Duplicate DNA at crime scene points to man already in jail

Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - by Rebecca Palsha

Anchorage, Alaska - When DNA evidence links a suspect to a crime, it’s usually a cut-and-dry case. But now, the state crime lab says it's seen a case of duplicate DNA profiles, from two different people. That's usually not possible, except when you're dealing with identical twins.

But late last year, after a sexual assault, DNA found at a crime scene was linked to a man who was already in jail. The lab discovered that the man already in jail had gotten a bone marrow transplant from his brother. The brother was later arrested for the crime.

Currently there are more than 14,000 names in the state DNA database. Even with all those names, the state crime lab says Alaska has never seen a case like this one before.

“You had one person having two genetic profiles. One was identity by inheritance and the other one was identity by transplant,” said Dr. Abirami Chidambaram, state crime lab.

A cheek swab cleared the man already in prison from the crime.