By Lisa Chmelecki,Staff Writer

AUBURN – James McManus’ blood was found all over the clothes worn by the two men accused of kidnapping and murdering him, a state DNA analyst testified Tuesday.

However, if jurors were hoping for similar scientific evidence to prove which suspect was driving the car that ran over and crushed McManus, the testimony may have fallen flat.

Katherine MacMillan, a DNA analyst who works at the Maine State Crime Laboratory, was given blood samples from McManus and defendants Shaun Tuttle and David Lakin.

She also received skin cells taken from the steering wheel and the interior armrest on the passenger side of the car used in the homicide.

Her job was to try to match them.

She shared her findings Tuesday with the Androscoggin County Superior Court jury charged with deciding whether Lakin and Tuttle are guilty of kidnapping and murdering the 81-year-old man.

The state alleges the two men took McManus from his Blake Street apartment in Lewiston on March 9, 2004, then drove him to Pleasant Pond Road in North Turner.

Once there, the two men allegedly used McManus’ car, a Buick Century, to run over him early the next morning.

The elderly man’s body was discovered March 10, 2004, in the trunk of his car parked on Horton Street in Lewiston.

Sandwich and Coke

Lakin, 22, and Tuttle, 23, have each said they were passed out in the back seat of the car while the other drove over McManus.

The state hopes to prove both men are guilty, no matter which one was behind the steering wheel.

State prosecutors have presented evidence that place both men at McManus’ apartment the night of March 9 and in Turner the following morning.

Roberta Brown, a former employee of Bear Pond Market in Turner, testified Tuesday that Lakin went into the store March 10 to buy a breakfast sandwich and Coke. She recalled seeing another man with thick glasses waiting for him outside beside a blue sedan.

“It seemed like he was in a hurry,” Brown said about the man with the glasses. “I assumed he was trying to get some air or stretch his legs.”

The state also called Lakin’s girlfriend and Tuttle’s former roommate to the stand. Both testified that neither man was home the night of the homicide.

Steering wheel

The scientific evidence came later in the day.

The DNA analyst confirmed that McManus’ blood was found on Lakin’s sneakers, pants and hooded sweatshirt. The same blood was on Tuttle’s boot and pants.

She also tested a substance – most likely vomit or bile – found on McManus’ bed sheets. It contained Tuttle’s DNA, she said

The findings on the steering wheel and passenger-side armrest were not as conclusive.

MacMillan said she could only conclude that the DNA from the armrest did not belong to Lakin, but could have come from McManus or Tuttle.

As for the DNA on the steering wheel, she said, it could have come from any of the three.

“I could not exclude Shaun Tuttle, David Lakin or James McManus,” MacMillan said.

Robert Burns, a forensic specialist for the Maine State Police, testified that the fingerprints on the shifting lever belonged to Tuttle and the palm print on the rearview mirror belonged to Lakin.

No motive

The state is expected to wrap up its case Wednesday. Then the attorneys for Lakin and Tuttle will call their witnesses.

It is unknown whether the two defendants will take the stand.

So far, no motive for the killing has been revealed.

Those who knew McManus said there was likely very little money to be stolen. A successful salesman more than a decade ago, McManus had experienced financial ruin shortly after the death of his wife from cancer.

His neighbors said he socialized with young people in the area, occasionally loaning them money and his car. Lakin reportedly knew McManus before he was killed. Tuttle said he met him that night.

If convicted, both men could be sentenced to life in prison. The trial is expected to end this week.

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