He told everyone that the case would resume the day after New Year’s. He gave the jury the same instructions as before—stay away from any and all media and not discuss the case with anyone, not even family members.
The resumption of the trial came too quickly for Albert Jaxson, who couldn’t shake the feeling that his client was going to hang himself.
“Do the people have any other witnesses to call?” asked the judge. The district attorney followed a strong hunch that had developed in her thinking. “The people call Richard Straub.”
The bailiff called for Richard Straub in the rear of the courthouse, but no one came forward. She opened the door to the hallway and repeated, “The people call Richard Straub to the stand.” Still no one appeared.
Garnett instructed the court clerk, “Go out and look in the hallway and the men’s room to see if Richard Straub is there.”
The clerk returned and said, “Your Honor, I checked everywhere and there is no Richard Straub anywhere in the courthouse.”
“Madam D.A., apparently Mr. Straub is not going to appear before this court. So please call your next witness.”
“That is not entirely correct, Your Honor, because it is our contention that Mr. Straub is already here and sitting with Defense Attorney Jaxson, trying to pretend he is Rabbi Bloom.”
“Objection, Your Honor. No foundation for such a preposterous insinuation,” said the defendant’s lawyer.
“Sustained. Madam D.A., you have offered no proof that the man sitting there, known as Rabbi Neil Robert Bloom, the defendant you are prosecuting, is in fact Richard Straub.”
“Your Honor, please give me fifteen minutes and the prosecution will provide that proof.”
“You are balancing on the edge, Madam D.A. Be careful and produce your evidence swiftly.”
“The people call Dr. Lynn Collier.”
The court clerk placed Collier under oath and swore her in.
“Dr. Collier, you are a forensics detective for the Sedona Police Department. In this capacity, you analyze fingerprints and other evidence such as DNA from a crime scene that is brought to you, correct?” asked Stanford.
“Correct!” said Collier.
“On the day the detectives discovered a body in the Rabbi’s backyard, did you have an opportunity to take any fingerprints?”
“None were available from the ashes. However, we were able to identify the charred remains as belonging to a human being. We did take fingerprints from every room in the Rabbi’s house. We took fingerprints from walls, doors, faucets, circuit breakers, light switches, all pots and pans in his kitchen, his furniture, in his garage and in his cars, and then some.”
“What findings did the fingerprints provide in the way of identifying who they belonged to?”
“Ninety-eight percent belonged to the owner of the home, Rabbi Neil Robert Bloom.” replied Dr. Collier.
“Did you fingerprint the Rabbi when he was arrested for this situation?”
“No, but the police did as S.O.P for all individuals arrested and placed in custody. They then sent me copies of the prints.”
“Did you get the same results from all those fingerprints?”
“Objection. Prosecution is leading the witness,” interjected the defense.
“Overruled. Dr. Collier, you may answer the question.”
Hearing this, Straub felt exonerated, believing that his fingerprints had to be the same as his brother’s since they were identical twins.
“No, the results were different. We found that the man Detective Somerville arrested had different fingerprints than the Rabbi who owned the house. We found these other fingerprints on the front doorknob, the upstairs closet doors, and along kitchen drawer handles. Using the latest fluorescent dye and black light techniques, we confirmed that the other two percent of the fingerprints we found, while somewhat similar, belonged to someone else.”
“Were you able to identify those other fingerprints?”
“Yes, according to records in the FBI database, we found that they belonged to a Richard Straub.”
Hearing this, Straub hung his head down between his legs, trying awfully hard not to vomit.
“What else did you learn from your forensics investigation of material from the scene of the crime?”
“They brought me a gun found amid the ashes that was very damaged from fire but not melted. It was a .45 caliber Glock with an attached silencer. I also inspected the skull and found a .45 caliber hole in its forehead and a much larger exit wound at the back of the head. Then, as we investigated items throughout the home, a .45 caliber slug was extracted from a closet door directly across from the front door.”
“Did you establish how that bullet hit the wooden door across from the front door?”
“Since the bullet hole on the wooden door had blood on it, which we could only see with a special blue light, I deduced that it was most likely the same bullet that exited the back of the victim’s head when he was shot in the forehead. Therefore, he was apparently shot at the front door of his home.”
“What else did you investigate forensically?”
“The skull had four teeth still embedded in the lower jaw. We obtained DNA from them and confirmed that they belonged to Rabbi Bloom.”
“In your professional opinion, were you able to deduce what transpired? ”
“Objection. Calls for conjecture and not facts,” Jaxson cried out.
“Overruled.”
“Yes. In my professional opinion, someone had knocked on his front door or rang his bell, and when the Rabbi opened the front door, he was immediately shot in the forehead. Due to the shooter being in such close proximity to the victim, the point of entry of the shot caused the bullet to travel completely through the skull and exit out the back of his head. Therefore, the bullet that killed the Rabbi was the one lodged and extracted from the coat closet door behind him. Blood traces found on the extracted bullet matched the Rabbi’s DNA; it was the same as the DNA found on his toothbrush.”
“Let’s say that the Rabbi had a twin. Would they then not have the same DNA?” Stanford asked.
“No, they would not. It is a basic belief of human biology, as taught in schools everywhere, that identical twins come from the same
