DNA connects victim to Fairfield husband’s lift, Fresno crime scene – The Vacaville Reporter

DNA evidence links both a hydraulic lift purchased by Gregory Grant Hobson and blood found at a rural Fresno County crime scene to his slain wife, Anu Anand Hobson, a forensic analyst testified Tuesday in Solano County Superior Court.

Angela Butler, a senior forensic analyst at the Serological Research Institute in Richmond, testified that on Feb. 21, 2023, one week after prosecutors allege Hobson, 64, of Fairfield killed Anu Anand Hobson, that she received some evidence from the Fairfield Police Department. It included a light-green face mask worn by Anu Hobson that contained, possibly, makeup stains.

Under direct questioning by Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Flynn, who leads the prosecution, Butler said a DNA profile, that is a small set of “identity markers,” determined the mask was worn by a female.

Butler then said she compared a “buckle swab,” or one taken from inside Gregory Hobson’s cheek, with a swab taken from a small hydraulic lift Hobson purchased on Feb. 14 at the Harbor Freight store in Fairfield, the same day investigators believe Hobson killed his wife, 53, who shared a home with Gregory in the 400 block of Americano Way.

A “presumptive test” proved negative, said Butler, but added that a DA “extraction” process yielded a “mixture of two contributors.” One was Anu’s while the other was “an undetermined” person, thus excluding Gregory Hobson.

A second DNA mixture profile yielded Anu’s DNA and “two unrelated persons,” Butler told Flynn. Thus, Gregory  Hobson could not be included or excluded in the second mixture, that results were “inconclusive.”

However, a DNA swab collected from a black 40-gallon tote found Feb. 22 at the Fresno crime scene, near Kamm Avenue off Interstate 5 in rural Fresno County, determined a reddish-brown” substance was human blood, said Butler, adding the sample was that of “single-source female contributor.”

Testifying in Department 25 in the Justice Center in Fairfield, she said the sample DNA from the tote matched the DNA found in the light-green face mask.

“They are the same,” said Butler, confirming the evidence.

Another and separate blood sample taken from the handle of the 40-gallon tote yielded two contributors. Anu Hobson’s DNA was one of them, but the second contributor’s DNA was “insufficient to determine,” said Butler.

On March 5, 2023, two days after Fairfield police and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office investigators discovered charred human remains in an orchard and open field off Kamm Avenue, Butler’s office received DNA swabs collected from the body’s lower back. A DNA analysis, a five-step process, determined through a single-source profile, that the body was that of Anu Hobson.

During the morning session, Chief Deputy Public Defender Oscar Bobrow cross-examined Amy Tudi-Akaka, a Fairfield Police Department crime scene investigator, showing her more than a dozen photos. The subjects ranged from the Hobson’s marriage record in Orange County and a propane stove found in Gregory Hobson’s silver Toyota Tacoma pickup truck to items from his wallet and photos of him at the Fairfield Police Department.

Afterward, Flynn questioned Christopher Wade, a loss-prevention officer for the Harbor Freight company, who confirmed that Hobson purchased the hydraulic lift on Feb. 14 and confirmed the sale via a video showing Hobson at the cashier counter inside the Holiday Lane store and employee helping Hobson load the lift into the bed of his pickup truck.

Another prosecution witness, Ashley Vargas, a crime scene specialist at the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, testified that she met Fairfield police investigators on Feb. 22 at the Kamm Avenue area, where the 40-gallon tote was discovered.

On March 3, she and other Sheriff and Fairfield investigators returned to the same location, conducted a “grid search,” and discovered the charred human remains. Vargas said she found a necklace with the “om” symbol, a sacred icon in Hinduism and other Eastern religions, and a black gas can spout and orange stopper. Previous court testimony indicated that Anu Hobson wore the necklace..

Flynn also questioned Maria Rodriguez, a CAL FIRE captain specialist of causes and origins of fires, who, on March 3 determined the “pour patterns” around the burned body were the result of someone using an accelerant, such as gasoline or kerosine. The fire, she told Flynn, “was intentionally set.”

Flynn, a longtime and deeply experienced prosecutor, established during jury selection that his case will be built primarily on circumstantial evidence, that is, indirect proof that relies on a chain of reasoning, rather than direct evidence, to reach a conclusion about the facts of the case. They may include, for example, the suspect’s DNA at a crime scene or eyewitness testimony or a video recording of the suspect fleeing the scene or traveling at a certain time, date and location.

As previously reported, a key piece of evidence in the case, which Flynn presented early in the trial, is a thumb drive of video footage from the home’s two surveillance cameras.

One time-stamped Feb. 13, shows Anu Hobson walking toward the front door of the home. Another time-stamped Feb. 14, shows Gregory Hobson’s silver Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. Another video time-stamped at 12:57 p.m. later in the day, shows Gregory driving the truck. And still another time-stamped 4:02 p.m. shows a human hand moving at least one camera. And at 4:23 a video shows Gregory Hobson and he is wearing different clothing.

And in something of a dramatic moment, son Sean Hobson, who testified last week, showed off a clipboard-sized plaque with the words that spelled out “Love you to the moon and back,” but the word “love” was marked out and the word “betray” was in its place. Sean recognized the writing as his father’s.

Flynn, in his opening statements, said Gregory Hobson believed his wife was trying to poison him and also was having an extra-marital affair.

The Solano County District Attorney filed its complaint on Feb. 21, charging Hobson with his wife’s killing.

Experts in cellphone technology tracked Hobson’s whereabouts on Feb. 14, from Fairfield to Stockton, but not beyond there for lack of cellphone tower “pings,” or activity.

An autopsy report by Dr. Arnold Josselson did not determine the cause of death and also determined that Anu was not strangled or suffered blunt force trauma to the head.

The trial, which is expected to last at least two or three more weeks, resumes at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Department 25 in the Justice Center in Fairfield. Trial days are Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

If found guilty of murder, Hobson, who remains without bail in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield, faces 25 years to life in state prison.