A scientist has told a jury that tests on items taken from around the Guy farm revealed only one very low-level DNA profile from the man accused of killing Scott Guy.
Jayshree Patel was giving evidence at the trial of Ewen Macdonald, who is before the High Court in Wellington accused of murdering his 31-year-old brother-in-law at his Feilding farm on 8 July 2010.
She told the Court a partial DNA profile from Ewen Macdonald was found on the barrel release lever of a shotgun she was given for testing.
She said many of the items she tested revealed no human DNA, so no profiles could be obtained from them.
In cross-examination Ms Patel admitted that regular users of an item could leave DNA traces on it.
The defence lawyer, Peter Coles, told her that Ewen Macdonald had used the shotgun she tested to kill some cows after Scott Guy died and Ms Patel agreed that could have led to his DNA being on the firearm.
Pathologist John Rutherford, who carried out the post-mortem on Mr Guy told the court on Tuesday that the 31-year-old would have died in a matter of seconds after being shot at close range.
Dr Rutherford said a gunshot wound to the neck killed Mr Guy, and that his chin and voicebox were badly injured by scattering pellets.
He said Mr Guy's injuries could be explained by one shot, but under cross examination by the defence he admitted it was possible three shots could have done the damage.
Dr Rutherford said the small scattering of the pellets indicated Mr Guy's killer wasn't very far away from him.
Court hears evidence on footprints
Earlier, a forensic scientist told the court he believes distinctive footprints found near Feilding farmer Scott Guy's body were made by a worn pair of dive boots rather than a new pair.
Forensic scientist David Neale, resuming evidence on Tuesday, told the court that he worked with a podiatrist when analysing plaster casts of wavy-patterned footprints made at the scene.
He said new boots made impressions which were sharp, but on impressions from worn boots, the waves of the sole print were flattened in areas of high use such as the ball of the foot.
Mr Neale said an impression of Ewen Macdonald's foot was significantly larger than a size 7 but fit within the boundaries of the prints found at the scene.
He said dive boots are stretchy and someone could wear a pair that was too big or too small for them.
Mr Neale had told the court on Monday that shoeprints were found at Mr Guy's head and feet as well as around his ute, the front gate and towards an old cowshed on the property.
He said the prints were quite close to Mr Guy's body but he did not measure the distance.
