Something laid bare about the Lundy murders.

In the States the FBI knew about the unreliability of 'hair comparison' tests long before they announced recognition of the problem along with how many wrongful convictions resulted - around a 93% failure. The world (but apparently not the NZ authorities) may have found out about that in the 2015 Obama P Cast, but the information was by then over 15 years old (but not for NZ testers), a time during which both Mark and Scott Watson were convicted.

That failure rate, its delayed announcement as a junk science is a very telling about the way police and prosecuting authorities have continued to use poor methods leading to false convictions long after the problem was identified. The Lundy case was within 2 years of that of Scott Watson where hair comparison evidence was the primary evidence - yet 22 years later no admission from ESR or the Crown as to its unreliability. In other words, Scott Watson remains in prison (where Lundy followed him 2 years later) on evidence that had a 93% failure rate.

In the Lundy murders the same type of hair evidence (but genuine crime scene evidence) was 'lost' because, on the face of it, the evidence would have shown the obvious. Not only did the hairs found in Christine Lundy's hands not belong to Mark Lundy but their DNA may well matched other DNA found at the scene - primarily under the fingernails of Christine and Amber. That DNA was discovered to be from 2 unknown males, yet there was other potential DNA available at the scene in the unknown fingerprints, also in other places around the home - particularly where the breakin occured,

That means that the person(s) responsible for the Lundy murders left their DNA and hairs in the house, evidence not investigated past the point that it meant that Mark Lundy was highly likely to be innocent if the mitochondrial DNA in the hairs in Christine's hands matched the DNA found under her and Amber Lundy's fingernails. Or even if it didn't match, because overseas cases now show that fingernail DNA not matching the convicted person, on its own, can result in exoneration.

Stripping all other detail from the Watson case - the 2 hairs said to be Olivia Hope's - did not come from her and the science proving that is known by both police and ESR. They have known that, just like in Lundy - for 2 decades. We can understand now why police went back to the Hope household for more sample hairs, we can also understand why the hairs found in Christine's hands were not tested - they were visibly able to be seen not to be Mark's - the man police had already decided was guilty.

At the recent Supreme Court hearing into the Lundy convictions Jonathan Eaton, QC for the defence, told the Court that when the Crown 'changed' the alleged time of death police never went back to suspects who had alibis for the earlier time of death - pointing out the extent of the unfairness in the way Mark Lundy has been treated, as we see similarly to Scott Watson whose Jury also heard a fantastic and unbelievable story but not the truth about the 2 hairs. Both stories supported by junk science and prison informants but not by properly gathered and tested DNA.