The numerous, long blond hairs found on Pamela Vitale
Public defender Ellen Leonida questions criminalist Alex Taflya at Scott's preliminary hearing: Q. At the scene did you also find an apparent hair band? A. Yes. Q. And did you talk to Mr. Horowitz about that hair band? A. I don't know if I talked to him or if somebody relayed information to me. Q. Did you somehow acquire the information that, according to Mr. Horowitz, that did not look like Ms. Vitale's hair band? A. Yes.
Scott Dyleski after arrest
Pamela Vitale
At Scott's trial, criminalist Eric Collins testified about numerous long, blond hairs found on the body of Pam Vitale. These hairs obviously did not belong to Pamela, and they obviously didn't belong to Scott. It's unlikely these numerous long blond hairs were on the carpet of Pam Vitale's home, because the only other person living in the home, Dan Horowitz, has short brown hair.
Prosecutor Hal Jewett went out of his way at trial to imply that the hairs were merely insignificant "trace" evidence, found in any home. Jewett also tried to imply the same thing when he attempted to address this issue in his letters (Click to see letters). The fact is, the hairs were not insignificant trace evidence found on the carpet. They were numerous and found on the body of a murder victim. Trial testimony follows below.
Public Defender Ellen Leonida questions criminalist Eric Collins:
Q. You collected a number of hairs; true?
A. Yes.
Q. And among the hairs that you collected were hairs that appeared to be lighter than Ms. Vitale's hair?
A. Yes, that's what I wrote in my report. However, it was difficult to tell at the time because the hair was fairly matted in blood. But, yes, it did appear to be different in coloration than the unstained hairs that I observed.
Q. And you wrote that in your report, because it was true?
A. Yes.
Q. Have you changed your mind about that since then?
A. No.
Q. So I collected numerous hairs that appeared lighter than Ms. Vitale's that were adhered to her body; correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. What did you do with them?
A. I packaged them and preserved them for any future analysis that may have been performed.
Q. Did you do any future analysis on those hairs?
A. I did not, no.
Prosecutor Jewett questions Eric Collins:
Q. The hairs that were found with respect to Pamela Vitale's body, can you describe these hairs for us?
A. (Witness reviewing report.) The only notation I have in my notes regarding those areas is that some of them did appear to be blond in color.
Q. What about their length?
A. I believe they were relatively long.
Q. When you say you believe they were, do you have a specific recollection of those hairs, as you sit here right now?
A. No, I do not.
Q. Have you examined any of the photographs of Pamela Vitale at the scene?
A. Very few.
Q. Let me just show you, for instance, People's Exhibit 3B, and I want to direct your attention to photograph number 2. All right. Looking at the area right, at the junction between the T shirt and the skirt, do you see that?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. What does that appear to be?
A. It appears to be some long dark hairs.
Q. Are those the hairs, are the hairs you are talking about different than those hairs, if you know?
A. I believe those are the hairs; because if I observed those at the autopsy, I would have collected them. However, I have no specific recollection of the hairs this were collected.
Q. And these layers that we see on Pamela Vitale, do they appear to be exactly where are they?
A. They are on her midsection toward her back.
Q. Are they just kind of like loosely, just kind of hanging onto her clothing there?
A. They appear to be, yes.
MR. JEWETT: Thank you.
Public Defender Ellen Leonida again questions Eric Collins:
MS. LEONIDA: Q. You actually recorded in your report that you collected numerous loose hairs that were adhering to several hairs of Ms. Vitale's body; correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. And you also noted that some of those did appear to be of a lighter color than Ms. Vitale's own hair?
A. Yes, I did.
MS. LEONIDA: Thank you.
Prosecutor Jewett again:
MR. JEWETT: Q. Sir, do you know how many stray hairs may have been on the Vitale carpet in the days, and weeks, and months leading up to Pamela Vitale's death?
A. No, I do not.
Q. However, by the way, if a criminalist wants to collect hairs from a surface, whether it be a body, or a chair, or a carpet, how do you do that?
Well, for the most part for small amounts of hairs, a tape lift is commonly used in this case because it was a greaternumber of hairs. I just picked them off with my hand and placed them in the envelope.
Q. Plucked them off. Okay. Is it unusual to find stray hairs on something like a carpet, by the way?
A. No.
MR. JEWETT: Thank you. Nothing further.
Public Defender Ellen Leonida finally puts the issue to rest:
MS. LEONIDA: Q. What did you do with those hairs again?
A. I checked them and packaged them and placed them into our evidence storage.
Q. Did you send them to be analyzed as trace evidence?
