Prosecutors bore into some of the most technical testimony so far in the Sierra LaMar murder trial this week when a fiber expert from the county crime lab took the stand.
Trevor Gillis, a criminalist with the Santa Clara County Crime Lab, was called to the stand by prosecutor David Boyd to testify about his analysis of textile fibers during the investigation into suspected killer Antolin Garcia Torres. His testimony lasted almost two days at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, ending the afternoon of Feb. 27.
Gillis’ job during the criminal investigation was to determine the most likely source for some carpet fibers from the floor mats of Garcia Torres’ red Volkswagen Jetta with similar other “trace” materials found on Sierra’s clothing that were discovered by detectives who investigated her disappearance.
Fibers found on Sierra’s sweatshirt and jeans were “indistinguishable” from those the floor coverings of the Volkswagen are made of, Gillis testified. Boyd and investigators have pointed to these matches as one piece of evidence connecting the defendant and victim, who allegedly did not know each other before Sierra disappeared at the age of 15.
“The fibers from her clothing could have originated from the floor mats of the Jetta,” Gillis said Feb. 23. He explained this analysis was based a series of “tedious” tests of each fiber’s optical, visual, thermal, fluorescent and other properties using microscopes and other specialized tools.
Upon cross-examination from defense attorney Al Lopez, Gillis clarified that it is “impossible” to match a single stray carpet fiber with an exact article or its manufacturer.
Sierra disappeared from her north Morgan Hill home March 16, 2012, while she was walking to her school bus stop at the intersection of Palm and Dougherty avenues, like she would do almost any typical Friday morning. She was a sophomore at Sobrato High School when she disappeared.
Garcia Torres, 25 of Morgan Hill, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing Sierra in May 2012, and has been in custody at the county jail ever since. He is on trial for murder, as well as three unrelated attempted kidnappings in 2009 in the parking lots of two Morgan Hill Safeway stores.
At numerous times during cross-examination, Lopez jumped on statements offered earlier by Gillis to set up contradictions. Gillis testified earlier that his lab operates by the phrase, “Leave no stone unturned.” This led him to visit the home of Sierra’s friend who let her borrow the San Jose Sharks sweatshirt that she was wearing the day she disappeared, and on which investigators found a carpet fiber similar to those on Garcia Torres’ floor mats.
But upon questioning from Lopez, Gillis said he did not collect carpet fibers from the friend’s home—as a “reference sample”—as he did from Sierra’s home when he visited there after she vanished.
When Lopez asked him why, Gillis said the friend’s parents were doing him a favor by inviting him to look around and he “didn’t want to be overly invasive.” He added that he took a cursory look at carpeting in the home while he was there and made an “educated guess” that it was not similar to the fibers found on Sierra’s clothing.
When Lopez asked if Gillis searched the lint trap on the clothes dryer when he visited Sierra’s mother’s home, Gillis replied, “That would have been a great idea, but it didn’t come to me at the time.”
Gillis also testified about a number of hairs he found on a length of rope that investigators found in Garcia Torres’ vehicle. Gillis removed the rope from its sealed evidence packaging in August 2012 to collect a sample of its fibers for any other potential comparisons. While doing so, he noticed an unspecified number of hairs stuck to the rope. He took photos of the rope, and removed some of the hairs to place them in a separate evidence envelope.
These hairs were later analyzed by the crime lab’s hair examiners, who have not yet testified in the trial. Boyd said earlier in the trial that eight of the hairs found on the rope were Sierra’s.
In last week’s testimony, an arborist for whom Garcia Torres worked briefly testified that he had given the rope to the defendant so he could practice tying knots, according to various news reports.
The trial for Garcia Torres started in late January and is expected to last at least until May. DNA evidence connecting Garcia Torres and Sierra in the teen’s final moments or hours is a crucial aspect of the state’s case against the defendant. Boyd’s DNA experts began testifying March 1.
Sierra’s remains have not been found. Investigators think she is dead because she has had no contact with any of her friends or family since she vanished nearly five years ago, with no means of financial support for herself or transportation. Within a few days after disappearing, police and searchers found her cell phone as well as her bag that contained her clothing and other everyday items discarded in areas near her home.
If convicted, Garcia Torres faces the death penalty or life in prison.
