Doctor wants DNA evidence left out of murder case

John Brickman Wall, 49, enters 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City on Oct. 3, 2013.

Rick Egan

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SALT LAKE CITY Lawyers for a Salt Lake City pediatrician accused of killing his ex-wife asked a judge Monday to toss DNA evidence gathered from skin cells found underneath her fingernails and on a pillowcase.

An attorney for John Brickman Wall, 50, said investigators found about three skin cells not enough to draw any conclusions. A prosecutor conceded the evidence doesn't point directly to Wall, but said it does eliminate nine other possible suspects.

The DNA on the pillowcase could have come from any one of the couple's four children, according to Elizabeth Johnson, an expert testifying for the defense during a hearing Monday who said her calculations show it didn't come from Wall. Prosecutors disputed that.

The DNA is a key piece of evidence in the case, which was filed more than a year after the death of 49-year-old Uta Von Schwedler, a biologist at the University of Utah.

"This case is a huge circumstantial case," said defense attorney G. Fred Metos. "It's not the only piece of evidence they're going to rely on, but it's certainly very important."

A medical examiner couldn't say if Von Schwedler's death was a homicide or a suicide. She was found drowned in an overflowing bathtub in 2011, having overdosed on Xanax, a drug she didn't have a prescription for.

Von Schwedler was in a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband over their four children. There was evidence of a struggle in her room, and she had cuts on her body, authorities said.

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Doctor wants DNA evidence left out of murder case