Lundy trial: Blood smears on window

Mark Lundy in the dock. Photo NZ Herald.
Mark Lundy in the dock. Photo NZ Herald.
A damaged window which had smears of blood on it was the focus of the Mark Lundy double murder trial today.

But a police witness has told the High Court at Wellington he could not definitively say when the blood smears were left on the window, only that they were put there through a deliberate "action".

The window at the rear of the Lundy house was brought into the courtroom today where a jury was shown damage to one of its latches.

The Crown has accused Lundy, 56, of murdering his 38-year-old wife Christine and 7-year-old daughter Amber on August 30, 2000.

Lundy has denied the charges.

Part of the Crown's case was that Lundy had tried to make the murders look as though they happened during a burglary.

Senior crime officer Ross Peat told the court he took a window from the property out on the day of August 30 and examined it the following day.

There were no fingerprints on it, but there were "red stains" that were visible on the frame by the broken window latch.

"It was smudges and smears with no symmetry to it at all."

Some piece of fabric might have been involved in smearing the blood, he said.

Blood was also found on the window's "beading".

Damage was also found on the window's transom - a bar across the window frame that the bottom of the window rested on.

Mr Peat said there were marks that could have been made by a jemmy bar by the right-hand latch of the window, but no marks near the other latch.

There was no sign of forced entry at any of the windows or doors, he said.

"I was at the scene for 12 days and over that period I powdered every window and checked every entrance."

Mr Peat also examined neighbours' properties to see if there had been any suspicious activity outside the properties, but found nothing to indicate a person had been loitering outside other properties.

He confirmed he wore protective clothing while he was working around the property.

Under cross examination, Mr Peat told defence lawyer David Hislop there was no way of putting a date on when the blood was put on the window.

The blood would have ended up on the window by contact made by a deliberate "action" such as someone holding the frame, rather than accidental brushing, he said.

However, he agreed with Mr Hislop that he was not a blood pattern expert.

The trial in front of Justice Simon France continues.

NZME.

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Key evidence

* Blood was found on a window frame at the Lundy home

* Despite extensive searching none of the missing jewellery or jewellery box from the Lundy house was ever found

* Lundy told police a laptop should have been in his office, but was not there when the office was examined about a week after the murders

* The officer in charge of the case arrived at the scene for the first time late on the evening of August 30 to secure a tarpaulin at the back of the house

* It was suggested evidence piled up in bags could have been contaminated - but this was denied by police

* Police insisted stepping plates were used by staff as they made their way through the Lundy home

By Rebecca Quilliam of NZME. News Service