered information about the wounds from the autopsysuch as wound channel and travel path. Using trigonometric calculations, Wilson created a diagram and then approached defense attorney Tom Bath, to demonstrate that the shooter would most likely not be the same height as Liz Van Note.

During the cross-examination which dragged into the evening hours, Zoellner hammered Wilsons testimony. But the witness was unrelenting. The two men talked over one another multiple times, and the judge issued out at least two warnings about it, as the court reporter struggled to keep track of who said what.

"I know you do not like my interpretation of the events," Zoellner told Wilson at one point. Wilson replied, It is not that I dislike your interpretation, but that your interpretation does not fit the physical facts of the blood evidence.

In looking at police photos, Wilson also said he noticed a blood stain on Sharon Dicksons left calf that was of a pattern inconsistent with Dicksons wound and bleeding patterns, and was not consistent with any likely bleeding from William Van Note as he rendered aid to Dickson. He concluded police processing the crime scene failed to collect a swab from that blood stain, for evidence.

He also said a spindle from the houses staircase that officers photographed at the scene was never submitted for lab analysis. The spindle showed at least two prints one of which was lifted with tape, and the other which was fainter but, according to Wilson, potentially better. The print that was lifted was insufficient for comparison with other prints, according to a print lab technician who also testified in the trial. Wilson says if the spindle had been submitted to the labrather than the print simply being lifted off it with tapethen the prints on it might have been usable, because of techniques available to lab technicians.

The court recessed in the evening, with Judge Hayden stating he expected closing arguments would take place the next day.

Read more here:
Fireworks Between Prosecution, Expert Witness Over Shooting Details In Van Note Trial - Lake Expo