DNA evidence – News Stories About DNA evidence - Page 3

Killer IDed in 38-Year-Old Cold
Case, but He Won't Go to Prison

Jun 27, 2020 7:30 AM CDT

Killer IDed in 38-Year-Old Cold Case, but He Won't Go to Prison

Harold Warren Jarrell, suspected of murdering 8-year-old Kelly Ann Prosser in Ohio, died in 1996

(Newser) - In September 1982, 8-year-old Kelly Ann Prosser was abducted while walking home from school in Columbus Ohio, then beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled to death. Her body was discovered in a field two days later, but her killer was never found. Now, nearly four decades later, authorities say they have...

Neighbor Arrested
40 Years After Calif.
Woman's Murder

Apr 28, 2020 10:15 AM CDT

Neighbor Arrested 40 Years After Calif. Woman's Murder

Philip Wilson, 71, identified via familial DNA, accused of killing 20-year-old Robin Brooks

(Newser) - Since 1980, Maria Arrick has hoped her sister's killer would be caught. A day before the 40th anniversary of Robin Brooks' rape and murder, police in Sacramento, Calif., apparently found their man. Brooks' 71-year-old former neighbor, Philip Wilson, was arrested at his Sacramento home on Thursday and charged with...

1963 Killing May Be Solved, but Is Suspect Alive?

1963 Killing May Be Solved—
but Suspect May Not Be Alive

Apr 27, 2020 4:03 AM CDT

1963 Killing May Be Solved— but Suspect May Not Be Alive

Authorities have been searching for months with no luck

(Newser) - Margaret "Peggy" Beck was serving as a counselor for the first time at a Girl Scout camp in Colorado on the night of Aug. 18, 1963, when her tent mate got sick and went to the infirmary for the rest of the evening. So Beck, 16, was alone in...

How 29-Year-Old's Arrest Led
to Alleged 'Pillowcase Rapist'

Jan 24, 2020 9:05 AM CST

How 29-Year-Old's Arrest Led to Alleged 'Pillowcase Rapist'

Authorities believe Robert Eugene Koehler was building a 'dungeon' under his Florida home

(Newser) - More details are trickling out on a Florida man police believe raped more than 40 women in the Miami area over a five-year stretch in the '80s. In a Thursday presser, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the DNA of registered sex offender Robert Eugene Koehler has been...

He Allegedly Raped
44 Women in 5 Years

Jan 21, 2020 10:45 AM CST

He Allegedly Raped 44 Women in 5 Years

Suspected 'Pillowcase Rapist' nabbed in Florida

(Newser) - Police in Florida believe they've found the notorious "Pillowcase Rapist" who attacked more than 40 women at knifepoint over five years in the 1980s. Robert Eugene Koehler, a registered sex offender and mechanic from Palm Bay, was arrested Saturday after a DNA hit, reports the Miami Herald . The...

Police Say They've Solved 1976 Killing of Illinois Teen

Police Say DNA Has Identified
Suspected Illinois Serial Killer

Jan 14, 2020 3:33 AM CST

Police Say DNA Has Identified Suspected Illinois Serial Killer

Evidence shows Bruce Lindahl murdered 16-year-old Pamela Maurer in 1976

(Newser) - A suspected serial killer strangled a suburban Chicago teenage girl in 1976 and likely killed another woman just days before she was to testify in court that he raped her, police said Monday. Lisle Police Detective Chris Loudon, who investigated the Jan. 1976 slaying of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer of Woodridge,...

DNA Match Leads to Arrest
of Coach 38 Years After Killing

Dec 21, 2019 8:35 AM CST

DNA Match Leads to Arrest of Coach 38 Years After Killing

Joseph Clinton Mills sometimes would drive victim's son home

(Newser) - A DNA trail has led to an arrest in the 1981 killing in Florida of Linda Slaten. Joseph Clinton Mills, 58, is charged with the crime. He was her son's football coach at the time of the slaying, CNN reports, and sometimes drove him home after practice. "He...

Pizza Hut's Door
Meets Robber's Face

Dec 20, 2019 11:29 AM CST

Pizza Hut's Door Meets Robber's Face

That face-plant proved key in helping police nab a suspect in New Mexico

(Newser) - A locked door in a New Mexico Pizza Hut may have helped bust an armed robber who pulled off two crimes in one day back in June. The Las Cruces Sun-News has video from June 25, showing a man trying to run out of the Las Cruces restaurant about 10:...

Beer Mug DNA
Leads to Arrest
in 40-Year-Old
Rape, Murder

Dec 17, 2019 5:58 PM CST

Beer Mug DNA Leads to Arrest in 40-Year-Old Rape, Murder

Florida's James Clanton has been extradited to Colorado

(Newser) - A 1980 sketch of a possible murderer made from a hypnotized witness' description looks much like the man police have now arrested on DNA evidence. James Curtis Clanton, 62, of Union County, Fla., is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of 21-year-old college student Helene Pruszynski, who...

Cops: Serial Rapists Who Struck
in 1990s Found With Genealogy

Nov 20, 2019 10:50 AM CST

Cops: Serial Rapists Who Struck in 1990s Found With Genealogy

Including the so-called 'Potomac River Rapist'

(Newser) - Police say two serial rapists have been caught—one in California and one in South Carolina—thanks to genetic genealogy. Giles Daniel Warrick, accused of sexually assaulting 10 women and killing one in Washington, DC, and Maryland in the 1990s, was arrested last week in Conway, SC, after authorities connected...

8K Rape Kits Were
Finally Tested. Nearly
a Quarter Had a 'Hit'

Sep 23, 2019 11:00 AM CDT

8K Rape Kits Were Finally Tested. Nearly a Quarter Had a 'Hit'

Results in Florida could potentially spur leads in thousands of unsolved cases

(Newser) - Officials in Florida have finally made headway with a huge backlog of the state's rape kits, and out of the thousands that have been tested over the past four years or so, a significant number of "hits" have emerged from a DNA database. The Tallahassee Democrat and Orlando ...

Quest for Daughter's Justice
Takes an Unexpected Turn

the rundown

Jul 19, 2019 10:00 AM CDT

Quest for Daughter's Justice Takes an Unexpected Turn

Mother of murder victim helps clear convicted man and catch new suspect

(Newser) - Another remarkable crime case involving the field of genetic genealogy has surfaced, but this one out of Idaho comes with a twist. Usually, the technology is used to catch a suspect. This time, in what is believed to be a first, the technology also cleared a man who wrongly served...

First-of-Its-Kind Move
19 Years Ago Just Paid Off

Jul 2, 2019 2:05 PM CDT

First-of-Its-Kind Move 19 Years Ago Just Paid Off

California's first 'John Doe' warrant based on DNA just resulted in arrest of rape suspect

(Newser) - Back in in the 1990s, prosecutors knew the same man had raped three women in California, but they had no idea who he might be. They did, however, have a sample of his DNA, and just two days before the statute of limitations was to expire in 2000, prosecutors obtained...

DNA Triggers Trial in 1987
Killing of Canadian Couple

Jun 15, 2019 2:00 PM CDT

DNA Triggers Trial in 1987 Killing of Canadian Couple

They were traveling from British Columbia to Seattle when they disappeared

(Newser) - Jurors in Washington state on Friday heard about the mysterious final days of a young Canadian couple killed in 1987—as well as the novel method authorities used to finally make an arrest three decades later, the AP reports. William Earl Talbott II was arrested last year and charged with...

A Soldier Was Killed in '87.
Now, an Arrest in Her Murder

Jun 15, 2019 5:30 AM CDT

A Soldier Was Killed in '87. Now, an Arrest in Her Murder

Colorado's Michael Whyte charged in death of 20-year-old Darlene Krashoc

(Newser) - A suburban Denver man has been arrested in the unsolved slaying of a soldier in Colorado 32 years ago after DNA evidence was used to create an image of what a suspect might look like, authorities said Friday. Civilian and Army investigators arrested Michael Whyte of Thornton in the 1987...

DNA Leads to Answers
in 2 Decades-Old Slayings

May 6, 2019 6:48 PM CDT

DNA Leads to Answers in 2 Decades-Old Slayings

One suspect is arrested; the other died in 1978

(Newser) - More than 30 years after an 80-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in her South Carolina home, authorities say they have arrested her killer. Greenville Police Chief Ken Thomas says more sophisticated DNA testing combined with more than two years of interviews led to the arrest of a registered sex offender...

A Years-Old Used Razor
Cracks Cases From the '70s

Apr 18, 2019 2:07 PM CDT

A Years-Old Used Razor Cracks Cases From the '70s

It contained Arthur Rudy Martinez's DNA

(Newser) - Arthur Rudy Martinez was an early suspect in a pair of murders in Atascadero, Calif., in the late 1970s. It took 41 years to officially name the now-deceased man as the suspect. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office credits that confirmation to a used razor kept for years...

Woman Charged in Death of
Infant Who Became a Symbol

Apr 4, 2019 5:42 PM CDT

Woman Charged in Death of Infant Who Became a Symbol

Newborn was left to die in a field in 1990

(Newser) - Nearly three decades after the body of a newborn girl was found wrapped in newspaper and left in a field, police in South Carolina have charged a 53-year-old woman they say is the infant's mother. Brook Graham is charged with homicide by child abuse, the Greenville News reports. A...

There's a New Privacy
Concern Over DNA Tests

Mar 31, 2019 10:33 AM CDT

There's a New Privacy Concern Over DNA Tests

Family Tree DNA, Ed Smart pitch police use of databases to catch criminals

(Newser) - The pitch from DNA companies has been: Send us a sample, and you'll be able to find distant relatives and fill out your family tree. Now one company has added that, as a bonus, your DNA can help catch a criminal. Family Tree DNA has launched a campaign starring...

After Discarding Napkin, Man
Arrested for 1993 Murder

Feb 18, 2019 3:42 AM CST

After Discarding Napkin, Man Arrested for 1993 Murder

Police believe DNA has solved another cold case

(Newser) - Police in Minnesota say a napkin discarded at a hockey game helped link a man to a brutal murder committed more than 25 years earlier. Investigators say 52-year-old Jerry Westrom was identified as a suspect after a close match to DNA found at the 1993 crime scene was discovered on...