Read Article
Steven Downs, left, appears in the 8th District Court in Lewiston in 2019 with lawyer James Howaniec. Downs was facing extradition to Alaska to stand trial for a 1993 murder. Sun Journal file photo
Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
A supervisor at the Alaska Crime Lab testified Wednesday that in 1993, when a native Alaskan woman was raped and murdered, crime scene investigators may not have worn gloves, wouldn’t have worn masks, and cigarette smoking was routine during autopsies.
“So you want to protect talking over the evidence, touching the evidence without gloves on, because that will transfer low amounts of DNA,” Jennifer Foster said during a videoconference hearing.
DNA analyst testifies in Auburn man s murder case at Alaska court hearing centralmaine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from centralmaine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Meteorologist Bill Taylor captured a photograph of dozens of bizarre glowing columns while out walking in the city of North Platte on Monday, February 8.
Read Article
Steven Downs, right, leaves the courtroom with his attorney, James Howaniec, after bail was denied in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn in March.
Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal file photo
The former girlfriend of an Auburn man charged in the rape and murder of an Alaska native woman in 1993 said Thursday that Steven H. Downs never owned a gun in the four years they dated while students at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
Attorneys for Downs, 46, called Katherine deSchweinitz Lee on Thursday to testify in Fairbanks Superior Court via videoconference as a witness in support of a motion to dismiss the indictment charging Downs with murder and sexual assault.
KINY 9:00am - 10:35am AUBURN, Maine (AP) An attorney for a former Maine resident who is facing trial for an Alaska killing is trying to exclude evidence due to misinformation from police.
Steven Downs, formerly of Auburn, was charged for the 1993 rape and killing of Sophie Sergie at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Authorities arrested Downs in Maine in 2019 after the case sat dormant for years.
The second day of hearings in the case took place Tuesday, and Alaska State Police Trooper Randel McPherron said some of the information contained in affidavits used to secure search warrants was false. The Sun Journal reported McPherron said he included the incorrect information in his police report unintentionally.