DNA lab ‘misled Shandee Blackburn cops’

The DNA laboratory that tested forensic samples in Shandee Blackburn’s 2013 slaying misled police investigating the murder, a retired homicide detective says.

Murder victim Shandee Blackburn. Picture: Michaela Harlow

The DNA laboratory that tested forensic samples in Shandee Blackburn’s 2013 slaying misled police investigating the murder, a retired homicide detective says.

Retired detective sergeant Scott Furlong said he felt frustrated by the lack of DNA ­evidence during the investigation into Blackburn’s murder in ­Mackay, Queensland, and ­believed answers he received from the lab were “less than truthful”.

“It appears to me that there’s been a concerted effort to deceive the police in relation to the forensic examinations that were undertaken at the time,” Mr Furlong said.

Mr Furlong asked a senior ­laboratory manager why the lab was unable to interpret a two-­person mixed DNA profile found underneath one of Blackburn’s fingernails.

Blackburn was one of the contributors – the other could be her killer, but the lab was unable to identify who that person was.

Forensic biologist Kirsty Wright. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

He recorded the response from the lab in the police running log, that “bacteria may have an ­effect on the ability to obtain a DNA profile”.

Leading forensic biologist ­Kirsty Wright said the explanation was “ludicrous” and that it was ­almost impossible for bacteria to affect DNA from a body recovered straight away.

“I’m talking about something that’s been out in the open environment for years and years – we can still get DNA,” Dr Wright told investigative podcast series ­Shandee’s Story last November.

“They’re basically shutting the door on police.”

Mr Furlong said he felt utterly disappointed after Dr Wright ­revealed evidence the lab had made serious errors in the case.

Ex-detective Scott Furlong. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

The lab failed to detect DNA in a fresh pool of blood at the crime scene or the prime suspect’s DNA anywhere on the surfaces of his own vehicle, Dr Wright said.

Mr Furlong said he had no idea the lab hadn’t fully tested crucial samples, including separate samples from a T-shirt and knife both believed to have been stained with blood. “We were just under the ­impression that we were being told everything fully, that they were undertaking a full and comprehensive analysis of the DNA and all the exhibits that we had ­located,” he said.

Mr Furlong will appear on Shandee’s Story: The Search for Justice, a Sky News Australia documentary airing on June 7 that is re-examining Blackburn’s case and Dr Wright’s explosive findings into the government-run lab.

Dr Wright has lodged a formal complaint about the lab with Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission.

The Queensland government in March announced a review into the lab’s testing processes. It will not examine individual cases and a reviewer has yet to be found.

Central Coroner David O’Connell reopened his investigation into Blackburn’s death in February. DNA samples will be retested as part of that investigation.

Mr Furlong said Queenslanders needed to be confident ­violent criminals were not reoffending because of errors made by the government-run lab.

“You’re there to uncover the truth of the brutal slaying of a 23-year-old woman,” Mr Furlong said. “Why on earth would you continue down this road of a scientific methodology that is flawed, that isn’t working, and then not address it, but then cover it up or attempt to deceive the people you’re ­working with?

“We rely on the information we are given from these specialists. And if that is flawed, that just ­totally undermines the whole ­integrity of the system.”