DNA from driver’s airbag matches that of the accused

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This article was published 25/08/2023 (987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Blood on the driver’s airbag from a collision that killed two people nearly four years ago is a match to the accused, a King’s Bench courtroom heard on Thursday morning.

The Crown concluded its case against Paul Elwood Houle, after calling its final witness, a forensic DNA analyst. Houle has pleaded not guilty to two counts of dangerous operation causing death and one count of dangerous operation causing bodily harm.

The analyst, Walid Dabbour, prepared two reports about the DNA from multiple blood stains on the driver’s side airbag of the truck. Babbour, who is based at a lab in Guelph, Ont., appeared in court by video and explained that he did not take samples from the airbag himself, but rather interpreted the results that lab technicians collected.

Dabbour testified that the lab received the airbag in January and found that there was no hair on the airbag, but that there was numerous bloodstained areas, including the blood that was found on the front and the back of the airbag.

Five samples were submitted for testing and two samples, one from the front and the other from the back of the bag matched each other. The DNA was a “hit” on the convicted offenders index of the national RCMP DNA database.

When a sample from the suspect in the crash, labeled with the initials “P.H.” (full names are protected from the lab to protect the privacy of the subject) was compared to the DNA sample from the airbag, the DNA structures were the same.

Dabbour said that the airbag was not tested for any other bodily fluid, such as saliva.

Cross examination by Houle’s defence lawyer Greg Sacks explored the possibility of blood samples travelling distances. Dabbour confirmed that the lab could only compare DNA but could not determine how the DNA sample came to get to where it was found. Dabbour also testified that he couldn’t speak to the blood samples’ location on the airbag in respect to how the airbag was oriented in the truck.

The multi-day trial is the result of a collision that occurred on Dec. 4, 2019, a few kilometers east of Waywayseecappo. Kimberly Sutherland, 45, and her nephew, 31-year-old Kyle Brandon, were killed and Anthony Sutherland, 50, who testified on Tuesday, was injured in the crash.

The truck lost control on Road 144 West (also known as Birdtail Road) and slid into a ditch before colliding with two trees. The truck then rolled over before finally landing on its roof.

The Crown called 10 witnesses during its case, including a forensic collision reconstructionist, who testified that the four people in the truck were likely not wearing seatbelts. Sutherland’s 17-year-old son also testified that the four occupants of the truck had been drinking since the afternoon on the day of the crash. He said that he saw Houle get into the driver’s seat.

Prosecutors also presented video evidence of Houle getting in and out of the driver’s seat of the truck on the night of the crash.

Cross-examination by defence has focused on the investigation techniques used by police to determine Houle as the driver of the truck, and on whether occupants in the truck could have moved seats during or after the collision.

On Thursday, defence said that Houle will not take the stand, but reserved the opportunity to call evidence. The last day scheduled for the trial is Friday with closing arguments expected this morning.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

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