AUBURN – A state prosecutor presented DNA evidence linking Richard Dwyer to murder victim Donna Paradis on Wednesday, the day before the jury was set to get the case.

Dwyer, 45, of Canton, is accused of raping, robbing and strangling 38-year-old Paradis in October 2007. The two worked at Affiliated Computer Services on Lisbon Street in Lewiston.

Paradis, who was seven and a half months pregnant, was last seen alive on Oct. 23, 2007, when she left ACS and went to a local Northeast Bank to get $400. Paradis’ body was discovered about three weeks later, on Nov. 12, in a wooded area behind the Promenade Mall on Lisbon Street. She was found naked, red strips of material looped and knotted around her wrists and neck. A pickax, shovel and clothing – including maternity pants that were smudged with dirt, entwined with a pair of women’s underwear and turned inside out – were found nearby. Paradis had been buried under dirt and large chunks of concrete.

The trial started Monday. On Wednesday, both the state and the defense rested their cases.

Dwyer never took the stand.

The state spent most of Wednesday morning presenting DNA evidence linking Dwyer and Paradis.

Cathy MacMillian, a Maine State Police Crime Lab analyst, testified that DNA consistent with both Paradis and Dwyer were found in samples taken from Paradis’ sexual assault kit, on a flashlight Dwyer took to his girlfriend’s home, on a cloth strip found knotted around one of Paradis’ wrists and on a work-issued lanyard and empty plastic ID sleeve found in Dwyer’s vehicle. DNA consistent with Paradis’ was on a shovel found at the scene.

Of all the samples, the DNA on the flashlight proved to be the closest to Paradis, the analyst testified. Only one person in 32.9 billion would match that DNA.

“The likelihood is greater than the population of the world,” Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese said.

But Dwyer’s lawyer, George Hess, called into question the findings, noting that the other DNA samples had a much lower probability of a match, even though they were “consistent with” Paradis and Dwyer. One person out of 157 would match the DNA found on the lanyard and ID sleeve, for example,

Under questioning MacMillian acknowledged, “It’s not a strong match.”

Hess also pointed out that DNA from at least one unknown person had been mixed in with some of the samples, including those taken from the flashlight, the cloth binding on Paradis’ wrist and the lanyard and sleeve found in Dwyer’s car.

After the state rested Wednesday morning, the defense presented less than two hours of testimony. Most of it suggested that someone other than Dwyer committed the murder and that people walking in the area handled potential evidence.

Damien Perreault, who lives near the burial site, testified that he walks through the area every day. A week or two before Paradis’ body was found, he spotted a blue jacket and a pair of women’s shoes there. He picked them up and looked in the pockets of the jacket before putting them down again. A blue jacket has been identified as Paradis’ and was submitted as evidence earlier in the trial, though Perreault couldn’t say whether it was the same jacket he picked up.

Perreault also testified that he saw a man standing next to a Jeep on the edge of the area one day. When Perreault started to approach him, he said, “He jumped back in the Jeep and he took off.”

Another man who lives in the neighborhood testified that he also walked around the burial area. He was there on Oct. 27 and 28 to clear a snowmobile trail.

He, too, spotted and picked up a blue jacket. And like Perreault, he put it down again.

He also found Paradis’ work ID badge. Believing it belonged to a woman who often walked through the area, he said he clipped it to a tree branch. When he returned a few days later, it was gone.

Dustin Son, a used car salesman who sold Dwyer his car, testified that his Lewiston shop offers $400 down payments and gives $100 to people who refer other potential buyers. Although several state witnesses had testified that Paradis planned to buy a car from Dwyer the day she disappeared, Dwyer has said he referred Paradis to a couple of used car shops in the area and offered to show her the car he bought, but he never planned to sell her one.

Son testified that he had never met Paradis and Dwyer never called him about her.

Throughout the two and a half days of testimony this week, Dwyer showed no emotion and remained quiet. On Wednesday he spoke only to tell the judge he understood his right to take the stand.

“I will not be testifying,” he said.

Closing arguments will be held Thursday. The jury is expected to begin deliberations by late morning.

Dwyer is being held without bail in the Androscoggin County Jail.