DNA but no match: Brittany Phillips 2004 Rape and Murder, OK

Caravan to Catch a Killer

Brittany Phillips was raped and murdered in Tulsa in 2004. There is DNA in the case but no DNA match in the database.

Brittany's mother, Maggie Zingman, has been traveling across the country in a pink Toyota to raise awareness about her daughter's murder.  Blood and semen were collected from Brittany's apartment. The DNA was checked against thousands in the criminal data base.

Read more here.

Rhode Island Rapist caught through DNA of his sister- Partial Match

Police in Cranston, RI believe they have arrested a man who raped an 81-year-old woman May 2nd. DNA from the crime scene was a partial match to a woman who had been incarcerated.

"As a result, the focus of the investigation shifted to any and all of the male siblings of the female who was identified as a partial match," police said.


David Finegan was arraigned Wednesday for burglary and sexual assault.

Click here to read the article.

Arkansas: West Memphis 3 - Defense files motion that DNA doesn't match

A defense motion filed this week says that newly tested DNA found at the scene where three 8 year old boys were murdered in 1993 does not belong to Damien Echols or his two co-defendants. Echols is currently on death row.

 A human hair that was discovered with one of the victim’s blue jeans and wallet doesn’t match Echols, Jason Baldwin or Jessie Misskelley Jr. and has not yet been linked to anyone.
Read more here.

Maryland: East Coast Rapist may be linked to another sex assault with DNA

Police in Greenbelt, Md. are waiting for DNA results from the state crime lab that they believe will link Aaron Thomas, the suspected East Coast Rapist, with another sexual assault in Maryland. Thomas has been linked with DNA to attacks on 17 women.

Thomas, a truck driver,  is charged with three rapes in Virginia.  He plead not guilty to another in Connecticut. A prosecutor has said Thomas likely will face trial in New Haven, Conn., on a first-degree sexual assault charge before he is tried in Virginia, according to the Associated Press.


Click here for more info.

Pima County/Tuscon 1986 Cold Case: Joan Archer

Police have DNA and fingerprints from the scene where Joan Archer, a 25 year old, was discovered after disappearing in 1986. Archer disappeared during her early morning bike ride.
"We do have DNA and fingerprints on pieces of evidence we collected from the scene. So those are currently being compared to suspects and anyone who might have been involved," said Sheriff's Detective Dan Preuss.

"You try not to take things personally, but that was a tough case," said Doug Witte, now retired, who headed the sheriff's office homicide division at the time of Archer's slaying. "The tough thing about the case is that I'm convinced who did it ... but we were never able to get enough evidence that would allow us to get an indictment. It was one of those tough cases and frustrating, very frustrating.



For more info, click here.

DNA Profile Created for Baby Horry

Police have obtained enough DNA from a dead baby boy in Horry County, South Carolina to create a DNA profile. The baby was found in a wooded area on December 4, 2008. 
The Horry County Police Department wants to remind everyone that they are still accepting any tip or information leading to the identity of Baby Boy Horry's birth parents.
The phone number to contact police at is (843)915-TIPS.
Read more here.

Farmington, Maine stabbing of 81 year old woman: No matches found in DNA search

There is no match in the DNA database for blood left at the scene of the stabbing death of 81 year old Grace Burton.
The profile has been run through state and national databases; police have also collected 170 additional DNA profiles.
Click here for more information.

A memorial of flowers lies outside Margaret Chase Smith Apartments in Farmington where Grace Burton, 81, was attacked on June 21. She later died from multiple stab wounds. No arrest had been made, as of Friday. Sun Journal

Scotland launches online murder database

"We will catch you and you will be brought to justice."
The world's first online murder database launched in Scotland earlier this month. The database, known as Operation Phoenix, tracks patterns and trends in murders to assist law enforcement in finding serial killers.
The database was inspired by Operation Trinity, a homicide database developed to examine links between a series of unsolved murders from the 1970s, including the World's End case.
It involved the compilation of data on every female murder in Scotland since 1965.

For more, click here.

Spain: Serial Rapist attacks 6th Victim

DNA links a man who has attacked 6 women since 2008 in Spain. Police there believe that he targets young women on their own in the early hours of the morning, predominantly foreign tourists walking back to their apartments or hotels.

Read more here.

California: West Covina Police Searching For Serial Rapist

West Covina police are seeking a rapist they believe committed six sexual assaults between 2000 and 2011. DNA status in this case is unknown.
The women were all walking or jogging alone when they were attacked.

Read more here.

Palm Beach: Police Seek Help Finding Violent Serial Rapist- sketch

Palm Beach Rapist: Authorities release a sketch

A man who bit, beat and raped at least four women in Palm Beach County since 2009 is still on the loose, detectives say, and they are hoping a revised sketch will help catch him.
The man attacked a woman in April.  The same man has been linked to the cases with DNA.

Read more here.

Rapist in Golden pleads not guilty

A man accused of raping women in Colorado and Washington has plead not guilty. Bail has been set at 5 million dollars. 

The 2008 victim in Washington was charged with false reporting. 

Last month CBS4 reported that O’Leary has plead not guilty to more than two dozen charges stemming from two reported rapes and an attempted attack in Lakewood.  Read more: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/07/11/suspected-serial-rapist-heads-to-court/

DNA links two cold cases in Texas

Two cold case slayings have been linked to the same DNA profile. The killings happened six years apart. There was no match for the DNA profiles in the DNA databases.

For more information click here.

15 year old Kristy Wesselman cold case

15 year old Kristy Wesselman was raped and murdered in 1985. The killer left DNA at the crime scene, but it has never generated a hit in state or national DNA databases. The case is still open. Read more about Kristy's cold case here.

Potomac Rapist: Website will launch to help find Mirzayan’s killer

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Investigators in D.C. are hoping that someone will visit a new website and recognize a composit sketch of the suspect in Christine Mirzayan's murder case. 

Christine Mirzayan, 28, was slain Aug. 1, 1998, in woods near Canal Road as she walked home from dinner at a friend’s house.  Police were able to connect Mirzayan’s killer to the person who committed the rapes in Montgomery through a national DNA database.


Read more about the website and DC's rapist here.
Read previous 2nd JD Blog posts about this case here.