Autopsy photos bolster torture claims in Quinton Tellis trial
MONROE, Louisiana — The prosecution submitted graphic autopsy photos Thursday as forensic pathologist Dr. Frank Peretti testified in the murder trial of Quinton Tellis, saying the images showed a horrific death with multiple stab wounds and injuries consistent with defensive actions.
Peretti said the victim, 34-year-old Taiwanese national Ming Chen Hsiao, suffered 30 stab wounds, 27 of them superficial to the back of the head, neck, under the ears and upper body. He said three wounds, to the carotid and jugular on both the right and left sides, would have been fatal and that Hsiao would have died in less than three minutes once those wounds were administered.
Peretti also pointed out wounds to Hsiao’s hands that he said were defensive. He testified that advanced decomposition after about 10 days in August heat had rendered her face unrecognizable. Peretti said the superficial wounds ranged from one-quarter to one-half inch deep and varied in length, and that he could not determine the sequence in which the wounds were inflicted.
Deputy DNA director Michelle Jackson of the North Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory told the court there was no DNA at the scene that tied Tellis to the apartment, and that most blood swabs matched the victim. She said one bathroom swab contained two profiles — a male and a female — that did not match Hsiao or any of 14 people whose DNA was tested, including Tellis. Jackson said DNA could be absent if a suspect used barriers such as gloves or if decomposition had destroyed extracellular DNA, and she said there was no way to determine how long DNA had been present.
Earlier, witness Eric Hill testified that Tellis told him he “stabbed a Chinese girl” for her bank card PIN, according to the court record. The prosecution says Hsiao was killed in her Monroe apartment on July 29, 2015, and found Aug. 8, 2015 — the same day Tellis married his then-wife, Chakita Jackson, the court was told. Tellis is the main suspect in the 2014 burning death of Jessica Chambers in Panola County, Mississippi, a case in which investigators also found limited DNA but a familial match to Tellis on a set of car keys, the court heard.
Court recessed for lunch at noon and was scheduled to resume at 1:30 p.m. This is a developing story and will be updated as more details emerge.
