CAMBRIDGE - In the most damaging testimony to the defense thus far, one of the lead investigators in the West Woburn double murder case said on Friday that Michael Bizanowicz had "no idea" how his DNA ended up at 13A Totman Drive, where Joanne and Alyssa Presti were slain.

"We asked him if he had sex with Joanne Presti. He said 'No,'" said State Police Det. Lt. Joseph Duggan. "We asked him if he had sex with Alyssa Presti. He said 'No.'

"We asked him if he had sex with anybody in that apartment. He said 'No,'" continued Duggan. "Then we asked him if he broke in or Joanne Presti let him in. He said he didn't know what I was talking about."

"Then, (Woburn Police detective) Mike Pandolph told him he did a lousy job cleaning up," added Duggan. "He said 'This is crazy.'"

The interview of Bizanowicz took place at Woburn Police headquarters on Jan. 16, 2004, the date Bizanowicz, 44, of Lowell, was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder and the aggravated rape of Joanne Presti.

The defense claimed Bizanowicz lied about consensual sex with Joanne Presti in an attempt to salvage his relationship with Bobbi Jo Miller, a neighbor and friend of Joanne Presti's who is the mother of Bizanowicz's young daughter.

"Was there any indication if (Bizanowicz) talked openly and freely about Joanne Presti, you weren't going to pass it on to Bobbi Jo Miller?" defense attorney Stanley Norkunas asked Duggan.

"You led him to believe it would be a public piece of information," added Norkunas.

"I didn't lead him to believe anything," replied Duggan. "I just asked him a question."

Duggan's testimony highlighted the last day of the second week of the Bizanowicz trial, which is taking place at Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge.

Also testfying on Friday were John Carter, the former Woburn High hockey star and Boston Bruins player who was the father of Alyssa Presti, and Frank Martineau, the father of Joanne Presti's older son.

Sgt. Duggan

In nearly two hours of testimony, Duggan told the jury the trail that led them to Bizanowicz, a level 3 sex offender who lived with Miller at her Totman Drive apartment for about 10 months.

Joanne Presti, 34, and Alyssa, 12, were killed either late in the evening on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004, or in the early morning hours of Monday, Jan. 5. Their bodies were discovered during the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 7.

The break in the case was the discovery in Joanne Presti's apartment of three undeveloped rolls of camera film. The film was developed by police on Jan. 10 and shows pictures of Bizanowicz, who before that time was not connected to the case by police, at his daughter's first birthday party.

On Monday, Jan. 12, Duggan and Pandolph went to Bizanowicz's apartment in Lowell to conduct an interview.

Duggan testified when he said he was there to ask questions about his friend Joanne Presti, Bizanowicz responded "She wasn't my friend."

Later, Duggan said Bizanowicz "amended" his statement "to say 'She was my friend, just not a close one.'"

Bizanowicz reportedly told Duggan he had heard about the murders by watching television.

He said he was only in the Prestis' Totman Drive apartment once, the previous November or December, "to lay some cable for television" and repair Joanne's doorbell.

Bizanowicz told police he did not have a vehicle, a statement which turned out not to be true, as police eventually recovered from Bizanowicz's truck a piece of rope that may have been used to bind Joanne Presti. The truck was registered to Miller at her address in Woburn.

Bizanowicz told police he usually got around by asking a friend for rides, or borrowing the car of another friend, who he could not name. An apprentice electrican, Bizanowicz told police on Jan. 12 he did not work due to a "back problem," Duggan testified. Prior to the murders, Bizanowicz said he spent the weekend alone in his apartment watching television, and had no visitors. He said he went to sleep at about 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 5, and did not report to work that morning.

Duggan said Bizanowicz "initially seemed neverous" during the interview on Jan. 12, "but seemed to relax when we spoke to him."

Police transported him to Lowell Police headquarters for fingerprints and photographs, including pictures of Bizanowicz's hands, which the prosecution alleges were injured during a scuffle with Alyssa Presti before she was killed.

Duggan said specifically Bizanowicz had cuts on the knuckles of both hands, and a wound at the base of his left thumb, near the wrist. Duggan testified Bizanowicz told him the injury near his thumb was a cigarette burn, and he didn't know how he got the cuts on his knuckles.

Also taken as evidence was a pair of Bizanowicz's boots, which were photographed and later returned to him.

On Jan. 16, police were informed of the DNA match to Bizanowicz. Duggan, Pandolph and Woburn Det. Charles Carroll went back to Lowell and asked Bizanowicz to come to Woburn Police headquarters for another interview.

He was read his rights, Duggan said, and gave similar answers from his previous interview, though he said he "may have gotten the teams and days wrong" of an NFL playoff game he previously said he had watched the weekend of the murders.

Duggan said Bizanowicz also told him the cuts on his knuckles were the result of "learning Karate as a kid" and were old injuries.

Noting that Bizanowicz was "coherent and seemed to understand the questions" he was asked, police placed him under arrest at that point.

The interview on Jan. 16 was not taped, Duggan noted.

However, it was pointed out that a court ruling requiring custodial interviews of suspects was not in place until August 2004, months after Bizanowicz was arrested.

Cross-examination

Norkunas asked Duggan if Bizanowicz had lied about having a truck because he was afraid he might be targeted for vehicle insurance fraud, since the truck was registered to Miller and insured in Woburn.

Also, Norkunas suggested Bizanowicz may have been under the impression the police were interested in information about "disability fraud," since Bizanowicz was not supposed to be working.

He also asked if the police had been made aware a vehicle with a Delaware license plate had been seen on Totman Drive during the weekend of the murders.

The father of Joanne Presti's youngest son lived in Delaware at the time, and was in the Delaware/eastern Pennsylvania area during the murders, telephone records indicate.

Norkunas also noted there were no witnesses to a red truck like Bizanowicz's being seen in the Totman Drive area at the time of the murders.

Norkunas also asked what items were taken from an apartment lived in by Hardinder Singh, the Prestis' landlord and neighbor who was initially considered a suspect before he was exonerated by police due to the DNA evidence.

Under questioning from Norkunas, Duggan also testified Bizanowicz was "cooperative" during the two interviews before he was arrested.

"On January 12, you said he was relaxed?" asked Norkunas.

"I don't know if it was a relaxed atmosphere," replied Duggan. "He did relax after awhile."

"If two police officers came to your door, that could be a little unnerving, couldn't it?" asked Norkunas. "It could be," replied Duggan.

Other testimony

Carter testified he and Joanne Presti "dated several times" in 1990, when Carter was playing for the Bruins. He later learned Joanne was pregnant, but had no contact with Alyssa except for once and no contact with Joanne except for occasional meetings in court about child support issues.

He said he didn't know where Joanne and Alyssa lived in January 2004, and wasn't aware of the murders until he was contacted by police on Jan. 7. He provided fingerprints and a DNA sample.

Martineau said he started dating Joanne in January 1993 and had planned to be married at some point, but they were never wed.

In late 2003, Martineau and his son were living in Revere. He testified he saw Bizanowicz once on Totman Drive, during a visitation, and had not once been inside 13A Totman Drive.

On the night of the murders, he said he went out to dinner and then stopped by a friend's house before returning home by 10 p.m. Martineau said he provided fingerprints to police.

Sean Barry, of the New England State Police Information Network, said he analyzed telephone data that indicated the father of Joanne Presti's younger son was in the areas of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del., between Jan. 2-6, 2004.

More testimony

Frances Coulter, Section 8 Administrator for the Woburn Housing Authority, testified the Presti's apartment at 13A Totman Drive was in need of certain repairs before the Prestis moved there in late October, 2003.

Paul Chiavaroli, a quality control inspector for the WHA, said those repairs included new paint and blinds in the living room, where a handprint traced to Harinder Singh was found during the investigation.

The prosecution contends the handprint was left during the course of Singh replacing the blinds. Trooper Karrol Stalsingh, of the State Police crime scene services division, testified there were no fingerprints found on pieces of duct tape discovered on Joanne Presti's wrist and a fleece garment recovered in her apartment.

Woburn Police Lt. Robert Rufo testified he booked Bizanowicz at police headquarters on Jan. 16, 2004.

Rufo said he noted Bizanowicz's injuries to his knuckles, and testified the defendant was "cooperative" during the booking process.

Claire Fogg, Bizanowicz's probation officer at the time of his arrest for the murders, said a probation offense if reported - like insurance fraud - could lead to "re-incarceration" "or additional probation time."

Norkunas asked if the process for a violation is generally "a negotiated aspect between you and the attorney representing the person" on probation. "If you asked for a hearing, there would be a hearing, right?" asked Norkunas.

Judge Geraldine Hines advised the jury in a "cautionary note" that Fogg's testimony "may not be used to show a propensity to commit a crime." Bizanowicz's criminal record has not been introduced into the trial thus far.