A body fluid stain on Makaio Lynn Radke’s sleeper partially matched with the DNA profile of Paul Gutierrez Jr.

Friday, March 01, 2002

A body fluid stain on Makaio Lynn Radke’s sleeper partially matched with the DNA profile of Paul Gutierrez Jr., a forensic scientist from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension testified during Gutierrez’s murder trial Thursday. Also revealed was that Gutierrez suggested his involvement in the baby’s death in a phone conversation with a friend.

The stain was spotted on the left thigh of the sleeper Makaio was wearing when he was found dead on April 21 last year.

Amy Tierney of the BCA identified a mixture of two or more different DNA profiles in it, and conducted the identity test by comparing the sample with DNA taken from five people residing in the house at 505 Johnson St. between April 20 and 21: Makaio, his mother Peggy, his infant sister, Gutierrez, and his girlfriend Kristina Baker.

The test results showed that the dominant DNA profile in the stain matched Makaio’s. And a weaker profile found in a sperm cell partially corresponded to Gutierrez’s, according to Tierney.

The profile is determined by DNA patterns in 13 different areas on a gene. The sperm sample did not contain all of the areas, but the recognizable parts were identical with the profile of Gutierrez. &uot;It means Gutierrez could not be eliminated,&uot; Tierney said.

The BCA also spotted blood on a blanket left on the floor in Makaio’s bedroom, a black plastic rod found under a sofa in the living room, and tissue papers in a trash can placed in the dining room. No semen or other body fluid was found inside Makaio’s body.

DNA tests showed the blood on the blanket was Makaio’s and the blood on the tissues was Gutierrez’s. Multiple DNA profiles were detected in a blood sample on the plastic rod. And the test concluded that Peggy Radke was a possible contributor, and Makaio Radke and Gutierrez could not be eliminated.

Investigators suspect the plastic rod could be the weapon that caused numerous injuries on Makaio’s body.

Peggy Radke previously testified that the three-foot long rod was for a Vikings pennant she had purchased for her brother-in-law. The last time she saw it was around January last year when she vacuumed behind the sofa, she said.

Meanwhile, a friend of Gutierrez detailed a phone call she received from Gutierrez around 10 a.m. on April 21, the time Peggy rushed into Albert Lea Medical Center with Makaio.

Gutierrez said in the conversation, &uot;Oh my God. What have I done.&uot; In a distressed tone, he told her that he might have played too rough with Makaio, the friend testified.

Gutierrez added that he would leave the house before the police came. He also mentioned that he was afraid to touch his own daughter.

Gutierrez fled the residence around 10:35 a.m. through a back door, when a police officer arrived. He ran to a friend’s house on Bridge Avenue around 10:40. From there he took a ride to another friend’s residence on Hammer Road. Gutierrez was arrested there at 9:49 p.m.

A foster parent of Gutierrez testified that she received a call from Gutierrez around 9 p.m. &uot;He was upset and crying. He said something terrible happened to Makaio,&uot; she said.

An autopsy conducted at the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office indicated the baby’s time of death was sometime between 10 to 12 hours before his death was confirmed in the hospital at 10:19 a.m. on April 21.

Police have said from the start of the investigation that Makaio Radke was alone with Gutierrez from the early afternoon April 20 until after midnight on April 21 while Peggy Radke and Baker were out of the house.

The prosecutor, William F. Klumpp Jr. has already called 32 witnesses. Defense attorney Michael A. York said he has one to seven witnesses to call. County Attorney Craig Nelson said the questioning of witnesses might finish by Monday.