He has begun with the two blue polyester fibres found on the shorts of Mr Edwards' 1995 Karrakatta cemetery rape victim.

The shorts were found on the ground at the cemetery the day of the attack, and collected as evidence by forensic officers.

In 1996, 11 tape lifts were taken from the shorts looking for carpet fibres that might have indicated the vehicle the victim was forced into during her abduction.

When no carpet fibres were noted, the tape lifts were stored. In 2009 they were reexamined and one blue polyester fibre was located on tape lift 3.

Further tape lifts were taken from the shorts in 2014 and another blue polyester fibre was recovered.

When compared against other blue polyester fibres from Operation Macro the fibres were included in a grouping referred to as 'blue polyester 4'.

The court is being shown a series of microscopic, polarised light (banding) and fluorescent images of the blue fibres.

Mr Powell has explained that when the lab ran control fibres from a pair of Telstra pants through the database in 2019, the fibres found on the victim's shorts came up as a match.

Seven different types of microscopic comparisons were then conducted which showed the fibres had corresponding properties. A wavelength chart projected to the court shows the fibres had the same peaks and troughs.