DALTON, Ga. — A forensic pathologist testified on Thursday that the injuries of Paul Edward Guerrant were blunt force trauma that could have been caused by a ball-peen hammer; later, a forensic biologist testified there was no DNA evidence linking Guerrant to the hammer the district attorney says was used to kill him.

The testimony came in the fourth day of the trial of Aaron Jerome Howell for the murder of Guerrant. District Attorney Bert Poston said in his opening statement on Monday that Guerrant was struck more than two dozen times with a ball-peen hammer on the night of Dec. 22, 2014. He died in a Chattanooga hospital.

Gretchen Weiss, with the state crime lab, said there was also no DNA evidence linking Guerrant to a speck of blood found on an orange knit cap in the woods near the scene of the beating. On Wednesday, Dalton Police Department Detective Sam Eaton testified about finding a jacket and orange cap in the woods on Jan. 8, 2015. That is where witness James Williams Jr. testified on Wednesday that Howell said he got rid of his things from the night of Dec. 22, 2014.

Weiss did say skin cells taken from inside the cap positively matched Howell’s DNA.

Dr. Keith Lehman, a forensic pathologist, went over his autopsy report prepared for the state Medical Examiner’s Office. Lehman said most of the strikes to Guerrant were to the left side and rear of his head. Photos in court showed major skull fracturing and impact marks consistent with the hammer side of a ball-peen hammer and the ball side of the hammer, and a flush impact from the head of the hammer, Lehman said. Guerrant also had abrasions and lacerations on his left shoulder and right hand. 

“I estimated the number of impacts to be 20 or possibly more,” Lehman said, adding it was difficult to pinpoint because of the severity of the fracturing. “He died as a result of blunt force head injuries. The brain is obviously a very important organ. It is in control of many, many body functions like heart beat and breathing.”

Thursday began with the continuing cross-examination of Williams, who testified on Wednesday that Howell admitted to “killing someone” to him. Williams said on Wednesday he had met Howell at the Mack Gaston Community Center in January 2015, and after walking to a liquor store, the two walked to Williams’ house on Nelson Street. Williams said Howell admitted to “killing someone” and told Williams he had thrown the clothes he was wearing in the woods behind Williams’ house.

Public defender Cat Pyne, Howell’s attorney, sought to continue to point out inconsistencies in Williams’ testimony. In a taped interview with Dalton police in 2015, Williams stated he knew Howell for “about two weeks” at the time of their conversation. 

On the night Guerrant died, Howell ended up at the apartment of Brant Williams on James Street, according to the testimony of Brant Williams. Brant Williams said Howell was not wearing an orange knit cap. Video evidence presented Wednesday by Poston showed Howell leaving the community center wearing an orange cap and heading south toward the general area of Dozier Street where Guerrant’s body was found. 

James Street is north of the community center. Brant Williams said Howell showed up “three or four hours” before midnight. Video showed Howell at the community center at 9 p.m. Guerrant’s body was discovered at 9:36.

Questioned by Pyne, Brant Williams said Howell didn’t have any cuts or abrasions, or any mud on his clothing after being out in the rainy night.

“It was pouring down rain… offered him some alcohol and probably marijuana,” Brant Williams said. “He said, ‘Nah, I just want to go to sleep.’ I put some sheets down and he laid down by the door and was out like that, I mean he was tired. Took his jacket and his pack off and he was down.”

Also on Thursday, testimony was given by a Clearwater, Fla., police detective who arrested Howell in October 2012 for assaulting a fellow resident of a homeless shelter. Video of the incident showed Howell and the man exchanging words before Howell approached the man and stabbed him in the back with a fork.

The trial is scheduled to continue Friday and is expected to last into next week.