Victim’s Head Was Near Floor When He Was Shot, Expert Says

By D.C. Witness Staff - March 13, 2019
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects |

An expert told a jury March 12 that a victim was fatally shot while he was facing the floor.

Dianna Lalchan

Dianna Lalchan is charged with first-degree murder while armed for allegedly shooting her 36-year-old husband, Christopher Lalchan, in the Carrollsburg Condominiums located on the 1200 block of 4th Street, SW in 2013. Dianna, 33, is claiming self defense. D.C. Witness reported earlier that she said she endured an abusive marriage. The couple had been married since 2008.

Christopher Lalchan

During the fifth day of trial, the prosecution called a blood stain analysis and crime scene reconstruction expert to assess the murder scene. The expert told the jury that, based on the blood stains on the wall, it seemed like Christopher was not standing or sitting upright when he was shot.

The expert said that when the bullet hit the back of Christopher’s head, he was close to the wall and not more than 18 inches from the floor.

The expert also indicated, based on blood stains on a broken piece of flooring that was uprooted by another bullet, that Christopher was not killed by the first gun shot. Apparently, the gun was fired three times. Even though the sequence of shots could not be verified, the expert said a bullet hit the flooring before another bullet killed the victim.

According to court documents, there were three shell casing in the apartment, including one in the hallway of the apartment, another by the victim’s head and a third on the bed that was placed in the main room of the apartment.

Three bullet projectiles were also located, documents state. One bullet travelled through a wall in the living room and ended up in a kitchen cabinet, another was lodged in the floor inches from the victim’s head and the other bullet was lodged in the victim’s head.

In addition to the expert, a detective with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said that when police arrived on the scene Dianna seemed “very calm.” The detective was the second officer from the MPD to comment on Dianna’s calm demeanor during the trial. However, the statement was struck from the record after the defense objected.

The officer also said there wasn’t any signs of a struggle in the apartment, referencing undisturbed drum symbols and fishing poles standing upright on the wall. Photos of Dianna, taken at the police station later that night, showed that she didn’t have any physical injuries.

Dianna is currently released on personal recognizance. The trial is scheduled to continue on March 13.