DNA in devil mask linked to Broxton

Red with horns and fangs, a latex mask shown to jurors Wednesday looked evil on the outside, and what was found inside could tie Jay Broxton to a terrible crime.

Deputy Kenny Bibbs found a devil’s mask near the intersection of Star Avenue and U.S. 231 minutes after receiving a call to be on the lookout for three men fleeing the scene of a fatal shooting. Bibbs said investigators told him the mask had nothing to do with the robbery and killing of James Edwards Jr., but Bibbs kept it anyway.

He told jurors Wednesday that it sat in a paper bag in the back of his vehicle for three weeks before investigators tested it for evidence.

What they found, DNA expert Robert O’Brien said, most likely was Broxton’s DNA. O’Brien said no one else on Earth could have matched the DNA in the mask like Broxton’s did.

Broxton, 34, who is charged with firstdegree felony murder, armed burglary and armed robbery, began trial Tuesday. He is accused along with Eric Harden and Smith of killing Edwards, 31, on Oct. 3, 2006, in his Shadow Bay Drive home.

Smith and Harden will resolve their cases later.

Broxton faces life in prison if convicted as charged. The trial is expected to end today.

O’Brien said DNA from the mask could have come from saliva or sweat. He said he swabbed the object’s forehead, mouth and nose to collect a sample, then compared it to Broxton’s DNA.

In addtion to the mask, O’Brien also tested a .380-caliber handgun that also was found on the roadway. He said he found Edwards’ blood on the trigger and trigger guard.

Prosecutor Larry Basford told jurors the gun was registered to Broxton’s girlfriend, Ursula Brown, at the time of the shooting.

Edwards’ blood also was in a Pontiac Vibe that Brown rented for Broxton the day before the shooting, prosecutors said. Broxton, Harden, Smith and Brown were living in Jacksonville and prosecutors said the three men drove the Vibe to Panama City to rob Edwards.

Basford said the robbery was Broxton’s plan. Broxton and Edwards were half-brothers.

Smith testified Tuesday that Broxton was wearing a Halloween mask with horns when he went into the house. He said the mask was thrown out of the car’s window as they fled the scene.

Smith said Broxton shot Edwards as Edwards was struggling with Harden during the robbery.

Broxton’s lawyer, Jonathan Dingus, told jurors in his opening statement that Broxton drove with Smith and Harden from Jacksonville to Tallahassee but did not go to Panama City. He asked O’Brien if there was any way of telling how long DNA could stay on an object.

O’Brien said 10 to 20 years if conditions were right.

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