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Please see our “Did You Know?” section toward the end of this issue. As we begin the New Year the developments in studies and technology involving DNA and the use of DNA evidence continue to make headlines. Human Genetic Variation has been named Science magazine’s Breakthrough of the Year (for more information please see our “Did You Know” section). Other stories in the news include the charging of criminals based on DNA evidence before the criminal has actually been identified. Although rarely used, it holds criminals responsible for a crime even if it goes unsolved for years and is meant to keep the statutes of limitation from running out. Another interesting article discusses the importance of the use of both fiber and DNA analysis from crime scene evidence. In addition to these stories you will find brief summaries of new and ongoing cases involving the use of DNA analysis. In The News DNA lets prosecutors charge suspects, even if there aren't any A man who tried to kidnap two kids did not get away with it. As he tried to force them in his car and tie their hands together, the kids fought back and ran and investigators still don't know who the gunman was. King County prosecutors still charged him with kidnapping this month, accusing "John Doe" based on the DNA found on two zip ties that were lying on the street when he sped away. Such charges against nameless, faceless people are a rare way that prosecutors try to hold people responsible for crimes that may go unsolved for years. The approach -- which has been used in sexual assault cases but could raise legal questions -- is to keep statutes of limitation from running out so suspects don't escape charges simply because it took investigators time to identify them. Such "John Doe" charges against DNA profiles bring some concerns, including whether they take away a suspect's right to a speedy trial. For more on this story please go to: Source: Seattlepi.nwsource.com Animal, vegetable or man-made - not all fibers are alike. Sometimes the smallest piece of evidence found at a crime scene can be the thing that provides a major clue or becomes a major factor in winning a conviction. Hairs found on a victim routinely point to a suspect and because DNA analysis can often be done, this provides a definitive identification of the perpetrator. Likewise, fibers obtained from victims clothes or in the area of the crime scene can guide investigators in the direction of a particular suspect. Fiber analysis by the forensic laboratory has become increasing important in many cases. A caution, however, is that fiber evidence unlike DNA is not unique. It cannot definitively identify a suspect but it can serve to narrow the field of potential suspects. For more information please go to: www.Officer.com New and Ongoing Stories Involving the Use of DNA EvidenceIllinois - A man sentenced to death in Mississippi for the rape-murder of a 3-year-old girl has been exonerated in the first case in the state where post-conviction DNA tests proved an inmate's innocence. A second man was granted a new trial and released on his own recognizance after his conviction for the murder of another 3-year-old girl was undermined by another man's alleged confession. The developments Friday in the closely connected cases took place in the courthouse in Macon, Miss., where the judge vacated the murder conviction of Kennedy Brewer, who spent some 7 years on Death Row, and granted a new trial to Levon Brooks, who was sentenced to life in prison. Source: www.chicagotribune.com New York - As prosecutors were readying to retry Lynn DeJac for the 1993 murder of her 13-year-old daughter, forensic evidence has exonerated the woman, indicating that the girl died of a cocaine overdose and not strangulation. She had been released from prison in November after her conviction for second degree murder was vacated as a result of newly analyzed DNA evidence which placed Donohue in the bedroom of her daughter at the time she died. Source: www.northcountrygazette.org
Colorado - For 10 years, the identity of a rapist remained unknown. In 2006, Rudy Gaytan provided a DNA sample after he was convicted of a felony in an unrelated case. That sample was run through a DNA database, which linked him to the 1996 rape of a 19-year-old Longmont woman. A Boulder County jury last year convicted Gaytan in that rape, and earlier this month he was sentenced to 72 years in prison. Source: www.timescall.com Florida - Lab workers have matched Michael King's DNA to evidence found on the body of Denise Amber Lee. The 21-year-old mother was kidnapped, raped, and murdered, in January. Source: www.abcactionnews.com Arizona - Police arrested Batiz Aceves on Friday morning and discovered in less than 24 hours from DNA test results that he is a match for a serial rapist who has been stalking and raping young girls in Chandler for nearly two years. Source: www.Azcentral.com Texas - A man convicted of raping a woman in 1981 and sentenced to life in prison has been cleared by DNA evidence and will be released. Charles Chatman, 47, is expected to be released Thursday after spending more than 26 years behind bars, said Natalie Roetzel of the Innocence Project of Texas. Source: Ap.google.com New York - Police say they used DNA to arrest a 21-year-old man in connection with a 2003 burglary. Police say they linked Dexter Kilbride of Port Jervis to a break-in and theft of equipment at Port Jervis High School in 2003. According to police, Kilbride’s blood was recovered at the burglary scene and taken to the state police forensics laboratory for testing. Source: www.Recordonline.com New York - Eddie Sanchez, 34, will be arraigned this week in Manhattan on 1994 rape, robbery, sodomy and burglary charges. The 5-foot-10, 280-pound ex-con was arrested last week when a fresh DNA sample linked him to the brutal crime. Source: www.Nydailynews.com Pennsylvania - A Northumberland County man who police say told them he killed his wife but then recanted has been charged in connection with her death. Steven D. Wolfgang, 47, of Mount Carmel, was arraigned Saturday on an open count of homicide and charges of tampering with evidence and abuse of corpse. Remains were identified through DNA and it was ruled the death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the chest. Source: www.Pennlive.com California - It took more than 16 years, but it was the suspect's own blood that finally led detectives to the person they believe killed Cathy Nguyen and her child. Authorities say they have matched DNA from the state's database to blood collected at the San Jose apartment in 1991 where Nguyen and Michael died and have arrested Hung Ngoc Do, 49, and charged him with the double homicide. Source: www.Mercurynews.com California - DNA evidence from the 1984 slaying of a Santa Ana baby sitter doesn't match the man who has spent more than two decades on death row for the killing, authorities say. Tests recently ordered by the Orange County District Attorney's Office indicate Kenneth Clair, awaiting execution for the death of Linda Faye Rodgers, is not the source of DNA found on the victim's body and on some nearby clothing, prosecutors said Friday. Source: www.Ocregister.com Missouri - Clay County authorities charged a 43-year-old man in connection with breaking into a Gladstone apartment in November and stealing several firearms. The key evidence that led police to a suspect - the DNA left on six bones of a chicken he devoured after allegedly breaking into a residence. Investigators said the DNA match steered them to John Wyatt Weaver of Kansas City. Source: www.Kansascity.com Oregon - Thanks to DNA evidence from a cigarette butt, blood and some telling tire tracks, Bend police have arrested 47-year-old Glenn Wise on suspicion of a 2006 burglary and suspicion of stealing more than $12,000 worth of copper late last year. Source: www.Ktvz.com Wisconsin - A man has been charged with sneaking into a toddler's bedroom and stealing $20 from a piggy bank while the 2-year-old girl slept. Authorities say DNA evidence linked Ryan A. Mueller, 30, of Sheboygan Falls to the crime that occurred Aug. 10 in Wilson. Source: ap.google.com Kentucky - Police have charged a man in the rape and murder of a Louisville woman nearly 25 years ago. Pamela Armstrong's body was found in an alley shortly after she was shot in the head on June 4, 1983. But her murder went unsolved. On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Larry Lamont White in Armstrong's death. White, who is 49 and serving time in a state prison, was also indicted on a rape charge. Louisville police Lt. Barry Wilkerson said Friday that DNA evidence helped link White to the killing. Source: www.Kentucky.com Pennsylvania - Kline Township arrested a Camden, N.J., man for his role in an armed robbery. Officers used DNA evidence to link 22-year-old Ronald Lassiter to the crime. Lassiter, wore a white ski mask with camouflage around the face. A half-hour later, police found a white ski mask lying off the highway. The victim identified the mask as one worn by one of the robbers. Officers sent the ski mask to the crime lab in Wyoming, where hair and saliva DNA were collected from the mask. The sample was placed in a national DNA database and matched to Lassiter in May 2007. Source: www.Standardspeaker.com Connecticut - After a three-year investigation, a city man was charged today with raping a woman after he broke into her home. Stephen White, 34, was arrested after police said they found his DNA on the woman's toes. It was the second time DNA evidence has linked White to an unsolved rape. Source: www.Connpost.com Alabama - Gov. Bob Riley said he will not order DNA testing for Alabama death row inmate Thomas Arthur because he does not have the power to do so. "I simply do not have the authority to order post-conviction DNA testing," Riley said during a telephone interview. Riley said he supports post-conviction DNA testing, and will support it again when legislation making it mandatory is expected to be introduced during the upcoming legislative session. But he said the way the law stands now, the power to order and have the state pay for such tests rests exclusively with the courts. Source: www.Montgomeryadvertiser.com Utah - A murder charge filed this year based on DNA tests unavailable when the victim was strangled in 1980 is being dropped because more testing made the case difficult to prove, a prosecutor said Thursday. The lab tests "do not exonerate or prove" that Edward Owens is innocent, but they "create tremendous difficulty in proving this case beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury," Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said. Source: Ap.google.com Colorado - A Denver man was charged with murder Thursday in the rape of a 61-year-old woman who was left outside on the coldest night of the season and later died. Pyle gave a description of her attacker to a police officer, and police investigators were able to link DNA evidence to 45-year-old Willie Trimble, who was arrested this week for violating his parole, authorities said. Source: www.Denverpost.com Illinois - In what is believed to be the largest award of its kind in Illinois history, a federal jury Thursday awarded $15.5 million to Kevin Fox and his wife, after deciding Will County sheriff's detectives falsely arrested Fox in the sexual assault and murder of his 3-year-old daughter, Riley. Fox spent eight months in the Will County Jail awaiting trial before tests showed DNA from Riley's rape kit did not match his genetic profile. Source: www.Chicagotribune.com New York - As the case against the man accused in the murder of Poughkeepsie restaurateur Cosimo DiBrizzi resumes Friday, prosecutors are armed with some DNA evidence obtained from a piece of discarded bubble gum found at the scene of the crime, a police officer involved in the investigation said Thursday. Source: www.Poughkeepsiejournal.com Arizona - Cold-case investigators recently took a new look at DNA evidence from a deadly shooting and sexual assault 17 years ago, and a 43-year-old man now faces charges in the case, an official said Wednesday. Gregory D. Tamplin, 43, is charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of sexual assault, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of kidnapping, according to a Tucson Police Department news release. Source: www.Azstarnet.com Texas - DNA evidence not only proved that Master Jeremyha Lewis raped a co-worker at a Tyler restaurant in February - the scientific evidence also connected him to an unsolved rape that occurred years earlier. The defendant was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the February offense and 20 years in prison for the 2003 rape. Vance said the reason authorities found out about the 2003 rape was because the DNA tests performed on the rape victim in 2007 showed up on a CODIS (Combined DNA Indexing Systems) hit. Source: www.Tylerpaper.com Louisiana - Police arrested a 35-year-old Lafayette man Tuesday after DNA was used to connect to him to a rape that occurred three years ago. Robert Lee Senegal Jr., 35, is facing charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated rape after being arrested by the Lafayette Police Department's ACTION unit. Source: www.Theadvertiser.com Indiana - A man long considered the prime suspect in an 8-year-old boy's 1979 rape and murder was arrested Tuesday in the slaying after DNA evidence tied him to the crime, authorities said. David B. Bowen, 44, was arrested Tuesday morning at a motel outside Kingfield, Maine, where he worked. Source: Ap.google.com California - John Davis, 40 was convicted for the 1985 rape and killing of 28-year-old Barbara Martz, and condemned to a sentence of life without possibility of parole for first-degree murder. Family and friends thanked the San Francisco police who reopened the case through DNA technology. Source: www.Sfgate.com Did You Know?Topic: Science Magazine’s Breakthrough of the Year 2007 Each year, the editors and news staff of Science look back at the big science stories of the past 12 months, and dub one of them the Breakthrough of the Year. A special section of the 21 December 2007 issue showcases this year's top Breakthrough and nine runners-up, and takes a look at last year's predictions as well as areas to watch in 2008. Breakthrough of the Year: Human Genetic Variation Equipped with faster, cheaper technologies for sequencing DNA and assessing variation in genomes on scales ranging from one to millions of bases, researchers are finding out how truly different we are from one another. For more information please go to: Source: www.Sciencemag.org
The DNA Informant is a free bi-weekly email newsletter, published by DNA Labs International. DNA Labs International is a private, ISO 17025 Accredited, Forensic Serology and DNA Identity Testing Laboratory, founded in 2004 by a Board Certified Fellow in Molecular Biology with over two decades of experience in Forensic Serology and DNA Analysis in United States Crime Labs. Our primary mission is to help our clients identify criminals within their jurisdiction by providing timely, accurate and cost effective DNA testing results. To do this we created an organization based on industry best practices from over 20 State Crime Labs around the United States. We are located in Deerfield Beach, Florida, just minutes from the Fort Lauderdale airport. DNA Labs International’s services are now available for individual cases and outsourcing contracts. Please keep us in mind as you start to consider your outsourcing needs, regular and rush cases and DNA case review. Editor: Karen Daurie |
