With a rare possibility of exceptions, the DNA of Stanley Griffin was found under the fingernails of Jennifer Hailey, according to a DPS Crime Lab analyst.

Griffin is on trial for the September 2010 murder of Hailey in her College Station apartment. Griffin faces a capital murder charge, and the State of Texas is seeking the death penalty if they secure a conviction.

On Wednesday, the third day of testimony in the trial, analyst Allison Heard also told the jury a garden trowel found in an outdoor trash can near the Hailey home the morning of the murder was covered in the blood of Hailey's son. Heard could match any DNA on the handle.

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Authorities allege Griffin attacked the then-nine-year-old shortly after he saw his mother being strangled in her bedroom. Monday, the child testified that he saw Griffin on his mother's back choking her out, then ordered him to go back to his room. When he reemerged 15 minutes later, the boy said Griffin choked him and struck him in the head and neck with the trowel.

Again with a rare possibility of exceptions, the blood of the child was found on the shoes Griffin was wearing when he was arrested hours after the murder, this according to Emma Becker, a second crime lab analyst who testified Wednesday morning.

Prosecutors contend Hailey used her right hand to try and rip Griffin's left arm from around her neck. When authorities found Griffin later the day of the murder, he had fresh scratch marks on his left arm. He said they were caused two days earlier from riding his bike through brush.

A baseball cap found in the Pedernales Drive home of Hailey and her son was also tested for DNA. Hailey's DNA almost certainly was found on it, Heard testified. With other DNA found on the cap, Griffin could not be excluded as a possibility, but it was not as conclusive.

Shortly before the murder, Griffin was seen in surveillance video at a Navasota convenience store with a friend, who testified to dropping Griffin off near Hailey's home. He was wearing a similar hat.

Prosecutors elevated a murder charge against Griffin to capital because they allege he kidnapped Hailey's son. By the letter of the law, they claim the kidnapping was by virtue of Griffin's order to the boy to go back to his room as Griffin attack the boy's mother.

Original post:
DNA Evidence Ties Griffin to Murder Victim, Her Son