DNA of victim, suspect do not match in du Pont-related case

Blood found on the girlfriend of a du Pont family heir does not match the DNA of the man accused of killing her in a murder-for-hire scheme, a forensics expert testified.

The DNA taken from blood samples found under the victim's fingernails was that of the victim, Patricia Margello, whose body was found stuffed in an air conditioning duct in a Las Vegas motel in 1998, said Julie Kidd, a DNA specialist with the FBI in Washington, D.C.

Kidd's testimony came Tuesday at the federal trial of Ricardo Murillo, who is charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in connection with Margello's death.

Prosecutors contend Margello, 45, had been in a drug-riddled relationship with Dean MacGuigan, who is the great-great grandson of a former DuPont Co. president. Authorities say MacGuigan's stepfather, Christopher Moseley, did not approve of the relationship and contracted to have Margello killed

Under cross-examination Tuesday, Kidd said she compared the blood samples with Murillo's DNA, which was taken from oral swabs. The blood samples matched Margello's DNA but not Murillo's, she said.

DNA, an acid containing an individual's genetic makeup, is found in almost every cell in the body. Except for identical twins, each person's DNA is unique.

Also Tuesday, Jessie Sams, a crime scene analyst for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, described the scene at the Del Mar Motel, where Margello's body was found Aug. 5, 1998.

The victim had been strangled, a belt wrapped around her mouth and her neck, Sams said.

Federal prosecutors introduced several photos into evidence showing the crime scene and some of the body.

Assistant Public Defender Arthur Allen objected to the jury seeing the photos, noting their graphic nature. The government was presenting photos "each more grisly than the one before," he argued, adding that there was "simply no reason to make the jury look at this."

The prosecution then quit introducing the photos after the defense stipulated the body was that of Margello.

Christopher Moseley, 59, Diana Hironaga, 41, and Murillo, 38, were indicted in September 1998 in the death of Margello.

Hironaga and Moseley have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and have agreed to cooperate with authorities in hopes of receiving lighter sentences. Moseley remains in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced in February.

Hironaga admitted luring Margello into a meeting with Murillo and, later, Joseph Balignasa. During the early morning of Aug. 2, according to Hironaga's plea agreement, she and Balignasa helped Murillo with the killing.

According to court documents, Hironaga and Murillo flew to Philadelphia on Aug. 4, and Hironaga received $15,000 from a limousine driver sent by Moseley. She gave $10,000 to Murillo, according to the documents.

Balignasa, 26, was scheduled for a retrial in January. A mistrial was declared earlier this year after jurors consulted a dictionary and a phone book to try to resolve issues in the case.

Fortune magazine listed E.I. du Pont de Nemours as the nation's 16th largest company based on its 1998 sales of $39.130 billion.

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