State police sergeant gives graphic testimony about crime scene in Morales trial

The third day in the ongoing trial for Jose Morales began with graphic descriptions from one of the two witnesses who took the stand on Wednesday.

Sgt. Kevin Duggan of Connecticut State Police testified to conditions in which he found Christine Holloway’s body in her Ansonia home.

"In the tub, there was the descendant's body, there was leaf and other debris down near the drain portion and fragments of what appeared to be skull-like material in the tub,” Duggan said.

Duggan testified to Holloway’s brain being in the bathtub after Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Howard Stein asked if anything, or if organs, were in the bathtub.

On Wednesday, Duggan’s testimony took up the majority of the court day. Duggan said he was the one who processed the home after the body was removed.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Howard Stein introduced photos of objects inside of Holloway’s home that had blood-like stains on them.

Those photos included objects such as a rug, crib railings, a dresser, a blue storage bin with toys and a bucket with rags.

Duggan also testified to being the one in charge of processing Holloway’s Black Ford Focus and Morales’ Gold Mazda Protege.

He said it took hours to process both vehicles, and ultimately he seized a black contractor-style plastic bag from the trunk of the car that had blood-like stains on it.

Duggan said neither car had a child seat inside. He went on to say that on Dec. 5, 2019, he arrived at Kiducation in Hamden to go through the items that had blood-like substance on them.

In his testimony, he said he found kids toys, a baby bottle labeled V.M., a child’s book, pieces of Holloway’s mail, a diaper genie, a large black t-shirt, a pair of black Nike sneakers, a green Hanes t-shirt and a small pink croc shoe, all of which had blood-like stains on them.

Duggan testified to labeling and packaging the items before handing them over to the Ansonia Police Department.

Defense attorney Ed Gavin cross-examined Duggan briefly.

Gavin asked about cross contamination and whether it would be possible that one item with blood on it could transfer the blood to another item.

Gavin also questioned Duggan over the fact that other people had been inside the home at 6 ½ Myrtle Ave. before Duggan.

Gavin was trying to establish that other people aside from Duggan had access to the home and the things inside before Duggan arrived to conduct the state’s processing.

The second witness the jury heard from was Forensic Science Examiner Jennifer Nelson with the CT State Division of Scientific Services.

Nelson testified that she conducted presumptive blood testing at a CT lab for the items submitted by the Ansonia Police Department.

The state introduced dozens of photos as evidence of the objects tested, and Nelson verified to the jury what each item was tested for.

Before stepping off the stand, Gavin cross-examined Nelson, asking him if a presumptive test was done on all of the items, to which she responded yes.

Attorney Ed Gavin: "All of the testing you did in this case, all of the items that were introduced here, you can't tell us where the origin of any of those items were, is that correct?"

Jennifer Nelson: "That’s correct."

Attorney Ed Gavin: "You don't know where any of these blood stains came from, from what person it came from?"

Jennifer Nelson: "Correct."

During Wednesday’s court proceedings, the jury learned that a search and seizure body warrant for Morales was obtained by Ansonia police.

The state showed the jury a photo of Morales without a shirt that showed a small bruise on his chest.

Morales was present in court on Wednesday. He wore a grey button down shirt and black dress pants.