Blood stains found throughout house, court told

Blood stains were found throughout a house where a woman, who allegedly murdered a three-year-old boy in her care, lived, a court was told today.

Patricia Angela Pickering, 38, is on trial in the High Court at Auckland for the murder of Dylan Hohepa Tonga Rimoni.

She has pleaded not guilty to murder, two charges of causing Dylan grievous bodily harm, and one of assault. Pickering was Dylan's caregiver. The toddler died of brain injuries in Auckland's Starship Hospital on April 18, 2008.

Dylan had been abused and neglected in the care of his birth mother, Jasmine Tonga, and Pickering and her partner Douglas Hoeta became his caregivers, the jury was told at the start of the trial.

ESR scientist Fiona Matheson told the court today about a scene examination she carried out at the house in Great South Road, Drury, where Pickering lived with Mr Hoeta and Dylan.

Ms Matheson told crown prosecutor Sue Petricevic that she found blood stains throughout the house, including the bathroom door and Dylan's bedroom.

DNA samples were taken from the blood stains. They were found to be from Dylan or another male with the same DNA profile.

A pattern of small blood spots was found in the laundry area. Items of clothing from inside a washing machine - pyjama pants and a sweatshirt - were examined.

The pyjama pants were found to be stained with faecal matter and the sweatshirt was heavily stained with vomit, Ms Matheson said.

Pickering's lawyer Frank Hogan asked Ms Matheson about other items found in the laundry which were stained with blood and/or faecal material.

She confirmed a bathroom floor mat, a black and white striped shirt and a pale blue towel were all found to contain blood and/or faecal stains.

Mr Hogan asked Ms Matheson about the 15 blood stains found in the house, as only three contained a DNA match to Dylan.

"There were three blood stains in the house which contained a strong DNA match to Dylan. Not all of the blood staining was sampled. I only tested eight blood stains, and three of those were identified as coming from Dylan. No DNA profiling information was taken from the other stains found," Ms Matheson said.

She added that heavily stained towelettes wrapped in newspaper were also found in the house.

"The dressings came from the bathroom. The two blood stained sanitary pads were found to be for personal use, but I cannot exclude that they may have been used to soak up blood from a heavily blood stained surface," Ms Matheson said.

Mr Hogan asked Ms Matheson why the sanitary pads were not tested to find out if they contained blood from Pickering or Dylan.

She said it was assumed to be more likely they were for personal use.

A police interview with Pickering is expected to be played to the jury tomorrow.

Pickering is on trial before a jury of seven men and five women. The trial is expected to run for another two weeks.