By Eric Rodriguez
SANTA BARBARA, CA – Pierre Haobsh’s non-jury murder trial continued Monday here in Santa Barbara County Superior Court with expert witnesses, including a retired senior forensic technician, providing testimony.
Pierre Haobsh has been in custody since 2016 and charged with first-degree murder, multiple murder, and murder for financial gain.
Haobsh, a business acquaintance of Dr. Han, is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder, murder for financial gain and commission of felony, in 2016.
Haobsh was arrested on March 25, 2016, at gunpoint in Oceanside, San Diego, where multiple electronic items of the victims’ were found in his car, along with incriminating web searches and materials used to wrap the victims, as well as two guns.
Long-Awaited Murder Trial Set Monday in Triple Homicide Case
The court was conducted and overseen by Judge Brian Hill, who has been in charge of the case since 2016, and also stands in for the jury.
The forensic tech witness held his position in Santa Barbara from 2009 to 2017, when he retired. He also worked at a previous sheriff’s department conducting 
the same work he did while in Santa Barbara for several years.
During the testimony, the forensic tech identified the victims that were wrapped in plastic and duct-tape to be, Dr. Weidong “Henry” Han, his wife Huijie “Jennie” Yu and their daughter Emily Han.
After retelling his process in cataloging the evidence, he noted the items found inside of the plastic wrapping with the bodies were bullet casings for a .22-caliber firearm.
The forensic tech then proceeded to identify the pictures that he took while searching a red Lexus vehicle with Arizona license plates that contained Haobsh’s driver’s license, along with Dr. Han’s driver’s license and iPhones, belonging to the victims, wrapped in aluminum foil.
Defense Attorney Michael Hanley objected to the way the prosecution was allegedly leading the witness to confirm one of the iPhones—the objection was overruled by Judge Hill.
One receipt from Arizona showed a purchase of firearms, while another from Home Depot noted the acquisition of 10 ft. of poly wrap. Other receipts confirmed the items purchased and locations of the purchases were also found within the vehicle.
Furthermore, a “homemade silencer” was found in the trunk of the car next to the spare tire, as noted by the forensic tech, who noted the difficulty of obtaining a clean set of fingerprints off of Haobsh, despite his cooperation. He stated that his fingertips were too sweaty and would smudge the ink.
The procedure was done by the forensic tech and another colleague multiple times, but continued to result in a smudged print.
Hanley asked, “Did he appear nervous when he was being rolled?”
This was met with a quick and loud response from the forensic tech, “No, he was very calm.”
The cross-examination of the expert witness will continue Thursday at and will be followed by another witness.
