Karma was a key word yesterday during Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya's trial, but not in the cosmic sense.
Instead, prosecutors called to the stand experts in animal DNA testing that provided testimony about hairs found in Malinovskaya's rental car. The hairs could have belonged to Robert Bondar's dog, Karma, or his cat, Klaus.
Prosecutors offered this testimony to support their contention that Malinovskaya, charged with first-degree murder, had been in Bondar's apartment around the time of the murder.
Bondar, the then-boyfriend of murder victim Irina Zlotnikov, had previously been in a relationship with Malinovskaya.
However, during the defense's cross-examination, animal DNA expert Joy Halverson said there was no way to tell when the animal hairs were carried to the vehicle, which means that evidence does not aid the prosecution in definitively placing Malinovskaya at Bondar's home on the day of the murder.
Further expert testimony was provided by Samuel Palenik, a forensic chemical microscopist, who testified about a human hair found at the crime scene.
The hair was not a match with anyone involved in the case and, according to Palenik, appeared to be white.
After the experts' testimony, the prosecution turned to address an alleged incident of sexual assault in September 2004 involving Malinovskaya and an unknown person.
Patrolman John Ireland of Marcus Hook, Pa., said he received a call on the night of Sept. 21, 2004, regarding a sexual assault at the Marcus Hook train station.
Upon arriving, Ireland said he found no one in the area and left. A second call was made to the police and, once again, Ireland was unable to find the caller.
"There was nobody there - I was standing there by myself," Ireland said.
After Ireland returned to the scene in response to a third call, he said, he witnessed Malinovskaya running to Bondar's station wagon wearing no shirt.
Ireland testified that there were no signs that she had been assaulted at all and that she appeared eager to leave the scene with Bondar.
After this, Thomas Abram, the detective in charge of searching Malinovskaya's Delancey Street apartment, testified that he found a bag with latex gloves, a hairnet and a dust mask in her apartment. He also said Malinovskaya had a picture of Bondar in her wallet.
Malinovskaya's three-hour, 40-minute videotaped statement to the police was introduced to the jury and will continue tomorrow, along with testimony by the lead investigator of the crime.
