FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Dayontae Resiles appeared to listen intently Tuesday as two high-profile DNA experts were called to testify in his murder trial.
The process of using a computer program to extract genetic markers was the focus as prosecutors lay out their proof for a first-degree murder charge against the 26-year old man.
It was 2014 when Jill Halliburton Su was found dead by her son in the bathtub of her Davie home after an apparent home invasion.
The DNA profiles of three people were found at the crime scene — the victim, her husband and Resiles, who had no known prior connection to the family.
Prosecutors are expected to paint the picture of a man with a guilty conscience, highlighting his well-choreographed and now infamous escape from a courtroom in 2016.
He was recaptured a week later.
The defense is taking aim at the way DNA experts calculated their findings, calling the system flawed and pointing to a formal complaint that had been previously filed over the matter.
The jury also heard Tuesday about evidence including a letter crafted by Resiles and given to a Broward Sheriff’s Office jail guard, who read it out loud on the stand.
“I can’t do no life or get a lose no trial or have a death sentence. I need you to pull through for me,” BSO detention deputy Alexander Guillaume read from the letter.
Guillaume said he handed off that letter and more than a dozen others to his superiors.
That was several months after Resiles’ escape from a courtroom.
Before resuming Tuesday, the trial was paused for nearly a week because of the Thanksgiving holiday and then two jurors dealing with unrelated medical issues.
Resiles faces life in prison and the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted. the prosecution and defense hope to have the trial finished by the end of the week.