Man Gets 50 Years in First DNA Identification Case

Daniel Ray Gallow, 35 (dob 7/22/61), last known address 4540 Glenoak, Beaumont, Texas, was sentenced today (3/19/07) to a term of fifty (50) years in the state penitentiary in connection with a 2001 aggravated sexual assault. The sentence resulted from a jury trial in February (2/8/07) in Jefferson County’s first trial based solely on DNA identification of the defendant.

On February 22, 2001, a then 29 year-old Beaumont woman was asleep on the couch of her home in the 3100 block of Grand Street when she was awakened by someone covering her head and face with a cloth jacket. She quickly realized that an unknown attacker whom she described as speaking with a “Cajun” accent had broken into the house. She later came to the conclusion that a second invader was also present.

In tearful testimony before a jury in the 58th District Court, she told how “Cajun” and the other assailant sexually assaulted her. She described “Cajun” as her primary attacker, detailing brutal anal and vaginal intercourse, and including the insertion of a knife into her rectum. She never saw any face, and the only voice that she ever heard was that of the man she described as the “Cajun”.

The victim was seen by a sexual assault nurse examiner shortly after the assault. In addition to taking samples for later DNA analysis, the nurse examiner testified that she and the doctor were unable to properly examine the injuries to the victim’s rectal area because of her extreme pain and discomfort.

Late in 2001 results from the DPS Crime Laboratory in Houston indicated that foreign DNA samples were found among the evidence taken from the victim. The genetic fingerprint from the unknown attacker was placed into the C.O.D.I.S. (Combined D.N.A. Index System) database. When Gallow (a native of Lafayette, Louisiana) was taken into custody to serve a sentence for Indecency with a Child on August 12, 2002, a sample of DNA was taken from him as part of the C.O.D.I.S. inmate sample collection program. It was matched to the “unknown” sample already in the database and was reported to the Beaumont Police Department, where Detective Phillip Gouthier then sought a search warrant for Gallow’s blood. Confirming tests resulted in an indictment for Gallow being handed up by a Jefferson County Grand Jury in April of 2004, while he was still in custody for the Indecency with a Child case.

Prosecutor Ramon Rodriguez said, “This was a real CSI case. Not the glamorous world depicted on television, but the gritty reality of life. The victim lived in fear, not knowing who her attacker was, and wondering if he was watching her every day. As it turns out, he had cut her grass less than a week before he attacked her. Fifty years sends a strong message to this defendant, and a strong message to the community”.

Gallow also has previous felony convictions for Injury to a Child and Possession of a Controlled Substance in 1994. He must serve twenty-five (25) years of his sentence before he can be considered for parole.