Autopsy, DNA testing outlined in second day of Benfield trial – Johnson City Press (subscription)

ELIZABETHTON Wednesday was science day in the first-degree murder trial of Chad Benfield, accused of sexually assaulting his neighbor, 89-year-old Mary Nolen, on July 14, 2017.

On the morning of the second day of the trial, the jury heard the videotaped testimony of Dr. Eugene Scheuerman of the William L. Jenkins Forensic Center at East Tennessee State University. He described the autopsy of Mary Nolen.

Scheuermans testimony was presented to the jury by video because he was suffering from terminal cancer at the time he described the autopsy. He has since died.

In the afternoon, the jury heard the videotaped testimony of Special Agent Jennifer Millsaps of the Tennessee Bureau of Information Crime Laboratory in Knoxville, describing how she determined some of the DNA she discovered in a fingernail clipping of Nolen could have come from Benfield.

Scheuerman testified that Nolen died at 1 p.m. on July 26, 2017, at the Johnson City Medical Center. He said the cause of death was complications of blunt force trauma of the head and neck of the 89-year-old woman. He showed photographs of the autopsy, which showed severe bruising of her lower head, neck, chest and back. He said she suffered no broken bones and no recent injury to her brain.

The forensic pathologist said he did not see any physical trauma to the vaginal area, but the absence did not eliminate the possibility that a sexual assault took place. He said he could not give an opinion on the matter. He said Nolen had several medical problems that contributed to her decline, including heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Millsaps testimony was based on two separate DNA tests. One was a short tandem repeats test, which showed that skin cells found on a vaginal swab of Nolen found DNA from 3 persons. One was Nolen and one was unknown. The third person was a match with Chad Benfield.

The second test was focused on the Y chromosome, which is only found in males. That test determined that the skin cells would have come from Benfield or some other male in his paternal family.

In the videotape, defense attorney Chris Byrd asked Millsaps about the number of skin cells needed to conduct the tests. She told him it takes between 75 and 125 cells. The tests did not find semen in the sample.

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Autopsy, DNA testing outlined in second day of Benfield trial - Johnson City Press (subscription)