Fibers Found on Peyer Match Those of Knott Clothing, Expert Says

Prosecutors in the retrial of Craig Peyer switched their focus to physical evidence Thursday, eliciting testimony from a police fiber expert that they say links the former California Highway Patrol officer to the killing of Cara Knott 17 months ago.

John Simms, a criminalist with the San Diego Police Department, testified that microscopic purple fibers found on Peyer’s service revolver and left boot match the fibers of the purple sweat pants Knott was wearing the night she was slain.

Other fibers retrieved from plastic bags a coroner’s assistant wrapped around Knott’s hands when her body was discovered mirror samples lifted from the shoulder patches on Peyer’s CHP jacket, Simms said.

Blood Under Fingernails

Simms testified that he also found a trace of blood and skin tissue in material scraped from beneath the fingernails of Knott’s right hand, but nothing under the nails of her left hand. The blood amounted to less than a drop and was too scarce for experts to type, he said.

That testimony is significant because prosecutors argue that scratches witnesses say they saw on Peyer’s face the night Knott disappeared were inflicted by the victim during a struggle.

Peyer, 38, was on patrol Dec. 27, 1986--the night Knott dropped from sight while driving home to El Cajon from her boyfriend’s house in Escondido. Prosecutors say he stopped Knott at the Mercy Road off-ramp on Interstate 15, strangled her, then tossed her body from the old U.S. 395 bridge nearby.

Knott’s body was found 65 feet below the bridge early the next morning. Her car, which was in running condition, was parked nearby with the keys in the ignition and the driver’s window partly rolled down.

Peyer’s first trial ended in February when jurors deadlocked 7 to 5 in favor of conviction. The new jury could begin deliberations by the end of next week.

Simms was the only witness to testify Thursday. Under detailed questioning by Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Pfingst, he testified that he used adhesive tape to lift two purple cotton fibers invisible to the human eye from Peyer’s service revolver on April 27, 1987--about four months after Knott’s death. A similar “tape-lift” retrieved a similar purple fiber from Peyer’s left boot.

Searched Peyer, Knott Homes

Simms said a sophisticated microscopic analysis of the fibers led him to conclude that they were “associated with Miss Knott’s pants material” and did not match any other fabric samples collected from Peyer’s home.

A similar analysis was conducted of blue fibers gathered from bags that were tied around Knott’s hands soon after her death to preserve any trace evidence, Simms said. Those fibers matched the border area of Peyer’s CHP shoulder patch, he testified.

In an effort to exclude certain fibers, Simms said, he searched the Knott family’s house in El Cajon and Peyer’s Poway home for other possible sources. He said fibers were found on uniforms recovered at Peyer’s house but that they had been “contaminated” by dry cleaning and were discounted.

Purple fibers were also found on Peyer’s flashlight, holster and jacket, but Simms said they were eliminated from the investigation for a variety of reasons.

Another fiber expert, John Bisbing of Illinois, is expected to testify today. Bisbing is an expert in the sophisticated color analysis of fibers and testified in the first trial that a gold fiber found on Knott’s sweat shirt is distinctive in the way it is dyed and is “indistinguishable” from gold thread on the CHP shoulder patch.

During a lengthy cross-examination, defense attorney Robert Grimes hammered away at Simms, prompting the witness to concede that he cannot definitively say whether the fibers he compared definitely came from the same source.

“With the information I have, I can’t positively identify these (fibers) as belonging to the same material,” Simms testified.

Grimes also attempted to suggest that “contamination” might have caused the purple fibers to land on Peyer’s boot and gun. He hinted that fibers floating through the air could have seeped into bags of evidence in the Police Department’s property storage room.

The defense attorney questioned Simms extensively about the department’s policies regarding the regulation of evidence taken in and out of the storage room.

Simms conceded that he began recording his removal of evidence from the room several months after the investigation began.