Day 12 - May 15, 2024

Defense counsel preserved an objection to Ms. Kun testifying before a later foundation was established, and the judge directed counsel to move to strike if that foundation was not established. The court also directed that counsel not discuss planned questioning or other substantive matters with witnesses who were on the stand, while allowing logistical contact and leaving room for law enforcement to pursue trial-related investigative needs.

On continued redirect, Julie Nagel described the front-lawn area near the flagpole as dark with some snow glare and said she had not expected to see anything there. After the court allowed the question over objection, she said she would have called 911 and alerted the others in her car if she had recognized the object as a body.

Defense counsel questioned Julie Nagel about her testimony that she realized the object was a body after a conversation the next day. Nagel said she did not contact 911, the police business line, or police, and agreed that she first described the object as five to six feet long when she testified the previous day.

The court and counsel agreed to tell jurors that the next witness was being called out of order because of scheduling or another timing issue.

Teri Kun, a UC Davis forensic scientist and DNA technical lead, described her qualifications, laboratory procedures, and testing of two swabs submitted by the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab. After Exhibits 74 through 80—photographs of the packaging and items—were admitted without objection, Kun testified that canine qPCR testing found no canine DNA. She said a subsequent meat I.D. species test found pig on both swabs and that a dog-focused follow-up test was also negative; she said the pig result could come from food and declined to speculate about its source.

Jackson cross-examined Kun about the limits of testing two submitted swabs, her lack of knowledge about their collection, and laboratory documentation practices. Kun agreed that the nuclear canine-DNA test showed inhibitors and that degraded or inhibited nuclear DNA could go undetected, while explaining that the separate meat I.D. test worked without inhibition and tested for dog as well as pig DNA.

Lally's redirect of forensic scientist Teri Kun addressed the limits of nuclear-DNA testing, the handling of swabs sent to her laboratory, and the sensitivity of mitochondrial and meat I.D. testing. Over a defense objection, Kun described the basic swabbing and packaging practices she gave to Ms. Hartnett. She said the received packaging was expected and that the mitochondrial and meat I.D. testing showed no inhibitors because the IPC worked well.

The court sustained an objection and struck a defense question asking whether Maureen Hartnett had failed proficiency exams. Defense counsel ended recross, and forensic scientist Teri Kun was excused.

The court allowed Ms. Little to briefly leave the courtroom, confirmed that other defense counsel were ready to proceed, and the Commonwealth called Ryan Nagel as its next witness.

Ryan Nagel described going with Heather Maxon and Ricky D'Antuono to pick up his sister, Julie, from Brian Albert, Jr.'s house on Fairview. He said their truck followed a black SUV to the house; after Julie briefly came outside and returned indoors, he observed the SUV move forward. As the truck left, he said he saw one woman in the SUV's driver's seat but emphasized that the observation was only a glance. He used photographs displayed as Exhibits 71 through 73 to identify the house and the vehicles' positions.

Defense counsel questioned Ryan Nagel about discussions of the event, his prior interviews, and the truck's position behind the SUV. After reviewing reports, Nagel recalled a May 2023 interview and agreed that an earlier account placed the overall encounter closer to five minutes. He said his attention was on Julie for part of the stop, that he did not see another vehicle between the truck and SUV, a person on the lawn, or the SUV reverse into a pedestrian. Nagel also qualified that he was not examining the SUV for damage and said he saw one female with long hair inside as the truck passed.

Ryan Nagel confirmed that, as far as he could see, the woman he observed was alone. The Commonwealth ended redirect, and Nagel was excused before a morning recess.

Heather Maxon described spending the evening of January 28 with Ryan Nagel and Ricky D'Antuono, traveling between Canton bars before going to pick up Julie from a friend's house. She testified that Ricky's truck yielded to an SUV, followed it onto the street, and parked behind it outside the house. Maxon said the SUV remained still while Julie spoke with the group, that she saw no one leave it, and that she later saw only the female driver as the truck departed. She did not identify the occupants beyond general observations and said she was not looking into the vehicle very intently as they passed it.

The defense established that Heather Maxon was first interviewed by law enforcement 19 months after the events at issue. Maxon said her attention while the truck was parked was focused on Julie, recalled no unusual condition at the rear of the SUV, and could not identify the female driver as the person seated in court. She said that, when the truck left, she saw only the female driver, while the male she had seen earlier could have remained inside the SUV.

Maxon confirmed that she would have seen a six-foot man walking from the SUV toward the house if it occurred, and said she did not see it. The court then excused her.

D'Antuono described driving Ryan and Heather from Canton bars to Fairview to pick up Julie. He testified that another vehicle was parked ahead of his truck outside 34 Fairview, appeared to have rear lights on, and showed no damage from his vantage point; he did not see anyone leave it. Julie spoke with the group through the open passenger window, declined the ride, and returned toward the house. The prosecution displayed photographs of 34 Fairview to mark the truck and vehicle locations.

D'Antuono agreed that state police and district attorney investigators did not interview him during 2022 and that his first statement was made more than a year after January 29, 2022. The defense then explored his observations from his truck outside 34 Fairview. He described the black SUV as normally parked and did not recall noticing damage, but said he was not monitoring the SUV while waiting for Julie and did not look inside it as he left. During a sidebar, the court cautioned counsel about questioning that could enter an area involving Federal Grand Jury testimony; counsel said he would limit the questions to state-police contact.

D'Antuono confirmed that he did not see anyone go in or out of the house or black SUV, or anyone around the SUV while he was there. The court sustained a defense objection to a question about whether he would have seen a six-foot man walk from the SUV to the house, and D'Antuono was excused.

Alli McCabe described her activities on the night of January 28, 2022, including picking up Colin Albert at 34 Fairview Road after he requested a ride. She testified that he appeared normal and uninjured when he entered her car, and that she drove him directly home. She also identified screenshots from her phone containing messages and Colin's contact information; the defense objected when the Commonwealth sought to admit them.

Defense counsel objected to phone-message screenshots as hearsay and unreliable, citing the absence of a forensic phone extraction to verify the displayed times. The Commonwealth responded that the witness participated in the conversations and could authenticate them, while challenges went to weight. The court ordered a short voir dire, including on two proposed photographs of Colin Albert, and excused the jury.

Outside the jury's presence, Allison McCabe authenticated screenshots of text messages with Colin Albert and two photographs. Defense counsel questioned her about deletion and timestamp-editing features on an iPhone, and McCabe denied knowing how to change message or photo times and denied doing so. The court allowed the testimony, stating that the defense's challenge concerned evidentiary weight rather than admissibility.

The court instructed defense counsel to distinguish questioning about the period before and after voir dire, warning that the Commonwealth could respond if the questioning was not framed that way. Defense counsel then requested one more minute before proceedings resumed.

Defense counsel objected to a date appearing beneath photographs, and the court directed that it be removed from the exhibit. The parties agreed the photograph could be enlarged on a laptop for display so long as the date was not visible to the jury, with redaction to follow.

The court instructed jurors that they could consider the text messages only if they found it more likely than not that Colin or McCabe authored or sent them. McCabe identified messages arranging Colin's pickup, and the court admitted the screenshots as Exhibit 81. She also testified that two photographs were taken on February 11, 2022, at Nicole and Brian's house during a welcome-home gathering; the court admitted them as Exhibits 82 and 83.

Defense counsel questioned Allison McCabe about her close relationship with Colin Albert, the timing of a screenshot of their text conversation, and the absence of a forensic extraction of either phone. McCabe said she was never asked for the screenshot during 2022, provided it in the summer of 2023 when asked, and did not remember when the displayed screenshot was taken. Counsel also questioned her about Life360 location and drive entries after she said she went home; McCabe agreed to early home-circle entries but said she did not remember or did not believe several later entries. At sidebar, the court warned that further questioning could open the door to a Commonwealth response about why McCabe may have kept the screenshots.

Allison McCabe denied altering or deleting text-message content and said she did not know how to change message times or time zones. She said Life360 alerts prompting her to turn on WiFi affected the app's timestamp accuracy and testified that travel from Canton High School to her home could not have taken two minutes in the stated conditions. The court overruled defense objections to limited testimony about harassment; McCabe said Colin Albert was harassed over claims he was at the house and described harassment directed at her family before asking for a moment. She was then excused.