A sensitive test for blood at the flat where missing financial adviser Lynda Spence was allegedly tortured and killed was negative, a court has heard.
Forensic scientist Dr Nigheam Stevenson was giving evidence for a second day at the trial of Colin Coats, 42, David Parker, 38, Paul Smith, 47, and Philip Wade, 42.
All four deny abducting, torturing and murdering Miss Spence at a flat in West Kilbride between April 14 and 28, 2011.
Ms Stevenson told defence QC Derek Ogg, representing Coats, that the investigation at the flat in Meadowfoot Road had been carried out for seven days.
Mr Ogg said: "There have been tremendous forensic resources put into the flat – much more than ordinary scenes."
She replied: "Certainly it was a lengthy investigation."
The defence QC then said: "When the ladies and gentlemen of the jury hear that all that was found was a small blood stain which matched Lynda Spence's DNA and was visible when the police entered the building in October 2011."
Ms Stevenson said: "That was the only DNA matching Lynda Spence."
Mr Ogg then asked if it was possible to find DNA which was invisible to the naked eye and was told it was.
He was told by Ms Stevenson that an additional "very sensitive test" for blood using Luminol was carried out with negative results.
Mr Ogg said: "On CSI and similar programmes an area is sprayed with Luminol and then the lights are switched off. If there is blood present it can be seen for about 30 seconds."
Ms Stevenson confirmed that it is a predictive test for blood, not a positive test.
The QC went on: "If there had been blood there the Luminol would show it up?"
She said this was the case.
The jury was told that the attic area where Miss Spence, who went missing in April 2011, is believed to have been held and tortured, had been tested in this way and no blood had been found.
The floor joists in the attic were also examined and no DNA was found.
The trial before judge Lord Pentland continues.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article