Police detective, serologist tell jurors blood found throughout 2016 Jeannette murder scene

The detective who processed the Jeannette home where police said 19-year-old Khalil Parker was bludgeoned to death in 2016 testified Monday he could not say when the dozens of blood-soaked items found in the residence were deposited there.

Retired Westmoreland County Detective Hugh Shearer told jurors during the third day of the first-degree murder trial for Crystal Belle he found evidence an effort had been made to clean and remove blood from the walls and a kitchen floor.

“There was material used on the wood floor that was strong enough to remove the shine off the flooring,” Shearer testified.

Belle, 39, of Jeannette is accused of using a snow shovel to fatally beat her live-in boyfriend on June 11, 2016.

Continuing his testimony from last week, Shearer told jurors when he investigated the South Seventh Street home he found dozens of items stained with blood. He said there were areas where it appeared a cleaning agent, such as bleach, was used in an attempt to sanitize the murder scene.

The shovel, which was found in nine pieces in two rooms, was dented in a manner that suggested it had impacted another object, Shearer testified. He said the pattern of broken pieces of the shovel’s end section matched a wound above Parker’s eye.

Under questioning from defense attorney Brian Aston, Shearer testified he could not determine when or how the blood found in the home had been deposited. Aston suggested remnants of the blood found on the kitchen floor could have been caused by spilled uncooked meat and other areas where blood was found, including a chair and mattress, might have been from an incident a week earlier after which Parker was treated at a Pittsburgh hospital.

“Are you familiar with an alternate sex life of bondage, with individuals who get tied up and paddled,” Aston asked. “Did any of that cross your mind during the investigation?”

Aston previously suggested Belle and Parker were engaged in rough sexual escapades when she acted to protect herself as the activity escalated. Prosecutors contend Belle intended to kill Parker during a violent rage and feared he was going to walk out on their three-month relationship.

Shearer was one of two witnesses who testified Monday.

Ashlee L. Mangan, a serologist at the Pennsylvania state police crime lab in Greensburg, told jurors she tested 10 different items for blood stains submitted for DNA analysis. Mangan found blood on a wooden slate, pieces from a snow shovel, knotted bundles of shoe laces found tied to a bed, tissues, packing tape, a white T-shirt and swabs taken from the kitchen wall and a bedroom night stand.

The prosecution will continue to present its case against Belle when the trial reconvenes Tuesday.