thing would look different. and not to slight your county person, but dr. spitz has got a lot of credentials, a lot of autopsies, a lot of history. the concern is that the jury buys the flash and and doesn t listen to the science. reporter: but before the jury could mull over the science, they had to take into account the story of the only other person in the car that night, dana s best friend roxy, who would tell her story in public for the first time. coming up roxy says dana was in danger even before she left for the nightclub. the bedroom door opened. he came out and he turned around. he goes, there, bitch, now go out. and she walked out and she had marks and stuff. protect your pet with the #1 name in flea and tick protection.
forensics. this really becomes a case about science, doesn t it? if the science didn t work, if the jury didn t understand it or didn t buy into it, it was gonna be a not guilty. reporter: dr. diane scala barnett, the coroner who had performed the autopsy on dana s exhumed body told the jury she d been able to get a better look at dana s skull than the first coroner. i saw separate fractures and the pattern of fractures only after the bone was cleaned. there were three impact patterns, three distinct patterns. and what would have caused those? a beating. a beating? some sort of bludgeoning instrument absolutely. unknown, was used? absolutely. but there s no question there were three impact sites on the skull? no question. and this was not at all consistent with falling out of a car. not at all. not in my experience. y shaped incision reporter: it was gruesome testimony for brittany to sit through. the one thing i wasn t prepared for as much but i t
reporter: what s more, it wasn t just that there was no evidence linking russell adkins to the murder. the defense pointed out the only forensic evidence investigators uncovered excluded him after the second autopsy, investigators had sent dana s fingernail clippings to the state crime lab. the male dna found under her fingernails was not mr. adkins ? that s correct. reporter: far more believable the defense said was adkins story of an accident. he has insisted since september of 1982 he didn t do anything, she fell from his car. that has that has not changed at all. lots of other evidence has vanished, witnesses have disappeared or died that s the one thing that has not changed. reporter: and even if you didn t believe russell adkins words, the defense said, his actions that night seemed to speak for themselves. frankly, it doesn t make sense that someone who has just murdered someone is then going to go door to door at 3:00 in
and i just said, they got him. and he said, what do you mean, they got him? and i said, he s been indicted and they ve he s in custody. and my dad just crumbled. he just kept saying, thank you, god, thank you. like this is what i ve wanted my entire life. reporter: but brittany knew her fight for justice was far from over. you have to steel yourself for this trial? uh-huh. and i will be there every second of it, because, you know, nobody s else has ever been there for her. and you know it is a cold case file, it s still mostly circumstantial. it s a tough case to make. right. but i feel in my heart if people listen to the facts, i mean, there s facts, you know. but if the jury doesn t see it that way and he walks, are you okay with that? i m not. but i m not going to stop my opinion, my heart, everything, he killed my mom. and he needs to pay for what he did.
thing would look different. and not to slight your county person, but dr. spitz has got a lot of credentials, a lot of autopsies, a lot of history. the concern is that the jury buys the flash and and doesn t listen to the science. reporter: but before the jury could mull over the science, they had to take into account the story of the only other person in the car that night, dana s best friend roxy, who would tell her story in public for the first time. coming up roxy says dana was in danger even before she left for the nightclub. the bedroom door opened. he came out and he turned around. he goes, there, bitch, now go out. and she walked out and she had marks and stuff. flea and tick protection