By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – There’s no DNA evidence to put Logan Clegg at the wooded site where the bodies of Stephen and Wendy Reid were found, and there are doubts about the shell casings found a month after the shooting.
The first full day of Clegg’s defense in his murder trial saw his lawyers trying to make large holes in the prosecution’s case, the biggest might be the shell casings from Clegg’s Glock 17, 9 mm.
Forensic expert Jason Latham testified on Wednesday he could not find any shell casings in photos taken by FBI agents from May 10, 2022, a blow to the only physical evidence the state has so far produced.
“I was not able to identify objects in the (May) 10th images consistent with any casings,” Latham said.
The Reids were killed on April 18, 2022, and their bodies found two days later. Then-Assistant Attorney General Geoffrey Ward found the casing fired by Clegg’s gun on May 20, a month later. But, the state is unable to connect the bullets recovered from the Reids to Clegg’s gun, putting weight on the brass casings Ward found.
Latham testified that he could not find the casings in the May 10 photos, nor could he see them in photos of the scene taken on April 22.
Prosecutors have known for months Latham would testify about the May 10 and May 20 photos.
Last week, prosecutors notified the defense Concord Police Det. Wade Brown is now prepared to testify he could see objects in the May 10 photo that could be the shell casings. On Wednesday, during the trial proceedings, prosecutors told the defense that Concord Police Det. Brendan Ryder is ready to testify he can see an object in the April 22 photo that could be a shell casing.
Latham showed jurors enlarged images of the wooded scene, and pointed to the object Brown identified in the May 10 photo. That object is not shaped like a shell casing, Latham testified, as it seems to have a bent edge not present in the casings found on May 20.
The object in the April 22 image appears to be the wrong shape and color to be a casing, Latham testified.
“In my professional opinion this is not consistent with ammunition casing,” Latham said.
Wednesday started with DNA expert Amber Smith who testified about the lack of conclusive DNA results to connect Clegg to the murders.
Smith, who was originally hired by the Concord Police Department to test clothing and other items on the Reids, said DNA for multiple people was found, but her analysis was unable to point to Clegg.
On some of the items that belonged to Stephen Reid that Smith tested there is evidence of DNA from two to three other people, she testified. Once Wendy Reid is accounted for, the remaining DNA tends to point away from Clegg as a source, Smith testified. Smith could not completely rule Clegg out as a DNA source with absolute statistical certainty, but the results tended to show he was an unlikely DNA source.
This is the third week in the trial, and the case could go to the jury on Friday.
Clegg was living in a tent in the woods near the Marsh Loop Trail in Concord in 2022 when the Reids were killed. The retired couple was known to hike the trail several times a week. Prosecutors have so far been unable to explain any motive for why Clegg killed the Reids, but there is strong circumstantial evidence implicating Clegg.
After the Reids were reported missing, police found Clegg’s tent site in the woods, burned. Clegg fled to Vermont using aliases. When he was arrested in October of 2022 he had $7,000 in cash, a plane ticket to Germany, the Glock he had bought illegally, and a Romanian identity card in a false name.