A palm print made in blood on a knife found at a murder scene matched that of the accused man, a ballistics expert told a murder trial jury at the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
Det Garda Aidan Daly, from the fingerprint section, told the jury that the visible print in dried blood on the brass portion of a knife was examined under a microscopic lens and photographed.
Mr John Paul Hayes (23), Belcamp Green, Coolock, Dublin, denies that on June 13th, 1999, he murdered Francis Moore (33) at his home in Coultry Road, Ballymun, Dublin.
Det Garda Daly presented the jury with a photograph of the print on the knife and an illustration of Mr Hayes's palm print for comparison. He pointed out 12 defining characteristics which linked both sets of prints.
"I was in no doubt that the prints had been made by John Paul Hayes", he said.
The court has previously heard that Mr Hayes was staying at the flat where his sister and her boyfriend, Mr Moore, were living. Before the killing there had been "serious difficulties and violence" between Mr Moore and Mr Hayes's sister.
Under cross-examination by Mr Peter Finlay SC, defending, Det Garda Daly denied that the position of the palm print indicated a "forward defence motion". He said it was held in a "gripped fashion with the sharp end pointed outwards".
He "disagreed fundamentally" with an independent forensic scientist's view that it was not possible to speculate which exact way the knife was held. "The print simply could not have been made in any other position", he said.
Mr Finlay told the court that a forensic scientist from a research centre in Durham, England, would give contradictory evidence at a later stage in the trial.
DNA profiles of a number of blood samples taken from the scene and from two knives found at the scene were carried out by the Forensic Science Laboratory, Dr Br∅d McBride told the court.
Her colleague, Dr Dorothy Ramsbottom, will present the results of these tests next week.
The case, before Mr Justice Smith and a jury, was adjourned until Monday.