POCATELLO — Testimony about DNA evidence that could potentially link Brad Scott Compher to the Pole Line Road home where 25-year-old Nori Jones was found stabbed to death in 2004 took up the bulk of the sixth day of his murder trial at the Bannock County Courthouse on Tuesday.

Compher, 49, of Pocatello, has been charged with felony first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing Jones over 20 times in September 2004.

Randy Parker, who was employed as a forensic scientist with the Idaho State Police in 2010 when Jones’ murder was being investigated, was the first to take the stand Tuesday.

He spoke about his role with ISP, which involved processing evidence, conducting latent fingerprint analysis and verifying the work of other fingerprint examiners within the department.

Parker explained that he would look over the notes of other fingerprint examiners and also conduct his own side-by-side analyses of fingerprint cards when verifying the work of other examiners.

He testified that he reviewed the work of another ISP fingerprint examiner who matched two sets of prints obtained from the crime scene on Pole Line Road to Compher’s fingerprints, which were taken from Compher after Jones was killed.

Parker also testified that no two fingerprints are alike, adding that fingerprints are persistent, in that they are formed when a fetus is growing in the womb and remain the same for a person’s entire life. Parker explained that it is virtually impossible to say how long a latent fingerprint has been left on the surface it was lifted from, aside from being able to know when that surface was last cleaned before the fingerprint was left.

Rylene Nowlin was the next witness to testify. She has been the forensic laboratory manager for the Idaho State Police since 2014 and was certified Tuesday to testify as an expert in biological substances.

Nowlin said that throughout the course of her involvement processing evidence in the Compher case, a total of 131 different items were sent to the state police forensic lab in Meridian.

Nowlin was the individual who tested the fingernails of Jones’ that were clipped during her autopsy. Nowlin used a device to magnify the fingernails to look for any foreign tissue but did not locate anything. Nowlin did note that there was what appeared to be a flaky brown substance, likely dried blood, underneath almost all 10 of Jones’ fingernails.

Throughout the trial there has been a significant number of witnesses who have discussed a sexual assault kit that was conducted on Jones’ body during the autopsy. Nowlin was the individual who tested those samples and testified Tuesday that she did not detect the presence of semen on any of the materials included in the kit.

Nowlin was also involved in analyzing a window located on the rear of Jones’ home that was removed as part of police detectives processing the scene and was ultimately sent to the state police crime lab in Meridian.

At the time she was analyzing this evidence in 2004, the crime lab did not possess the ability to conduct what is called touch or transfer DNA analysis. This particular analysis would allow for the discovery of any DNA on items such as a latent print, which could involve the transfer of skin cells from the person who left that print.

However, Nowlin did testify that she swabbed the latent print that was located on the rear window and sent that swab to another private company, LabCorp, to have the transfer DNA analysis completed.

A forensic scientist who worked for a subsidiary of LabCorp, Meghan Clement, was the next to testify on Tuesday. She spoke in detail about particular DNA testing, specifically STR analysis, which stands for short tandem repeat and is one of the most common types of DNA profiling.

The most important aspect of Clement’s testimony was that she conducted a transfer DNA analysis of the swab from the print off the window and was able to confirm that it belonged to a single biological male individual.

Former Pocatello police detective Scott Long, who now works for the Idaho Office of the Attorney General as a special investigator, was the next to take the stand. The bulk of his testimony centered on his role in conducting surveillance of Compher after he took on the cold case in December 2013.

Long said that at that time the Pocatello Police Department did not have any known DNA or biological sample belonging to Compher.

On April 16, 2014, officers were conducting surveillance of Compher when they observed him discard a cigarette he was smoking out into the street, Long said.

Theo Vanderschaaf was the Pocatello police officer who observed Compher discard the cigarette. Vanderschaaf retrieved it and immediately handed it to Long, according to Vanderschaaf.

Long said he placed the cigarette in a glass jar and transferred it to an evidence bag, which was then stored in the Pocatello police evidence lockup.

Former Pocatello police officer Steven Westfall testified Tuesday that in September 2014 he along with other Pocatello police officers executed a detention order at Portneuf Medical Center, where Compher was located, and seized some DNA samples from Compher, including a swab inside of his cheek, hair from his head and pubic region and blood.

Pocatello police evidence technician Aida Lopez was the last person to testify Tuesday. Her testimony was brief, but she said that she sent the DNA samples obtained from Compher to a lab in Salt Lake City for further analysis.

It’s expected that more testimony surrounding the results of that analysis will be heard Wednesday and it’s possible that the prosecution team, which includes Bannock County Assistant Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Radford, Chief Civil Deputy Brian Trammell and JaNiece Price, the homicide and narcotics specialist for the prosecutor’s office, will rest at some point Wednesday.

If the state does rest Wednesday, Compher’s defense team, which includes Chief Deputy John Scott Andrew of the Bannock County Public Defender’s Office, contracted attorney Gary Edward Proctor of Baltimore and Bannock County Deputy Public Defender Rilie Fry, could call its first witnesses.

Compher’s trial is expected to last until March 8.

If convicted of the felony first-degree murder charge, Compher faces up to life in prison.