Palm print connects Craig Pope to getaway taxi, expert testifies

In painstaking detail at Supreme Court on Monday, Sgt. Ron Simms connected Craig Pope and Jonathan Collins to the taxi cab spotted leaving the scene of a stabbing that left Collins dead nearly two years ago.

After handing out photographs of his work, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer took the jury on a guided journey over the ridges and spirals of fingers and palms captured with black powder both inside and outside the yellow taxi cab.

It was wearisome work, leading to some in the gallery to nod off. But in the end, Simms had an important conclusion.

A palm print on the rear passenger side door was a match to Pope. It's the first forensicevidence introduced at trial that connects Popeto the crime in his second-degree murder trial.

Pope is accused in the stabbing death of Collins, 36, who died after an altercation on Alderberry Lane in the west end of St. John's on Sept. 7, 2017.

Last Thursday, the jury heard a taped conversation between police and the cab driver, who picked Pope out of a police lineup and identified him as the man he had driven away from the crime scene and dropped off near Elizabeth Avenue.

Police officers have testified they spotted Pope walking in the area. He was found inside a plastic surgery clinic on the corner of Elizabeth Avenue and Paton Street. After stepping outside, he was detained and taken to police headquarters.

The province's former chief medical examiner, Simon Avis, is expected to testify Tuesday morning. A DNA expert is scheduled to testify in the afternoon.

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