Analyst introduces DNA evidence in rape trial

BANGOR – A state analyst testified Tuesday that the odds were one in 137 quadrillion that it was someone other than Dennis Sirois who left behind the DNA sample taken from the body of a 72-year-old Edinburg woman who was raped in her home last summer.

David Munich, the head DNA analyst at the Maine State Police Crime Lab in Augusta, was on the stand briefly Tuesday morning in Penobscot County Superior Court, but his testimony bolstered the state’s case against Sirois, 34, who is charged with gross sexual assault and burglary in the attack last June 10.

Munich said he also compared blood samples of Sirois’ two brothers to the DNA taken from the victim’s body. Those samples did not match, Munich testified.

Defense attorney Jacqueline Gomes did not cross-examine Munich.

After Munich’s testimony, the state rested its case against Sirois.

Earlier in the day, Kevin Olsen, a physician’s assistant who examined the victim the night of the attack, testified that he found several areas of bleeding inside the victim’s vaginal walls and fresh bruises in the shape of a hand on the back of her leg.

Gomes tried unsuccessfully to get Olsen to say the bruises had begun to turn yellow, as if they were older bruises.

The defense began presenting its case later in the morning with testimony from Sirois’ brother and sister-in-law, Danny and Tammy Sirois.

Danny Sirois did odd jobs for the victim and knew her well, he testified. The day before the rape he said his brother, Dennis, was working with him around the yard of the victim’s home.

Danny Sirois testified that he and his wife were in Old Town with their children the night of the assault and were awakened at 2:30 a.m. the next day by two police officers wanting to know where he had been that evening.

Danny Sirois said he willingly gave police a blood sample so that he could be ruled out as a suspect, which he was, according to the earlier testimony of the state’s DNA analyst.

Danny Sirois and his brother Dennis are both very short and stocky and both have a slight French accent. The victim testified that she knew early on that her attacker was one or the other, but was not sure which one it was.

She said she was hesitant to tell police who she thought it was because she was worried about harming the Sirois family.

Danny Sirois’ testimony Tuesday may have done more harm than good for the defense. Under questioning by Gomes, he testified that while working at the victim’s home the day before the attack, his brother, Dennis, was wearing mosquito netting on his head and face because of the large number of black flies.

The victim testified on Monday that her attacker was wearing mosquito netting when he barged into her home.

Dennis Sirois is currently in custody at Penobscot County Jail. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of the Class A Gross Sexual Assault charge. Testimony is expected to continue this morning, followed by closing arguments. The case will most likely go to the jury by this afternoon.