Live testimony resumes today in the murder trial of Michael P. McCarthy. He’s accused of killing a two-year-old girl first known only as “Baby Doe.” She turned out to be Bella Bond.
Testimony on Tuesday mainly dealt with forensics. Here’s the recap: the crime lab testified that there is little linking McCarthy to the murder.
No blood was discovered in McCarthy’s car; there are no prints linking McCarthy to the crime.
A sex assault kit on Bella Bond tested positive for saliva, but not for semen.
The zebra blanket Bond’s body was wrapped in was positive for saliva and semen.
The leggings Bond was wearing tested positive for semen, but negative for sperm cells.
Other experts testified about wind and water currents in the harbor.
The case largely rests upon the credibility of Rachelle Bond, the girl’s mother, who thus far is the only person to directly link McCarthy to the girl’s death.
Rachelle Bond testified that she saw the defendant punch the girl so hard that her body bounced off of a mattress. A medical examiner, however, testified that the mother’s version of the little girl’s death is “unlikely” based on his examination of damage to the little girl’s body. Through five days of testimony, the defense pummeled Rachelle Bond over inconsistencies in her story. The defense claims Rachelle Bond is the real killer. Rachelle Bond testified in return for what trial observers are calling an extremely lenient plea deal involving little more than time served and probation for assisting in the murder of her daughter. Defense attorneys say the deal gives her all the more incentive to lie.
Prosecutor David Deakin has asked the judge to give the jury the option of convicting McCarthy of the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter. That charge would carry a sentence of up to twenty years in prison. The current murder charge carries a possible life sentence.
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