The Crown has closed its case against two men charged with the Christmas murder of Malcolm Augustus.

Mr Augustus, 20, was shot dead in the Anchorage Lane area of St George’s at about midnight on December 24, 2012.

Wolda Gardner, 35, and Patrick Stamp, 30, have both denied murder.

Earlier in the trial, the jury heard from a witness who claimed that on the evening of the shooting, he met Mr Stamp on Wellington Back Road, and the accused complained that he had been robbed by two men.

The pair went looking for the robbers and found Mr Gardner, who directed them towards a bamboo patch where he had seen a man running. The witness said he helped the defendants as they tried to flush the man out, but fled when he saw that Mr Gardner had a firearm.

He returned to the area after realising that he had left his helmet behind, but abandoned the search when he heard gunshots.

Area residents said they heard loud shouting and threats then gunshots.

When Police arrived on the scene, they found Mr Augustus bleeding in a bamboo patch. He later died from his injuries.

The officers reported seeing a 4x4 vehicle leaving the area with three men inside.

As the trial continued yesterday, the court heard evidence from DNA expert Candy Zuleger, who tested several items, including a pair of helmets and a cell phone found at the scene.

She told the court that tests on the cell phone matched the DNA profile of Mr Gardner, saying that the odds of the DNA coming from anyone else in the black Bermudian population were about one in 486 quintillion, or one in 376 sextillion in the white Bermuda population.

“When the numbers get that high, there’s no way it can be someone else’s DNA,” she said.

She said that both helmets contained a mix of DNA. The first helmet’s major DNA donor was identified as the witness who left his helmet at the scene.

The major DNA donor of the second helmet was an unidentified female and, while none of the suspects were listed as DNA contributors, Mr Augustus was a possible minor DNA contributor. A mixture of DNA was also found on a weighted pole seized as part of the investigation. Mr Gardner was excluded as a DNA contributor but DNA on the pole could have come from Mr Stamp. The odds of that DNA matching anyone else in the black Bermuda population were estimated at about one in 8,000, or one in 13,000 in the white Bermuda population.

A baseball cap found at the scene also contained a mixture of DNA, with Mr Stamp listed as the likely main contributor and Mr Augustus as a possible minor contributor.

Ms Zuleger said the odds of someone else in the black Bermuda population being the major contributor was about one in 602 quintillion, while the odds of someone else in the black Bermuda population being the minor contributor was about one in 43,000.

Also taking the stand was Inspector David Greenidge, the senior officer involved in the case. He told the court that days after the shooting, Police searched a home believed to belong to Mr Gardner.

He said that several items of clothing were seized, but none of them were sent overseas for analysis because it was not clear what he had been wearing on the evening of the shooting.

“Without knowing what he was wearing, there was no need to test this clothing,” he said.

He also told the court that officers had been able to identify a person wearing black clothing who directed officers to the bamboo bushes where they found Mr Augustus, but had been unable to speak with him after the fact.

Under cross examination, he said that after the 4x4 spotted by Police was seized, the driver was swabbed for gunshot residue along with the driver’s side of the vehicle, but those swabs were never sent overseas for testing as evidence.

He explained that the information they had received was that the gunman had sat in the passenger seat, so the tests were unnecessary.