The jury in the Aaron Easton murder trial yesterday heard that the evidence bag containing vials of blood belonging to accused Stanford Archibald was unsealed when the Government analyst examined it.

Christine Quigley initially told the Supreme Court that all the bags were sealed, but defence lawyer Mark Pettingill pointed out that in her notes she had stated that Archibald's bag was not sealed.

Ms Quigley apologised to the court for her mistake.

The court also heard from Det. Con. Brendan Smith, who said that Archibald's blood stain card was not one of the items of evidence he collected from Ms Quigley, as it should have been, and instead it had been kept at the Forensic Support Unit at St. David's.

Archibald, 39, formerly of Somerset, has denied killing 19-year-old Mr. Easton in a brutal murder 18 years ago.

Mr. Easton's body was found in a pool of blood after sustaining 49 stab wounds and a fractured skull. His body was found in the early hours of May 4, 1985, in a driveway off Laffan Street in Pembroke.

Archibald was arrested in 2001 and accused of the murder. He had been living in Scotland and had returned to the Island on holiday.

However, Mr. Pettingill throughout the trial has questioned whether blood samples, which the prosecution has claimed belonged to the accused actually did come from Archibald.

He has suggested that Archibald's blood was in fact mixed up with another suspect, who is now deceased.

And Mr. Pettingill has also suggested that some evidence was tampered with before it was tested for DNA.

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser told the six-woman, six-man jury at the start of the trial that the case was based on DNA and circumstantial evidence.

In cross-examination yesterday, Mr. Pettingill suggested to Ms Quigley that the evidence bags containing the two vials of blood for Archibald were in fact opened.

Ms Quigley said: “I believe they were sealed when I removed them from the freezer.”

After checking her notes she said: “My note states that it was open at the time. I apologise to the court for that.”

Mr. Pettingill said in Ms Quigley's notes she had crossed out sealed and put unsealed. Although all of the other blood samples were sealed.

Mr. Pettingill asked Ms Quigley, to her knowledge, who the last person was to have had contact with the the bags.

She said: “I think it would be Kevin Leask, the former Government analyst.”

But Mr. Pettingill said: “With respect, but that would be an assumption.”

The court also heard that Ms Quigley had washed one of Archibald's blood samples down the drain after a vial had cracked.

The vial broke before pathologist Dr. Keith Cunningham had showed them in evidence.

Ms Quigley said she had put them in a tampered evidence bag on June 17 of this year.

In re-examination, Crown counsel Juan Wolffe asked Ms Quigley where the vials of blood were kept, and she said they were kept in the Government analyst's laboratory at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH).

Ms Quigley said the lab was a secure environment.

Mr. Wolffe also asked whether she was concerned about the vials breaking when she dealt with them earlier in the month and she said she had no reason to be concerned about the condition of the vials.

A statement was also read in from Det. Insp. Donald Cutts, supervisor of the Forensic Support Unit (FSU), which was previously known as Scenes of Crime Office.

The statement said he had received evidence pertaining to Mr. Easton's case when Det. Sgt. Keith Cassidy retired in February, 1999.

Det. Con. Smith, who is a photographer in the FSU, told the jury that he had collected evidence from Det. Insp. Cutts on October 30, 2001 and the next day he had collected blood cards from Ms Quigley.

He said the blood stain cards taken for everyone involved in the case, including Mr. Easton's parents, were stored with Ms Quigley, apart from Mr. Archibald's.

Det. Con. Smith said he delivered the items to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in Canada, for DNA testing.

Mr. Pettingill asked: “So the only blood stain card with the Police was Stanford Archiblad's? And the next day you had to go to the hospital and collect the other items?”

“Yes,” said Det. Con. Smith.

“I guess you were just following orders and this doesn't mean anything to you,” said Mr. Pettingill.

Mr. Pettingill also questioned the officer about pieces of block he had photographed with Mr. Leask. The photos have staining around the base of the blocks, but like Mr. Leask, Det. Con. Smith claimed it looked like the red staining was rubble or coloured sand.

The case continues tomorrow before Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller. Lawyer Larry Mussenden is assisting Mr. Pettingill.