Defense tries to discredit forensic tests

A forensic expert who performed the autopsy on Cindy Wolosick testified Monday that the slain teacher had eight fatal stab wounds among her dozens of injuries.

The deputy medical examiner and a state police scientist both testified at the murder trial of Diana Thames, the 50-year-old downstate Bloomington woman charged with stabbing Cindy Wolosick dozens of time her Palatine condo.

As the fourth day of the trial got under way, defense attorneys quickly suggested the evidence was incomplete and the testing methods less-than-thorough.

Illinois State Police forensic scientist Ryan Paulsen testified that there was evidence of Thames' DNA on the washing machine and a piece of Wolosick's fingernail that was found on the floor.

Thames' lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, pointed out the absence of blood on the washcloth and bath towel found in the washing machine, which prosecutors say Thames used after killing her friend of two decades in the early morning hours of Aug. 12, 2005.

Zellner also argued the items given to Paulsen to test were based on a crime scenario that already targeted Thames.

More items should have been tested for DNA, Zellner said, such as clothes Thames had at the Palatine condo. Zellner also questioned why a kit wasn't used to check for sexual assault, as well as a type of testing that obtains male DNA profiles.

In a piece of evidence defense attorneys contend helps their case, Paulsen testified that none of Thames' DNA was found under Wolosick's fingernails.

Later in the day, testimony was heard from Cook County's deputy medical examiner, Dr. Joseph Cogan, who said Wolosick suffered eight fatal injuries among 26 stab wounds.

Wolosick's larynx was cut, which meant she wouldn't have been able to speak. In a videotape shown last week in court, Thames told police Wolosick called out her name.

Because of the nature of her wounds, Cogan said Wolosick likely died within minutes of the attack and certainly within an hour.

He also described the stabbing as "amateurish," saying the wounds didn't show the attacker had any training to kill. The blows weren't "delivered with the greatest force" because the knife didn't travel deep into the bone, he said.

But Zellner, citing the Forensic Pathology Journal, said it implies a significant degree of force when a knife enters the bone, even more so when the tip breaks off and becomes embedded, as it did in Wolosick. Last week, Zellner said Thames had many medical problems, including carpal tunnel syndrome.

Nearly all of Wolosick's injuries were to the front of her body, suggesting she was lying on her back at the time of the attack. She was found lying in the master bedroom.

Under cross-examination, Cogan said he couldn't be certain Wolosick wasn't standing at the time because determining the exact position of a victim is difficult.

Had the 6-foot-tall Wolosick been standing, Zellner argued, the smaller Thames couldn't have been her attacker because most of the stab wounds were made in a downward motion.

The trial resumes at 11 a.m. Wednesday before Cook County Judge John Scotillo.