A SCENE of crimes expert told a murder trial yesterday (Wednesday) how he opened a wheelie bin to find a Stevenage woman’s hand poking through leaves.
Mark Heron, 46, gave details to the High Court in Edinburgh of the grim find at 5.30pm on October 12, 2009.
The last confirmed sighting of Samantha Wright, 24, who lived in Archer Road, Stevenage, before moving to Edinburgh, had been at 8.55pm on June 12 the previous year, when CCTV footage showed her talking to a man identified as Robert Chalmers.
The wheelie bin was on a patio of Chalmers’ then home in the Duddingston area of the city.
Chalmers, 59, denies murdering Ms Wright and, some time later, dumping her in the wheelie bin.
Mr Heron told the court how, during the search, a sniffer dog trained to detect bodies “showed interest” in an area of the patio.
Mr Heron said: “The first thing I noticed was a strong smell. I saw what looked like a human hand protruding from shrubbery within the bin.”
The trial continues.
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