Cleveland man linked to 3 sexual assaults

A man who committed a sexual assault in 2010 has been linked to two other rapes, one of which was a rape/homicide, through DNA.  The first two rapes occurred in 1996 and 1997.  Police in the Cleveland Police Department are now asking for help from the public in identifying the suspect.

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Twin's DNA identifies unknown body

Houston- DNA from an unidentified body was entered into CODIS and identified as Paul Segura when it matched Chris Segura, Paul's living twin brother. Paul went missing in 1989 at the age of 13.
Read more here.

11 more counts added to Marc O'Leary case, Jeffco, CO

Marc O'Leary faces an additional 11 counts in connection with the assault of a 64-year old woman from Aurora. O'Leary is facing 28 other counts for the sexual assault of three other women, and the attempted sexual assault of one woman. He is also linked to a rape in Washington.

Read more here.

West Memphis 3 enter Alford plea, released

The West Memphis 3 are being released on a suspended sentence. In 2007 it was found that DNA collected at the crime scene did not match that belonging to any of the three men. In November 2010, the state Supreme Court ruled that all three could present new evidence in court.

Read the Huff Post article here.

Trial begins for suspect linked to 1967 murder through DNA of ex-wife and daughter

A trial begins today for a man accused of killing 14 year-old Eileen Adams in 1967.

DNA samples his ex-wife and their daughter were compared those samples with DNA found on Eileen Adams. Investigators said they found a match and charged him even though they had no idea where he was living or even if he was still alive.

Read more here.

J Forensic Sci. 2011 Aug 9. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01867.x. [Epub ahead of print]

Comparisons of Familial DNA Database Searching Strategies.

Ge J, Chakraborty R, Eisenberg A, Budowle B.

Source

Department of Forensic and Investigative Genetics, University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107. Institute of Investigative Genetics, University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107.

The current familial searching strategies are generally based on either Identity-By-State (IBS) (i.e., number of shared alleles) or likelihood ratio (i.e., kinship index [KI]) assessments. In this study, the expected IBS match probabilities given relationships and the logic of the likelihood ratio method were addressed. Further, the false-positive and false-negative rates of the strategies were compared analytically or by simulations using Caucasian population data of the 13 CODIS Short Tandem Repeat (STR).

Click here to read abstract.

Tolt Hill Jane Doe DNA

The body of a young woman, 23-25 years old, was found in Kings County, WA in 1969. She was never identified. 

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Tolt Hill Jane Doe was found in 1969.

Her body has now been exhumed so that a DNA profile can be created and entered into the database at the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, which allows loved ones of missing persons to submit reference samples of DNA for comparison to the database. Her DNA profile will also be entered into CODIS.

For more information click here.

Grim Sleeper investigators to look for connections to 250 more victims

Investigators are broadening their workload to look at additional cold cases to see if they may be connected to the Grim Sleeper.

Cmdr. Andrew Smith told The Associated Press that detectives are looking at as many as 250 unresolved files dating back to the late 1970s and early 1980s to see whether there are any links to Lonnie Franklin Jr.

Franklin has plead not guilty to all charges.  Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Read the article here.

Poor Black Female Victims

A LA Times Blogger writes about response to crimes against poor black women.

When a Serial Killer Targets Poor Black Women
by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
HuffPost
Read the article.

6 recent attacks, 2 rapes in Ann Arbor

Police are investigating a series of six attacks, two of which were rapes, in Ann Arbor that occurred between July 15 and July 26 this year. 
DNA status in the case is currently unknown.

Click here for more information.

Ted Bundy's DNA Profile

A recently discovered vile containing serial killer Ted Bundy's blood has yielded his full DNA profile. It may help link him to other murders. The vial was discovered in the Tallahassee Crime Laboratory, where it had been since 1978 when Bundy was arrested for the murder of a 12-year-old local girl.  Bundy was sent to the electric chair in 1989.

The DNA profile may help solve several cases. One is believed to be Bundy's first victim. Anne-Marie Burr, eight, disappeared from the bedroom of her home in Tacoma, Washington in 1961. Bundy grew up nearby.

"From a historical standpoint, there is this belief that Ted Bundy could be responsible," said detective Gene Miller, who leads the Tacoma Police Department's cold case unit. "It's a question that needs to be answered... Ann Marie's family wants to know. Her parents have died but her siblings still don't know what happened to their big sister."

Read more here.

FBI says DNA on tie does not match suspect in DB Cooper Case

D B Cooper Still Unsolved
The FBI says that a DNA sample lifted from a tie worn by the hijacker in the DB Cooper case does not match the current suspect. There were also two other DNA profiles on the tie.

In 1971 a highjacker jumped from a flight and paracuted to safety with $200,000 dollars in ransom; despite the fact that investigators have checked on hundreds of thousands of leads, this remains the only unsolved hijacking case in U.S. history.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023992/DNA-test-did-match-D-B-Cooper-suspect-says-FBI.html#ixzz1Udpoij8J

Murder Victim from 1946 Identified with DNA

A young woman murdered in 1946 and found in 1971 has been identified as 25-year-old Beddie Walraven.  Crime lab scientists in California used the DNA from two living relatives of Walraven's to identify her body.

The Press Release:
Coroner case # 71-37449 UP--On January 26, 1971, skeletal remains were found scattered in the desert near Baker, California. The remains were believed to be those of a female adult. In 1975 investigators from the Santa Ana Police Department contacted the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reporting a suspect confessed to killing Betty Walraven (also known as Betty Flemming) in May of 1946, and transporting the body to the High Desert region of San Bernardino County. In December 2005, biological samples from the skeletal remains were delivered to the California Department of Justice DNA Laboratory in Richmond, California for processing. Over the next five years the scientists at the DNA Laboratory worked tirelessly to develop a useable DNA profile from the degraded remains. In the meantime, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Coroner Division investigators were able to locate two members of Betty Walraven’s family. DNA samples were provided by these family members and reference profiles were developed for comparison with that of the remains. On June 1, 2011, the California DNA lab director notified this Division that a DNA profile had finally been developed from the remains and were found to be match to Betty Walraven.

Read more here.

Arrestee DNA Statute Struck Down in California

A law approved by California voters to collect DNA from felony arrestees was struck down by a state court of appeals on Thursday.

The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said DNA contains "an extraordinary amount of private personal information" not available from fingerprints. Unlike fingerprints, which are primarily used to identify suspects, DNA evidence is collected in hopes of linking arrestees to other crimes, or to crimes they might commit in the future, the court said.

The federal government and about half the states have laws allowing DNA collection from some or all arrestees.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/04/BALP1KJGRI.DTL#ixzz1UYGu5ulj

Identicle Twins Cause Confusion in Murder Case

Witnesses said they saw someone who looked just like Orlando Nembhard brandish a pistol outside a crowded nightclub and fire on a 19 year old man in the club who later died. But Orlando has an identicle twin, Brandon, who was also at the scene on that morning in February.

Read more here.

In United States v. Pool, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote of familial DNA searches:

“This seems somewhat analogous to a witness looking at a photograph of one person and stating that the perpetrator has a similar appearance which leads the police to show the witness photos of similar looking individuals, one of whom the witness identifies as the perpetrator. It is questionable whether the person whose photograph helped focus the inquiry, or whose familial comparison helped focus the inquiry, has suffered any invasion of his or her constitutional right to privacy.”[1]

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[1] United States v. Pool, 621 F. 3d 1213 (9^th Cir. 2010)