Defense challenges DNA evidence as Yara murder trial starts

(ANSA) - Bergamo, July 2 - Construction worker Massimo Bossetti showed no emotion Friday as he glanced at the packed public gallery at the start of his trial on charges of murdering 13-year-old schoolgirl Yara Gambirasio in 2010. The trial began with Bossetti's defense lawyers asking judges at the Bergamo Assize Court rule inadmissible DNA evidence over alleged irregularities in the testing and challenged the indictment for refering to the murder having happened in two diffferent locations, at Brembate di Sopra and Chignolo d'Isola. The prosecution opposed the defence's petitions and judges adjourned proceedings until July 17. Bossetti, a father of three, has repeatedly denied the murder allegations. He was arrested a year ago and charged with the murder following DNA testing of the local population as part of the murder investigation. His DNA was found on 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. Prosecutors allege that the murder was aggravated by the use of torture and cruelty against the schoolgirl. Those allegations arise from the police findings that Yara was picked up in the late afternoon, likely as she returned home from gymnastics practice in Brembate di Sopra in the northern province of Bergamo. It is believed that she was later taken to an isolated field where her body was found weeks after she disappeared, on Feb.
26, 2011. Investigators said that she had been hit three times in the head and stabbed multiple times.