Search dogs hit on locations in and around New's apartment

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Louisville, KY - By Janelle MacDonald - bio | email

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Cadaver dogs doing a search in the days after four-year-old Ivan Cano's body were found hit on areas in and around Cecil New's apartment. His attorneys hope jurors in his trial next month will not hear about the work of those dogs.

In court Monday, we learned the dogs hit on five trash cans in the alley near New's apartment, a basement drain, the floor in the apartment above New and two different spots in New's apartment itself - a vent and a coffee can.

Those dogs were brought in after Ivan's body was found in the back of a garbage truck.

Defense expert, forensic anthropologist Scott Fairgrieve, Ph.D, on the stand Monday said all of the indications the dogs made were "negative" because there was no human fluid or remains found in those spots to back the dogs up.

New's lawyer, Misty Clark, asked if Fairgrieve was aware if investigators found, "any detection of human remains or fluids by the vent or by the coffee can where the dogs alerted in that apartment?"

"No I am not," Fairgrieve answered.

"In that situation, has there been a corroboration of that search?" Clark asked.

Fairgrieve answered, "No, no corroboration."

Clark continued, "What would be the result of that search?"

"A negative search," said Fairgrieve.

Prosecutors say the theory of their case is New killed Cano and then moved the body around. They say Cano's hair was found just feet from one of the spots where the dogs indicated a hit and they say that means those dogs were right.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jon Heck also said it was a pretty fair assumption Cano's body was in one of the garbage cans at one time.

Heck said, "If the garbage men start off the morning with an empty truck, and they're emptying cans in and they're compressing down and then they get over behind Mr. New's house and they empty a garbage can and they go to compact it and there's a body, that's pretty good evidence, is it not, it's a very logical inference that the body came from one of those trash cans right?"

"That is a logical inference," Fairgrieve answered.

"And yet there's no DNA evidence to support that, do you agree?" Heck asked.

"That's my understanding," Fairgrieve answered.

"So in this way, the dogs actually did one better," said Heck.

All of this could be a pretty good preview of some of the defense's arguments at New's trial but the defense hopes it doesn't even get that far. It is asking Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman to throw out all of those hits by the dogs. She won't rule until early next month.

The New's trial is set for the middle of October. He's accused of murder, kidnapping, unlawful transaction with a minor and tampering with evidence in Cano's death.