Police have found female DNA on the gun used to murder a fire marshal in the Staten Island home he shared with his disgruntled wife, law-enforcement sources said yesterday.
Police were not able to conclusively prove that the DNA recently found on the gun’s magazine clip belonged to Janet Redmond-Mercereau, 38, the prime suspect in the slaying of her husband, Douglas Mercereau, an FDNY rising star who was killed Dec. 2, the sources said.
But cops have determined the DNA came from a woman, though it was not immediately clear how fresh it was, the sources said.
The gun, the fire marshal’s 9mm service weapon, appeared to have been wiped nearly clean, and there were no other traces of DNA on it.
It would not necessarily be surprising if the wife’s DNA was found on the gun because her husband had taken her to a firing range and taught her to shoot in the years before their marriage began to unravel.
The source said that tomorrow, a grand jury will begin to hear the mountain of circumstantial evidence – including the DNA revelation – against the wife, a high-school teacher.
The presentation could last 2½ to three weeks, with the grand jury meeting four days a week.
If indicted, Redmond-Mercereau, a full-figured woman who claims her hubby made rude comments about her weight, will be charged with second-degree murder and face 25 to life if convicted.
A spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan declined to comment.
Redmond-Mercereau’s lawyer, Mario Gallucci, did not return a phone call and an e-mail requesting comment.
Douglas Mercereau, also 38, who had recently been named a supervising fire marshal, was shot three times in the head at point-blank range as he slept in his bed.
The medical examiner put the time of death as 6:20 a.m., but Redmond-Mercereau did not call 911 until 8:20 a.m.
Police believe she used the time to clean up the crime scene, put the gun back on its shelf, take two showers and do a load of laundry.
When cops arrived, there was warm laundry still in the dryer.
Redmond-Mercereau told police she had slept in the room of her daughters, ages 6 and 5, and did not check on her husband until she found his body.
She said she and the girls were wearing earplugs, something they routinely did because her husband worked odd hours.
Gallucci subsequently said that only Redmond-Mercereau wore earplugs.
The distinction is important because if she gave the earplugs to her daughters, it could prove premeditation.
A speck of blood was taken from under one of the wife’s fingernails, but it proved inconclusive. Redmond-Mercereau said it came from her menstrual cycle.
The daughters are now in the custody of the Administration for Children’s Services, which has placed them with a neighbor, so their mother will not have undue influence on their testimony if there is a trial.
At a hearing on regaining custody of the girls, Redmond-Mercereau took the Fifth when asked whether she murdered her husband.
Tanya Jones, a social worker who interviewed the girls, reportedly has said the older daughter confided that her mother hadn’t slept in the girls’ bedroom but instructed her daughter to say she had.
The daughter also said she heard noises during the night.