Prosecutors dropped a murder charge against a Salt Lake man Wednesday after DNA evidence indicated he may not be the killer.
Christian Davis Smania, 26, was charged with murder in the death of Theresa Ann Morlock, who was found dead in her apartment at 625 S. Redwood Road on Feb. 24. She had been beaten about the head and smothered.Smania was charged with her death after molds of his teeth matched bite marks found on the victim. However, DNA tests of saliva found on her body indicate it was not Smania's.
"He's maintained he's had nothing to do with her death all along," said defense attorney Fred Metos. "He's very angry about being arrested."
Smania was released from jail May 21 after his family posted $75,000 bond. He had been incarcerated for five weeks.
Salt Lake County Attorney David Yocom said the charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled if additional evidence is discovered. Metos said he has been told Smania is still considered the prime suspect.
Smania was a friend of Morlock, 35, and saw her the evening before she was killed. Prosecutors took blood, saliva and hair samples from Smania and also had a mold of his teeth taken. He was arrested after forensic odontologist Steve Smith of Northwestern University indicated the teeth molds matched the bite marks.
Smith said Smania's teeth matched the bite marks "within a high degree of dental certainty," according to court documents.
In addition to the match, saliva found on Morlock's breast was O positive - the same blood type as the victim and Smania.
But Metos said the bite-mark evidence is uncertain and questions whether it would even be admitted in court. In other cases outside Utah that have involved bite marks and teeth molds, Metos said the match usually involves a large number of teeth. In this case, the bite marks were only two or three centimeters.
"At best they had four teeth, maybe," the attorney said.
Metos also questioned whether the marks could have changed from the time she was killed until her body was found more than a day later. "Naturally, there's changes in skin condition over that time period," he said. "It's not like a fingerprint that's left."
Yocom said that while he can't remember bite marks being used locally as evidence in recent years, other cases have successfully relied on it - including Ted Bundy's convictions in Florida.
Investigators believe the same person who bit Morlock also killed her, but they have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person may have been involved in her death, said detective Charles Oliver.
Morlock had a history of prostitution and was likely working the evening she died. Metos said his client and a neighbor both saw her that evening, but she threw them both out because she was with a customer.
That customer was an Arizona man in town for the NBA All-Star game. Metos suggested police should be looking for him, but Oliver said they have eliminated him as a suspect.
Smania said that after seeing Morlock on the night of Feb. 22, he returned and knocked on her door about 3:30 a.m. the next morning, but no one answered. A medical examiner said Morlock was likely killed sometime between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m.