The twin of an accused baby killer cannot be excluded as a suspect in the murder of the sleeping 10-month-old boy, a jury has heard.
Harley Hicks, 20, is charged with murdering Zayden Veal in his bed during a robbery spree in suburban Bendigo.
But his barrister David Hallowes said the fact Hicks shared both identical DNA and a house with his twin, Ashley Hicks, created too much doubt for a conviction.
"There are a number of pieces (of evidence) that you would say, well they show a picture of one of the twins," Mr Hallowes told a Victorian Supreme Court jury on Tuesday.
"They show a picture of Ashley or Harley Hicks.
"You do not have sufficient clarity to say that it was Harley Hicks and not Ashley Hicks."
Hicks is accused of hitting Zayden at least 25 times with a home-made baton while robbing the Long Gully home of his mother and her partner in June 2012.
Zayden's mother Casey Veal found the infant lying in blood-stained sheets shortly after realising their home had been robbed.
Police later found the baton along with items stolen from the house at the Long Gully home Hicks shared with his brother Ashley Hicks.
Tests on the baton found traces of Zayden's DNA and DNA that matched either Hicks or Ashley Hicks.
Prosecutor Michele Williams SC last week told the jury, sitting in Bendigo, that Ashley Hicks had an alibi for the night Zayden was killed.
She said a possible motive for the murder was that Zayden stirred while Hicks was robbing the home.
The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict later in the week.
