As killer sentenced, case made for DNA

By MICHELE MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer

ALBANY -- The miracle of DNA matching tied 23-year-old Raymon McGill to two unsolved murders and a rape last year while he was behind bars, hundreds of miles away, at the Altoona Correctional Facility, serving time for another crime.

But had a sample of his genetic code been taken at his first misdemeanor conviction in 1999, at least one of the killings the Albany man admitted carrying out might have been avoided, a prosecutor said Monday.

The revelation comes as Gov. George Pataki has proposed expanding the state's DNA database to include profiles of all convicted criminals. To date, lawmakers at the Capitol have been unable to agree on language or terms of the criminal justice initiative.

"I'm not espousing any particular plan," said Albany County Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael McDermott, who prosecuted McGill. "Just put as many offenders as possible in the data bank."

McDermott's comments came on the same day McGill, already serving a five-year sentence for attempted robbery, was sentenced to an additional 40 years to life in the collective cases.

Since April 2000, the database has had 2,209 "hits" linking offenders to 3,473 crimes that officials say might not have been solved without the forensic technology. The network currently contains evidence from more than 16,000 unsolved incidents statewide.

McGill pleaded guilty in December to raping a 78-year-old woman with dementia in January 2000. He also admitted to the brutal killings of 50-year-old state worker Martha Montalvo that March and 68-year-old George Young in January 2004.

Montalvo was stabbed through the heart, while Young was beaten with a piece of steel reinforcing bar and then shot in the head.

On Monday, as a crew from "Cold Case" filmed footage for a television special on the case, Albany County Judge Stephen W. Herrick rejected McGill's last-ditch attempt to take back his guilty pleas. Herrick offered to let him look over the transcript from the December hearing where responsibility for his actions was freely acknowledged.

Herrick sentenced McGill to two consecutive sentences of 20 years to life for the murders, after listening to victim impact statements read by Young's brother, Fred, who had traveled from Alaska, and Montalvo's daughter.

Upstairs, Albany County Judge Thomas A. Breslin sentenced McGill to a concurrent term of 20 years for the rape.

District Attorney David Soares backed McDermott's call for more DNA samples, calling upon state lawmakers to provide the resources and the authority to include those convicted of felonies and misdemeanors.

Current law doesn't require DNA samples from those convicted of a host of serious crimes, including some drug and pornography offenses, identity theft and forgery, according to information provided by the state. Soares said he hoped McGill's case signals a turning point in law enforcement in New York state: "There are few tools available to law enforcement that are tougher or smarter than DNA."