Medical examiner takes the stand in Fabian Gonzales trial

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A medical examiner took the stand Tuesday in the Fabian Gonzales trial to go over all the actions taken to make sure DNA samples are not contaminated. DNA is perhaps the most important piece of evidence for the state to make their case.

Michael Jarvis, the examiner, described all the places they swabbed for DNA on the remains of 10-year-old Victoria Martens. Gonzales is facing child abuse and tampering with evidence charges in Victoria’s death.

“We’d also done upper back, middle back and lower back,” he said. “Additionally we did her neck, chest and abdomen.”

From those swabs came the single most critical piece of evidence to the state’s case – something first heard about four years ago.

“We received startling information from the state lab regarding the presence of an unknown male profile on Victoria’s body,” Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez said at the time.

Torrez shocked the community years ago, revealing that a small, partial sample of DNA was changing the course of their investigation. That evidence shifted the suspicious away from the three people at the scene – Victoria’s mother, Michelle Martens, Fabian Gonzales, and his cousin, Jessica Kelley.

“Multiple biological samples recovered from Victoria’s body demonstrate that although male DNA was present, none of that DNA was linked to Fabian Gonzales and at least one unidentified male profile was found on the body,” Torrez said.

Gonzales is not facing murder charges in this trial. John Doe – the unidentified man – is facing the murder charge.

On Tuesday, multiple neighbors of Michelle and Victoria Martens also took the stand to describe their experiences the day the 10-year-old was brutally killed.