NORTHAMPTON — Prosecutors continued to focus on forensic evidence on the fifth day of the murder trial of Steven Malloy, including testing for DNA and gunshot residue on Malloy’s shoes and clothing from the night Joseph Fillio was shot to death in December 2021 in Northampton.

The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Thomas, is hoping to show that Malloy shot and killed Fillio with a small semi-automatic pistol with a laser pointer, a weapon which has never been recovered but a photo of which was found on Malloy’s phone and matches a witness’s description. Malloy’s defense attorney, Joseph Perullo, has stated his client was not the one who pulled the trigger, saying that Fillio was suicidal and may have pulled the trigger on himself.

The trial resumed Monday with the prosecution calling Adam Van Buskirk, a detective with the Northampton Police Department who helped investigate the case. Thomas played security footage outside the Live 155 apartment complex, located near the apartment where Fillio died, showing witness Todd Wilchek walking across the complex at around 10:28 p.m. and then back the other way at around 10:30 p.m.

Wilchek is the only witness who claims to have seen Malloy shoot Fillio. Wilchek said during cross-examination earlier in the trial that he had left the house briefly to make a phone call, but returned shortly after and saw the murder occur.

Perullo then asked Van Buskirk on cross-examination if he had obtained video footage from or near Bishop’s Lounge, where Wilchek said he went following the alleged murder to have a drink and calm his nerves before going back to speak with the police. Van Buskirk said he had not.

The prosecution next called Kelley King, a safety security manager with the State Police Crime Laboratory. King discussed a forensic analysis performed on a blood-splattered white knit hat that Fillio was wearing at the time of his death, as well as a black long-sleeve shirt and a black sleeveless jacket that Malloy was wearing at the time of his arrest.

King testified the analysis of the hat showed the gun used to kill Fillio was likely fired at very close range, but also that the shirt and jacket belonging to Malloy tested negative for blood. On cross-examination by Perullo, King said that the crime lab protocol was only to test clothing and hands, not other items that were in the apartment the night Fillio was killed. She also said a pair of socks and a piece of shirt belonging to Fillio had been recovered from the scene, but had not been tested.

Next was Ashley Vallier, a forensic scientist with the state crime lab. Vallier said she did testing for gunshot residue on Malloy’s hands and clothes following his arrest, but it did not meet the threshold for a positive result. She clarified to Thomas that the negative result simply means no conclusions could be drawn from the analysis.

“If you wash your hands, that will wash off particles. If you have really sweaty hands, it can transfer because it can touch a lot of things,” Vallier said.

Testimonty concluded Monday with another scrime lab forensic scientist, Krista Lundgren, who said the DNA found in blood recovered from Malloy’s shoes matched DNA belonging to Fillio. The defense has not contested that the blood found on Malloy’s shoes was Fillio’s, but has noted that no one else from the apartment that night had their shoes tested and that he also could have gotten blood on them from being near the deceased.

The trial will continue on Tuesday, and is expected to be completed by the end of this week.