Medical experts testify in murder trial

Doctors, a forensic biologist and a nurse were among witnesses who took the stand Thursday afternoon to testify on events that followed a deadly 2011 house fire that took place just south of Fort Scott.

The defendant, Brent Bollinger, is standing trial for murder, arson and child endangerment for his alleged involvement in the Oct. 13, 2011 fire in which he and his then 2-year-old son, Bryson, suffered critical burns. Bollinger's wife, Brenna, died in the fire, which occurred at 2166 Grand Road.

On Thursday, when first questioned by the prosecution, Dana Soderholm, who was employed at the time of the fire as a forensic biologist with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, testified she had two different tasks when analyzing biological materials from the fire; DNA analysis and biology screening to check if any biological fluid is present. Soderholm said she checks for body fluids and cells and tries to determine who they belong to. Items are submitted by various agencies and testing is done at the KBI lab in Kansas City, Kan., she said.

Soderholm said she received multiple submissions in this case and she eventually issued six reports. All evidence is given a case number. Documents that contained results of this analysis were entered as state's exhibits. Soderholm said the screening process is done before DNA analysis.

"We take cellular material and try to ID it to the person it matches," she said.

Soderholm said she takes a small amount for testing. The DNA is actually removed from the cell in a four-step process. She tries to match samples with known profiles.

Paul Morrison, the defendant's attorney, asked Soderholm about the structure of DNA. Soderholm said DNA is unique to each individual.

Soderholm testified that 16 locations were checked for DNA tissue or body fluids. Materials are checked for cellular materials such as mucus, skin cells, semen, blood and saliva.

From the scene of the fire, a golf club head and grips were swabbed for a presumptive test for blood, which was found on the club. Soderholm clarified that this was not human blood; there was no human DNA found on the club.

Soderholm said a vehicle from the scene showed one stain on the driver's seat. That stain was found not to be blood. Other swabs taken from that location were found to be blood. All of the swabs from that location matched the DNA of Bryson Bollinger.

Also found was possible biological tissue, chunks of material "with grass-like strands" that crumbled into small particles when held, Soderholm said. She said she tried to cut this material as she thought it might be sod, but it was not sod. The material tested positive for blood but there was no DNA result, she said.

Swabs from stains on the driveway all showed indications of blood. These swabs were compared to known samples of Brent and Brenna Bollinger and three of the four matched Brent's blood. The other was a mixed sample, Soderholm said.

A sexual assault kit was also used to analyze the victim of the fire. Soderholm said the oral, vaginal and anal areas are swabbed looking for semen or other bodily fluids. She said no semen was found during the examination. During the anal examination, some blood was found but no semen. During the oral exam, there was no semen found, but some blood, which Soderholm said was not unusual.

Soderholm discussed some details of swabbing during cross-examination by Morrison. She said blood on the anal swab was a "blackish brown stain" that was tested for blood and semen.

Morrison asked Soderholm how long DNA lasts, to which she responded that DNA can be broken down by time, heat, sunlight, water and bacteria, depending on the condition of the DNA. She said it would last longer in a controlled environment than in a confined space, where it will degrade. She added that a person cannot tell the age of a cell or DNA.

* Richard J. Kagan, Chief of Staff at Shriner's Children's Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio

Kagan said he works with children with burn injuries and primarily specializes in burn care injuries and later reconstruction.

Kagan testified he received Bryson Bollinger as a patient following the fire. Bryson was transferred to burn care where a breathing machine was used due to smoke inhalation. Bryson suffered burns to about 20 percent of the surface area of his body. He had second and third degree burns, Kagan said.

Kagan said third degree burns typically require skin grafting. Bryson suffered burns to his face, ears, shoulders, a small area of his chest, forearms and chest. His face and forearms required skin grafts. Grafting was also done on both of his ears, the tops of his hands, fingers and wrists. Kagan said the injuries were "not consistent with scalding" but were consistent with flame injury.

For initial treatment, Bryson received topical antibiotic and a feeding tube for nutrition. The tube was removed and he was taken to the operating room and skin grafts were done using skin from other areas of his body.

A photo of Bryson in the hospital was shown to the jury and spectators. Kagan said Bryson will continue to require treatment and will "probably require further surgery ... as a consequence of the skin grafts," Kagan said.

* Wendy Garza, clinical nurse at the University of Kansas Hospital, who was a unit coordinator in the burn ICU at the time of the fire.

Garza said Bollinger came in to the unit under an alternate name called a "trauma name," which is given to a burn patient picked up in the field. The hospital gives them a name to ID the patient and a medical record number so misidentification doesn't occur. Once everything is confirmed, the patient's bracelet and information changes to his real name.

Bollinger first came to the ER and was brought to the burn ICU. When he entered the unit, Garza said she could smell gasoline. She said she knew the patient was coming and had heard he had fallen asleep smoking a cigarette which caught him and the house on fire. A brown bag of clothes beneath Bollinger on the stretcher had clothes that Garza said smelled like gasoline.

Bollinger was transferred to a bed, his clothes were later put in a bucket. Garza said it is normal for clothing with traces of accelerant to be placed in a bucket. Garza said she smelled Bollinger's skin but "it didn't smell that much." She also said the smell was "not like someone who had set themselves on fire."

Bollinger was first washed off with soap and water. He suffered burns to this torso, arms and face. Garza said he was intubated and was in the hospital for a couple of months. The tube was later removed. She worked shifts on the unit and monitored him regularly. She said an assessment of the patient was done every four hours.

Upon questioning by Morrison, Garza said Bollinger sustained several second and third degree burns. Morrison asked Garza if she thought for awhile that Bollinger wasn't going to make it.

"Yes," Garza said.

Garza said there was no cell phone in the bag with the clothes. Photos of Bollinger after admission and after being cleaned up were shown in the courtroom. One photo showed what Garza said was a fine mesh gauze with antibiotic applied to Bollinger's face, which she said promotes healing and helps with infection. Bollinger received a sedative and pain medicine while intubated. Garza said this is "for pain and helps keep them calm."

* Dhval Vhasavar, attending physician to Brent Bollinger the night of the fire

Vhasavar testified that he works with burns and burn reconstruction. He treated Bollinger, who was in the hospital six weeks. Vhasavar said cleaning and dressing was done to the patient on a regular basis. Bollinger required skin grafts, Vhasavar said.

Vhasavar said he didn't recall any other traumatic injuries to Bollinger other than the severe burns. He agreed with Dr. Kagan's assessment that the burns were categorized as flame burns and not from scalding. The burns were from direct exposure to flame. Vhasavar said the burns do not necessarily affect a person's mental capacity. He did say gasoline on the skin can be an accelerant.

Prosecutors asked Vhasavar if Bollinger could communicate with his burns and while intubated. Vhasavar said he could. For these types of burns, patients are intubated to manage anxiety, Vhasavar said.

Vhasavar said a significant percentage of Bollinger's burns were third degree burns. He said he didn't know if Bollinger would require more surgery in the future. Vhasavar said burn pain typically continues afterwards as "burns are among the most painful injuries."

"Would he have died if he hadn't received medical attention?" Morrison asked.

"Yes," Vhasavar said, adding Bollinger was in critical condition when he arrived at the hospital.

* Jeff Strohm, a custodian of records for Sprint Nextel Telecommunications.

Strohm said he is called to testify on phone records and and also responds to legal demands. He received a request for phone records in this case. The subscriber to two different phone numbers that were put on record and entered as evidence was Brenna Bollinger. Strohm said he had a request for records regarding those phones.

Time frames the call logs listed were from Oct. 7 to Oct. 21, 2011. State's exhibits of call detail records for those phones between those time periods were admitted as evidence. The two phones are both cell phones, Strohm said.

The logs show calling and receiving phone numbers, dates and times and beginning and ending of calls or texts. Strohm was asked if a phone has to be turned on to receive voice mail.

"No," he said.

Strohm said the switch is a network element responsible for handling all cell phone traffic, "the brain or the head of an octopus," and the individual cell phone towers "are the tentacles, if you will."

The call records indicated three standard towers in three sectors in the Kansas City area. The cell phone tower is a physical structure, or antenna, that allows users to communicate wirelessly. A discussion ensued involving call logs and times.

Using the records, digits and a spreadsheet can be used to find an individual tower. Strohm said texts don't bounce off a tower when used and sometimes he is not able to capture "all of the information."

Strohm said the duration of a call is when the connection to the networks starts to the time it is terminated.

Prosecuting attorneys asked Strohm if he could tell through the records if a person left a message or spoke on voicemail.

"No," Strohm said.

Morrison asked Strohm if the calls on the log tapered off after the Oct. 13 fire. Strohm said they did.

"When you see a routed call, is it most likely a voice mail?" Morrison asked.

"Yes," Strohm said.

The call records showed various numbers calling one of the cell phones or texting several times. Strohm said there are Fort Scott towers included in the Kansas City/Lenexa region.

Morrison asked what would happen if a cell phone was destroyed. Strohm said he would be unable to glean any call records "if someone called a destroyed phone," "if the battery is taken out or destroyed."

Morrison asked about a few calls made from the phones, including one at 9:42 the night of the fire, an outbound call, that was not routed. Strohm said this may have been a long voice mail message. That call ended at 9:50 p.m. That call, made to one number, hit a Fort Scott tower, according to testimony.

Another outbound call was made from the other phone number, a 2 1/2 minute call that Strohm verified hit the same tower in the same location. Another call made at 10:57 p.m. on Oct. 14, 2011, showed the phone still existed and was still powered up. At 10:32 p.m. the same date, through another routed call, a phone picked up a signal at the same location in Fort Scott. Two days after the fire, on Oct. 15, a phone signal was picked up at 1:30 p.m. from the Fort Scott tower.

The call records showed that with one of the numbers there was no further cell activity after that first 911 call was made. With the other number, the cell phone was used the day after the fire and then no further activity after Oct. 15.

* An examination of Wally Roberts, a special agent with the Kansas State Fire Marshal's office, concluded Thursday afternoon.

Roberts said a computer generates a diagram of 2166 Grand Road, the site of the house fire and the purpose of that document is to identify locations of rooms and dimensions. A detection canine showed an "area of interest" on the stairs of the home, but not an "alert." A white T-shirt that "smelled heavily of gasoline" was found in this area. Roberts said the evidence was collected.

Roberts said his job is to try to find a cause and origin of the fire. Roberts said he didn't physically take any evidence from the house. He places the items in metal cans and another agent collects the items, Roberts said.

Roberts said he took photos of a charcoal lighter fluid container and cigarette lighter that were found next to the barbecue grill on the patio, and marked the items but didn't collect them. He said there was no evidence to show any of these items were used in the fire. Roberts said shovels were used to excavate the burned-out room.

"We slowly dig it out and layered it very slowly," he said.

Roberts said no weapons were found following a search of the house. He also said no remnants of a cell phone or gas can were found and he didn't recall finding a gas can on the scene.

When asked about an injury to the back of the victim's head, Roberts said there was an injury that "looked like a possibility" of the victim having been hit or shot. He said he has seen similar injuries. Upon a final analysis, it was determined the fire started on the inside door of the northeast bedroom.