An officer escorting accused Mohammed Raheesh Isoof at Lautoka High Court.

The defence lawyer in the Nausori Highlands alleged murder trial today asked the Fiji Police Force Senior Scientific Officer if they tried to find out anything about the two unidentified individuals.

As highlighted in the Lautoka High Court, three DNA samples were found on the prayer items retrieved from the crime scene which are being used as evidence.

Two DNA samples are of unidentified persons while the third is of accused Mohammed Isoof’s.

During the cross examination this afternoon, the defence asked Naomi Tuitoga if they ever enquired about the unknown individuals.

Tuitoga said the CSI team is aware of its procedures and would have obtained their DNA samples for comparisons.

She was then asked if this was done in this case, to which Tuitoga replied that no further samples were given to them except of the deceased family and Isoof.

The defence also asked that a mixed DNA profile was obtained, of which the major contributors were the unknown individuals while the minor was similar to the accused but not the same, Tuitoga replied yes.

Upon re-examination, the state witness was asked to clarify what she meant by similar and same in her line work.

Tuitoga told the court that for similar, it meant the DNA sample obtained was above the 50% threshold which gives them confidence the DNA sample is of a person, adding the definition for same meant it’s a complete match.

Isoof is charged with five counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

The trial continues.