Defense challenge Bosselli DNA in Yara murder indictment

(See related) (ANSA) - Milan, March 23 - A defense lawyer for the construction worker suspected of murdering schoolgirl Yara Gambarisio will argue that DNA evidence is not sufficient to warrant his being sent for trial, judicial sources said Monday. The lawyer acting on behalf of Massimo Bossetti, a father of three who repeatedly has insisted he is innocent, intends to argue there are no grounds for indictment due to apparent inconsistencies in DNA evidence, the sources said. Bossetti was arrested and jailed in June and charged with murder following DNA testing of the local population as part of the murder investigation. His DNA was found on 13-year-old Yara but he has maintained he has no idea how it got there. Since then, forensic experts said they have also found traces of the fabric from seats in Bossetti's van on the leggings worn by Yara on the day she was killed. Defence lawyer Claudio Salvagni will focus on the apparent difference between the DNA found on the leggings and mitochondrial DNA found on hair nodules on the girl's body that is allegedly not Bossetti's. Judges, who earlier rejected a request for Bossetti to be released from jail, conceded that there was an apparent "contradiction" in the DNA evidence that they described as "questionable". The judges said then that the "anomaly" denounced previously by the defense lawyer "does not find a clear solution" and required additional study.