NORWICH — Witnesses for the prosecution in murder trial of Ganesh R. Ramsaran continued Monday where forensic scientists took the stand to identify blood found in the Ramsaran’s home and minivan.
While numerous samples were collected from the Ramsaran’s Sheff Road home when New York State Police searched it in December 2012, many of the swabs did not match the DNA of the late Jennifer Ramsaran.
Ganesh R. Ramsaran is accused of killing his wife, and Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride said the circumstantial evidence will show the jury that Ramsaran murdered his wife in their home early in the morning on Dec 11, 2012, covered up the crime in their home, dumped her body in Pharsalia, placed her iPhone on Moon Hill Road in Plymouth, dropped her van at Plank Road Manner Apartments in Norwich, and then ran to the Norwich Family YMCA — where McBride said Ramsaran made sure he told various people that his wife was shopping in Syracuse.
Ramsaran reported his wife missing the evening of Dec. 11, 2012, and voluntarily provided information — including computers, his phone, and other electronics — to authorities.
According to witness testimony, Ramsaran told police that after Jennifer left on a shopping trip between 10:30 and 11 a.m., he ran down to the YMCA, and explained the route he took. Prior testimony does not show Ramsaran on video footage from various businesses along that route.
Lieutenant Richard Cobb, lead investigator on the case, took the stand Monday and audio was played from a March 22, 2013 interview with Ramsaran where he was asked to explain his story to authorities once again. Half of the audio was played for the jury; the rest is expected on Tuesday.
Daniel Myers with the New York State Police crime lab in Albany testified as the forensic scientist who conducted the DNA tests.
According to Myers, nine of the blood samples collected from the Ramsaran home belonged to one of the children, and two others matched another of Jennifer and Ganesh’s children.
There were some swabs — from the home and the van — that did match to Jennifer’s DNA only.
Other samples, according to Myers, contained the DNA of multiple donors. On one sample, Myers said Jennifer was a major contributor to the sample, but the other donor could not be identified with certainty.
The spot remover that was collected from the Ramsaran’s bedroom dresser was found to have the DNA of one of the Ramsarans’ children, not the defendant or victim.
Myers said he received the samples to test on April 1, 2013 and examined them from April 2-19, 2013. He filed his analysis on May 8, 2013.
A sweatshirt volunteered to police by the defendant had a bloodstain that was a mixture of Ganesh Ramsaran’s blood with at least one additional donor. Myers said Jennifer could not be excluded as a possible contributor to the sample.
“Not excluded is basically a step back when I’m looking at a profile,” said Myers during cross-examination by Gilberto Garcia, attorney for the defendant. Myers added that there is less information; not enough to say there is a good correlation to say whose DNA was mixed.
Myers said, “This profile is 1.661 quadrillion times more likely to be observed if the donors were Ganesh and Jennifer Ramsaran, rather than if the donors were two randomly selected, unrelated individuals.”
