TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Slain Girl's Cut Contained Suspect's DNA, Expert Says

ADVERTISEMENT

By TODD LESKANIC, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - Blood and tire tracks have become contentious issues in the first-degree murder trial of Phillup Alan Partin.

This week, prosecutors have presented evidence that seems to tie Partin to the slaying of 16-year-old runaway Joshan Ashbrook on July 31, 2002. Her half-naked body was found alongside Shady Hills Road the next day. Her throat had been slashed, her neck broken.

Analysts testified Thursday that DNA taken from a hair found embedded in a cut on her left hand matched Partin's. Tire experts testified that tracks found near the teenager's body could have been made by the tires on Partin's maroon 1996 Ford F-150.
Defense attorneys Bill Bennett and Bjorn Brunvand wanted to know why a blood spot found on the asphalt was collected but not tested. Another set of tire tracks left near the untested blood couldn't have been made by Partin's pickup.

Under Bennett's cross-examination, lead detective Scott Gattuso said he didn't think the blood on the asphalt warranted consideration because it appeared to be from roadkill. Bennett pressed him:

'Did you see any fur?'

'No,' Gattuso said.

'Did you see any teeth?'

'No.'

Bennett's contention is that Fred Kaufman killed Ashbrook. Partin and his 7-year-old daughter were living with Kaufman and his wife in Port Richey when Ashbrook turned up dead. Blood stains found on the carpet and walls of Partin's room contained Ashbrook's DNA.

But blood found on Kaufman's Mitsubishi Montero wasn't tested, according to Thursday's testimony.

One of the problems for the defense is explaining Partin's actions and statements following the discovery of Ashbrook's body. He eluded law enforcement for months, leaving the state and playing a cat-and-mouse game with Pasco investigators.

Thursday, jurors heard three recorded telephone conversations between Gattuso and Partin. In each, Partin denies killing Ashbrook but refuses Gattuso's repeated requests to meet for an interview.

'I mean, you're making me chase you. You're making me do all this work when it probably would have taken 20 or 30 minutes of your time sitting down,' Gattuso said in a Sept. 4, 2002, conversation. 'See when you call like this I'm ... I'm not really prepared, I don't know what to ask you, I don't have anything in front of me.'

'I know you're not prepared,' Partin replied, 'and that's why I call you like this.'

Witnesses testified Thursday that Partin appeared in November 2002 at a used car lot in Washington state, where he paid $3,050 in cash to purchase a Jeep Cherokee using Kaufman's Social Security card and forging his signature.

Eleven months later, investigators in Fayetteville, N.C., spotted Partin driving the Jeep and arrested him. Fayetteville resident Dale Young testified Thursday that Partin called him when he was arrested.

'I asked him if he needed me to give him money to get him out of jail,' Young said. 'And he said, 'No, they're probably going to kill me for this.'

'

Partin, 42, faces the death penalty if the 12-member jury finds him guilty of first-degree murder. Assistant State Attorney Michael Halkitis is expected to complete the state's case sometime today. Kaufman is expected to testify.

Prosecutors think Partin picked up Ashbrook along a local road on the morning of July 31, 2002. Witnesses testified that he drove Ashbrook and his daughter, Patrisha, to the Port Richey Wal-Mart to buy a few things; the trio then went fishing and swimming before returning to Kaufman's house, where they watched television and played video games in Partin's room.

Workers with the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative found Ashbrook's body the following morning.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT