Expert testifies on bloodstain evidence at Erick Buhr trial

Warning: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing.

A bloodstain pattern analyst testified Tuesday at Erick Buhr’s second-degree murder trial.

Buhr is accused of killing his 88-year-old grandmother, Viola Erb, at their home just outside of Baden on Sept. 24, 2022.

Court has already heard the 911 call, and testimony from first responders, in which Buhr claimed he’d been in a wooded area near the Sandhills Road home when Erb was violently attacked.

Hofstetter’s testimony

Detective Robert Hofstetter, a bloodstain pattern analyst for Peel Regional Police, was brought in to examine Erb’s home after her death.

He testified that there were at least three areas of impact. One was at the front entranceway, another by the kitchen and one more in the kitchen where Erb was found by first responders.

All three locations had blood belonging to Erb, Hofstetter told the court.

He said evidence showed Erb came into contact with the baseboard in the entryway and then moved, or someone else moved her, into the kitchen.

Hofstetter testified that blood transfer stains led him to conclude that a person, who had Erb’s blood on their feet, made their way from the front entrance, to the kitchen, then the dining room and finally, upstairs to a second-floor washroom.

There he found a diluted blood stain from a person whom, he believed, washed their hands.

Hofstetter said the blood transfer went into a bedroom closet where he located a stain near the light switch.

Blood and spatter stains were also found on a pair of jeans in the bedroom.

“The front of the jeans… were in proximity and exposed to a spatter event involving Viola Erb’s blood,” Hofstetter testified.

Bloodstained socks were also recovered from the bedroom that matched other patterns found in the front hall.

Hofstetter will resume his testimony on Wednesday and the defense will get a chance to cross-examine him.