DNA expert testifies that sample found on bandana matched Norwood's

SAN ANGELO, Texas (KXAN) - The chances that a DNA sample found on the bandana recovered near the scene of Christine Morton's murder in 1986 belonged to someone other than Mark Norwood are one in nearly 663 trillion, a forensic expert testified on Thursday.

The expert, Huma Nasir, told jurors on the fourth day of Norwood's murder trial that two DNA samples were found on the bandana that later led to the exoneration of Michael Morton in the deadly beating of his wife. The smaller sample matched Christine Morton's DNA and the larger sample in all likelihood was from Norwood.

Given that fewer than 7 billion people live on earth, chances that it had come from someone else is all but impossible, the seven-woman, five-man jury was told.

Later in the day, the jury was shown graphic autopsy photographs of Christine Morton's body and were told that her skull and jaw were broken as the result of at least 8 blows with a blunt object. Pieces of splintered wood were removed from her head during the autopsy..

Also, Michael Morton was recalled to the witness stand to make clear that a bandana found in near Christine's body had belong to her sister and was not connected to the bandana found near the crime scene with the crucial DNA evidence.

The final piece of testimony heard on Thursday came in the form of a video-taped deposition with Sonny Wann.

Wann is the man who purchased a gun from Mark Norwood in 1986 that would eventually turn out to be the same gun stolen from Michael Morton's closet .

According to Wann's deposition, Norwood was trying to make money and offered to sell the .45 caliber handgun to Wann for $50.

The two men worked together in home construction in the 1980s including homes in the neighborhood where the murder occurred.

Wann testified that he asked if the gun had been stolen or used in a crime and Norwood assured him the gun was his own.

Michael Morton testified that he had not seen the gun since it was taken from his closet in 1986 until he was reunited with the evidence while on the stand Tuesday.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the case filed a five-page document they said connects the 58-year-old Norwood to 17 other crimes dating back to 1980. Many of the offenses, which took place in the Austin area, Tennessee and California, were property crimes.

But two of them involved killings, including the 1988 beating death of Debra Baker of Austin. In November, Norwood was indicted on a capital murder charge in the case. Prosecutors also connected him to the July 1980 death of a Tennessee man named David Fox. No details were provided.