Malarik trial: NCIS investigator thought bullet fragments were tested. They weren’t.

An NCIS investigator told a jury on Wednesday that the bullet fragments found at the scene of Sherri Malarik’s homicide were never tested.

Gregory Malarik is on trial this week for allegedly killing his wife, Sherri, in 2001.

Investigators did not have enough evidence to arrest Gregory until March 2020, when Gregory’s girlfriend, Jennifer Spohn, gave new information during an interview in exchange for immunity.

Mark Smeester, an NCIS investigator since 2011, told Gregory Malarik's defense attorney Chris Crawford he thought the bullet fragments lodged in the van were forensically tested, but said that he was wrong.

"I perceived that they had (been tested)," Smeester told Crawford. "It reasonably comes to my attention that that report was not associated with that case.

"That's my fault," Smeester continued. "So, I perceived it had been but I was wrong."

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The defense went on to question Smeester about the different ways investigators can use bullets found at a crime scene to their advantage, making the point that the fragments were not used in the investigation.

Crawford brought up testimony from earlier in the trial that the only evidence there was a .25 caliber gun used is based on a shell casing that fell out of Sherri's shirt during the autopsy, but none of the fragments were tested.

Gregory was alleged to have a .25 caliber gun, but the gun was never recovered and no witness testimony confirms he ever owned that type of gun.

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Kristin Webb, a chemist at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Lab (USACIL), testified regarding gunshot residue (GSR) and its meaning to criminal cases.

Webb told the court that three elements make up GSR: lead, barium and antimony. She continued by saying they look for particles containing those three elements then use those particles to report whether a swab was positive for GSR.

"In this case, I did locate four particles that are characteristic of primer gunshot residue," she testified.

The GSR was detected from swabs taken from Greg Malarik’s hands on Sept. 22, 2001, the day Sherri’s body was found.

Webb later said that four particles is the minimum the lab deems a positive encounter with GSR.

The trial will continue Thursday with witness testimony and is scheduled to conclude Friday.

Benjamin Johnson can be reached at bjohnson@pnj.com or 850-435-8578

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Sherri Malarik murder: NCIS investigator said bullet fragments were tested