DNA data support state’s theory at trial

SKOWHEGAN – Scientific evidence presented Tuesday in the murder trial of Olland Reese supports the state’s theory that Cody Green, 16, was slain inside the Bowdoin home where the defendant was living.

Catherine MacMillin, a DNA analyst at the State Crime Laboratory in Augusta, told jurors that Green’s DNA was found in a sample taken from a bloodstained hallway wall, from a blood-soaked futon in the living room and from a hatchet found inside the residence.

The DNA samples from the wall and the futon were perfect matches with Green’s DNA, while the hatchet sample, though less than perfect, still indicated a one-in-45 billion chance it was someone else’s DNA, MacMillin testified.

Reese, 20, is accused of murdering Green before burying her body in a shallow grave behind his mother’s home. Green disappeared May 26, 2002. The Brunswick teen died from a blow to the skull.

Evidence from the trial in Somerset County Superior Court has shown Reese gave police several accounts of what happened the night Green was last seen alive.

Reese faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.