U.S. Closed Casework. Page 1 of 8. State of Illinois v. Jeffrey Pelo, 2009

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1 U.S. Closed Casework State of Montana v. Richard Covington, 2009 Covington was indicted for the murders of Norman Leighton and Patti Hubbert. The victims were found bound and gagged; a single dog hair was found on the towel used to gag Leighton. The hair was similar in appearance to dog hairs on the suspect s clothing and from his dog. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the dog hair matched the suspect s dog and was rare, occurring only once in a database of 307 dogs. Richard Covington was convicted. State of Missouri v. Henry Polk, 2009 Polk was indicted for the murder of his employer. The victim s car keys had been removed from his pocket and tape lifts of the turned-out pockets recovered a single cat hair. The hair had a rare mitochondrial profile that was found in related cats owned by the suspect s girlfriend. A second laboratory confirmed the finding, and a survey of cats in the community confirmed its rarity. This case was the first use of feline mitochondrial typing in a criminal proceeding, which led to Polk s conviction. State of Illinois v. Jeffrey Pelo, 2008 Pelo, a Bloomington Illinois police sergeant, was indicted for the rapes of four women over a two-year period. After being observed potentially stalking a woman by a fellow officer, he was identified from photos and voice recognition by some of the victims. Although Pelo did not own a cat, a hair was recovered from a ski mask in his home. The cat had a common mitochondrial profile shared by a number of cats owned by the victims. Other evidence in the trial Although Pelo did not own a cat, a hair was recovered from a ski mask in his home. The cat had a common mitochondrial profile shared by a number of cats owned by the victim. State of Illinois v. Jeffrey Pelo, 2009 included the victim testimonies, the suggestive nature of pornography on Pelo s computer, and an electronic record showing that he had used police department computers to research his victims. Pelo was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. State of Indiana v. Carlton Davis Jr., 2007 Local firefighter Davis was convicted of felony charges for promoting an animal in fighting, and various misdemeanor counts involving dog fighting. Police confiscated 16 Pitbull dogs, many with severe bite wounds, and additional dog carcasses after neighbors reported that chained dogs were starving and without water. A bloodstained carpet from a wooden enclosure was recovered. Investigator Michelle Weaver believed it to be from the pit used to stage the dogfights. Davis claimed it was a whelping box, and that the stains were the result of natural parturition. Some stains showed mixed STR profiles, others had a major contributor. Based on the use of Y chromosome STRs, most of the stains came principally from male dogs. The two major contributors did not match any of the confiscated dogs (investigators did not collect samples from the deceased dogs), nor were they offspring of any of the confiscated dogs. Davis was sentenced to two years in prison, followed by community service and probation. Page 1 of 8

2 State of California v. Kenden Ige, 2006 The charred bodies of two men, Haang Chin and Cheuk Cheung, were found near Barstow, CA. The men had last been seen in the company of Ige, his brother and a friend. Investigators recalled a suspicious scene in rural Newberry Springs three weeks earlier in which someone had attempted to burn several items. The wallet found at the scene belonged to one of the victims. Among the partially burned items wasa car floor mat with numerous dog hairs. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the hairs matched the three unrelated dogs owned by Ige. In addition to the dog hair evidence, Ige s DNA on cigarette butts at the Newberry Springs site and traces of the victim s DNA in Ige s car linked him to the crime. Ige was convicted of two counts of first degree murder. Shalandra Augillard v. Tiffany Madura and Richard Toro, Augillard s dog Jazz, a black Cocker Spaniel, was lost during Hurricane Katrina, rescued and fostered by Austin TX residents Madura and Toro. When Augillard located Jazz, Madura and Toro refused to give her back. A Texas judge ruled that Augillard had to prove Jazz s identity. Augillard found a dog brush in her New Orleans home and skin debris on the brush produced full DNA profile matching the disputed dog. The judge ruled in favor of the Austin couple when their lawyer asserted that the brush evidence was planted. At Dr. Halverson s suggestion, Augillard then requested Jazz s pedigree records from the American Kennel Club and found a maternal relative, a sibling living in South Carolina. The mitochondrial haplotype of the sibling matched that of the disputed dog. The judge ruled again in favor of the Texas couple. Augillard appealed to the Third District Texas Court of Appeals, who ruled in her favor. Jazz was returned to her almost three years after her loss during Hurricane Katrina. A search of the suspect s home produced white athletic shoes with blood splatter and stains on the soles. STR testing of the stains matched the beaten dog. State of Delaware v. Eric Henry, 2005 State of Delaware v. Eric Henry, 2005 Defendant Henry was accused of a home burglary during which the family dog, a 7 month-old Labrador Retriever, was beaten to death with a hammer. A search of the suspect s home produced white athletic shoes with blood splatter and stains on the soles. STR testing of the stains matched the beaten dog. The defendant filed a plea bargain just before trial. Operation Glass, 2005 Tracey Cameron and Graham Haylett were the suspects in the 1996 murder of Leonard Fulbirg, Cameron s common law husband. Fulbirg had disappeared nine days after his release from incarceration. Six months later, his charred partial skeleton was found near a local road. A cold case investigation led by Detective Inspector Christopher Binns had identified (via microscopic examination) dog hairs adhered to the skeleton. During his incarceration, Fulbirg s Alsation dog, Tanya, had lived with Cameron along with a Yorkshire Terrier. Binns believed that Cameron and Haylett murdered Fulbirg and that hairs from their household had adhered to his remains as they were disposing of the body. Binns acquired known hairs from the Yorkshire Terrier, but efforts to find a Page 2 of 8

3 maternal relative were unsuccessful. Of the six hairs successfully haplotyped, four matched Tanya, and two had a different type but were identical. In March 2006, Cameron and Haylett were convicted of murder at Leeds Crown Court. State of Delaware v. Irina Malinovskaya, 2005 Malinovskaya was charged with the murder of Irina Zlotnikov, the current girlfriend of Robert Bondar, Malinovskaya s former boyfriend. Investigators believed that Malinovskaya had stalked her former lover, visited his apartment while Zlotnikov was alone, murdered her by blunt force trauma to the head, and removed items from the apartment into a rental car. Bondar owned a dog and cat, and numerous animal hairs were found in the rental car. Of the 16 hairs analyzed, one produced a full STR profile matching Bondar s dog and one feline hair had mitochondrial haplotypes matching Bondar s cat. Six more dog hairs with a single but different mitochondrial haplotype were also found in the car. Two trials resulted in hung juries; in a third trial Malinovskaya was convicted of evidence tampering. In June 2008, she plead no contest to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years with time served and immediate deportation to Russia upon release. City of Eau Claire v. Evan Zimmerman, 2004 Zimmerman had successfully appealed his conviction for the murder of Kathleen Thompson, a former girlfriend. In an effort to retry him, police re-examined the evidence and found a single dog hair microscopically consistent with Zimmerman s dog on the underwear of the victim. The mitochondrial haplotype of the hair matched Zimmerman s dog. However, trial testimony revealed that Zimmerman and the victim had talked a few days before her murder, and she disclosed to a friend that they had hugged each other. Additionally, the finding of only a single hair was not convincing, given the police theory that Thompson had been murdered in Zimmerman s van and that the van was This case is an excellent example of non-probative animal evidence, and full disclosure of the facts would have resulted in recommendation not to pursue testing of the dog hair. Dr. Joy Halverson City of Eau Claire v. Evan Zimmerman, 2004 heavily contaminated with dog hair. This case is an excellent example of non-probative animal evidence; full disclosure of these facts would have resulted in the recommendation not to pursue testing of the dog hair. The prosecutor dropped charges in mid-trial. The Seventh Circuit of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit filed by Zimmerman against the City of Eau Claire and three of its police officers. State of Illinois v. Cecil Sutherland, 2004 Sutherland was retried for the abduction, rape and murder of 10-year old Amy Shultz. He had been convicted before but had appealed based on an incompetent defense. Mitochondrial typing of a human hair found on Amy was matched to Sutherland and excluded the other suspect in the case. Numerous dog hairs found on Amy's clothing matched Sutherland's dog Babe. The frequency of Babe's haplotype in QuestGen's database is 2.6% and the resulting likelihood ratio is Page 3 of 8

4 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Patrick Ramsey, 2003 An elderly woman, Mildred Hauser, was sexually assaulted and murdered in her home. Four dog hairs were recovered at the crime scene. Patrick Ramsay was arrested after using Hauser's credit card; some of her jewelry was in his possession. A STR profile (13 loci with allelic dropout in one locus) of one of the hairs matched a dog living in Ramsay's household. The likelihood ratio for the match was 1.4X and very strongly supported the prosecution's case that someone from Ramsay's " we were able to show that the killer of Mildred Hauser was connected to the residence in Pittsburg where the dog lived The dog hair evidence was an important piece of evidence that boxed the defendant into a corner. household was involved in Hauser's murder. District Attorney Francis Schultz wrote, " we were able to show that the killer of Mildred Hauser was connected to the residence in Pittsburgh where the dog lived The dog hair evidence was an important piece of evidence that boxed the defendant into a corner." Ramsay pled guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. State of Iowa v. Ben O'Donnell, 2003 Tracy Carson disappeared following a birthday party in a local bar. Her body was found 6 months later; she had been strangled, wrapped in a bolt of fabric, partially burned and then buried in a creek bed. Spring flooding unearthed her body. Examiners noted animal hairs on the fabric. Ben O'Donnell had "partied" with Tracy the night she disappeared and was the primary suspect. Police conjectured that the fabric wrapping the body had been taken from the home of O'Donnell's grandmother. Mitochondrial haplotypes of cat hairs found on the fabric (a common type with a frequency of 28.5% and an uncommon type with a frequency of 1.3%) did not exclude the three household cats. These frequencies are independent and can be combined to produce a likelihood ratio of 239. Other evidence was developed when investigators used luminol to find blood traces with matching DNA profiles to Tracy Carson in the truck of O'Donnell's car. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Francis Schultz, District Attorney Commonwealth of Pennsylvania State of Florida v. Brent Robert Huck, 2003 April Misty Morse was kidnapped and murdered. Her body, bound with duct tape, was found in a coastal river. Several dog hairs were found on the duct tape. Police suspected an ex-boyfriend, Brent Robert Huck, had murdered her on his boat. The mitochondrial haplotype of the dog hairs matched that of Huck's dog. The frequency of the type was common at 10.4%; the likelihood ratio is 8.5. Brent Huck was convicted on both counts of kidnapping and murder. Dog Attacks in Cook County, 2003 A woman was attacked and badly injured by two dogs in a park in Cook County, Illinois. Police searching for the dogs found a second female victim who died within a few hours. A dog approached the police threateningly was killed; tissue from the second victim was found in its stomach. Police trapped a number of dogs, including second dog whom they strongly suspected based on the description of the surviving victim. In order to reassure the public, police needed to confirm that this dog was the second attacker. Dr. Halverson tested the clothing of the two victims for canine DNA. Mitochondrial types from both Page 4 of 8

5 dogs, along with the types of two dogs owned by the victims, accounted for all DNA profiles found on the clothing. People vs. Jeanette Slover, Michael Slover Sr., and Michael Slover Jr. A young woman, Karyn Hearn, disappeared from Decatur, Illinois. A few weeks later, local fisherman recovered trash bags from a local lake; the bags contained her dismembered body. The police found a dog hair on the tape used to close the bags. The police theory of the crime was that the family of her ex-husband, Michael Slover Jr., had murdered her because she planned to move to another state with their young son. The dog hair from the tape was tested by mitochondrial and STR typing and compared to a dog owned by the Slovers. The mitochondrial type matched and all alleles seen in a partial DNA profile from the hair were consistent with the defendants' dog. The defendants were convicted. Shasta County, California v. Joshua Lee Davis, 2002 The defendant was charged with animal cruelty for the vicious stabbing death of a dog. A STR profile (9 loci) from a knife in the defendant's possession did not exclude the dead dog. The likelihood ratio for the match was 2.5 X 10 8 and very strongly supported the prosecution's case that the suspect had killed the dog. The defendant pleaded guilty to one felony count of cruelty to animals. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Stephen Treiber, 2002 The 2-year old daughter of Stephen Treiber died in a house fire in Mill Creek, Pennsylvania. During the investigation of the fire, Treiber showed police a threatening letter made by gluing words cut from newspapers to a sheet of paper. The trace evidence examiner noticed a dog hair encased in the glue with just the root end protruding. Alleles from a partial STR profile (7 loci with significant allele dropout) from the hair did not exclude one of Treiber' dogs. Ironically, this dog also This was the first trial in the United States to admit canine mitochondrial DNA analysis as evidence. The defendant was convicted on all counts. died in the fire but its body was not consumed. The likelihood ratio for the match was 575 and strongly supported the prosecution's case that Treiber had fabricated the letter. He was convicted on all counts. State of California v. David Westerfeld, 2002 Seven year-old Danielle Van Dam was abducted from her home and murdered. Her body was found two weeks later. Danielle had been very close to the family's Weimeraner dog. The police suspected the Van Dam's neighbor, David Westerfeld, and searched his house and motor home. The mitochondrial type from dog hairs found in the motor home, on a quilt, and in the lint-trap of his dryer matched the Van Dam's dog. The frequency of the type was common at 9%; the likelihood ratio is 9.9. This was the first trial in the United States to admit canine mitochondrial DNA analysis as evidence. David Westerfeld was convicted on all counts. State of California v. David Westerfeld, 2002 The mitochondrial type matched and all alleles seen in a partial DNA profile from the hair were consistent with the defendant s dog, which led to a murder conviction. People vs. Jeanette Slover, Michael Slover Sr., and Michael Slover Jr. Decatur, Illinois Page 5 of 8

6 People vs. Laykham, Ventura County, California 2002 A small dog's determined barking alerted his elderly owner to the presence of an intruder. The suspect, Soum Laykham, attempted to rape the victim and fight off the Shih Tzu dog. A telephone call caused the suspect to flee. Dog hairs found on the suspect's clothing and in his closet matched the victim's dog by both mitochondrial typing and STR typing (9 loci). The likelihood ratio for the match was 7.7 X 10 8 and very strongly supported the prosecution's case that the hairs on the suspect's clothing had come from the victim's dog. OCDA File #01F08374 People v. Richard David Ramirez, Javen Anthony Cervantes, and Stanley Cruz, Orange County, California, 2001 The defendants were convicted of murdering Guillermo Carvajal, a resident of a rival gang area. His body was found wrapped in a blanket with numerous dog hairs. A STR profile of 12 STR loci with some allelic dropout matched a dog owned by one of the defendants. The likelihood ratio for the match was 3.8 X 10 7 and very strongly supported the prosecution's case that the defendant had been involved in the murder. Defense counsel stipulated to the canine DNA evidence and the defendants were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. City of Tulsa vs. Michael Ohman & Vanessa Sorja, 2000 Two pitbull-like dogs attacked an elderly woman, Wanda Cox, in her front yard after an early morning walk. Neighbors came to her aid and beat the dogs away. She was seriously injured in the attack and was permanently handicapped as a result. Despite the presence of several witnesses, the owners, Michael Ohman and Vanessa Sorja, claimed their dogs had not been the attackers. These same dogs had been involved in previous incidents but elderly witnesses had misidentified similar dogs from photos. STR profiles (10 loci) from hair from the victim's socks matched the defendants' dog. The likelihood ratio for the match was 1.4 X 10 9 using the Zoogen database (n = 558) and 2 X 10 8 using allele frequencies from a small pit bull database (n =24) and very strongly supported the prosecution's case that the hair came from the suspects' dog. They were found guilty of harboring a vicious animal. The likelihood ratio for the match was 1.4 X 10 8, and strongly supported the prosecution s case that the hair came from the suspect s dog, and defendants were found guilty. City of Tulsa vs. Michael Ohman & Vanessa Sorja, 2000 New Jersey Division of Fish and Game Case# /# , 1999 The tiger was alleged to have escaped from a private facility in New Jersey; the owner of the facility claimed the tiger had come from a nearby safari park. The evidence sample was a clump of fur found within the perimeter fence of the private facility. Domestic cat STR markers were used to profile the case samples and 20 tiger samples provided by Dr. Stephen O'Brien as a small database for the case. The clump of fur matched the deceased tiger. The facility has lately been closed and the tigers moved to a reserve in Texas. Page 6 of 8

7 Twelfth Judicial District State of New Mexico. State vs. Charles Martinez (Cause No. CR ) and State vs. Chris Faviel (Cause No. CR-98-64), A woman's body was found in the New Mexico desert. The woman had been harassing a former boy friend and police suspected that the ex-boyfriend and his new lover had The likelihood ratio for the match was 7.6 X 10 3 and very strongly supported the prosecution s case that hair came from the suspect s dog. The victim s lover was tried and convicted of murder. murdered her. A partial canine STR profile (8 loci with some allele dropout) from a single hair found on a sock of the victim did not exclude the dog owned by one of the suspects. The likelihood ratio for the match was 7.6 X 10 3 and very strongly supported the prosecution's case that the hair came from the suspect's dog. The lover, Charles Martinez, was tried and convicted. The ex-boyfriend, Chris Faviel, pled guilty. Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of King County Washington, The State Vs, Leulualahi (97-C ) and State vs. Tuilefano (97-C ) for the murder of Jay Johnson and Raquel Rivera Gang members looking for drug money murdered a young couple during a home invasion. The couple's dog Chief attacked the invaders at the door and was shot twice at short range; he died later in surgery. The suspects were still wearing their bloodspattered clothing when arrested later that day. Canine STR profiles (10 loci) from bloodstains found on the clothing of the suspects did not exclude Chief. The likelihood ratio supporting the prosecution's hypothesis that the blood spatters were from Chief was 4.8 X The use of the canine DNA results was successfully appealed in 2003 based on the lack of an admissibility hearing and the lack of peerreviewed publications on the canine STR markers used at that time of the appeal. Since then, several reports have been published in peer-reviewed forensic journals. Twelfth Judicial District State of New Mexico State vs. Charles Martinez, Page 7 of 8

8 International Closed Casework Operation Hadrian, 2006 Peter Smith was the suspect in the December 2005 abduction and sexual assault of 7 year-old Dionne Clark-Patterson from her bath in Willington Quay, Northumbria in Great Britain. (The family lived in an older home with the bathroom located in an outbuilding). The assault took place in a car and child was released naked in a nearby street. Local resident Geoffrey Brown found Dionne and covered her with a child s bathrobe from his house. A number of animal hairs were recovered from the bathrobe. Peter Smith owned a dog, and police hoped to link him to the crime with the dog s hair transferred from his car to Dionne and hence to the bathrobe. Brown owned two dogs and a cat, and all hairs recovered from the bathrobe matched Brown s pets. Peter Smith was convicted based on other evidence. Regina v. Daniel McGowan, Leeds, United Kingdom, 2003 Brian Keating was beaten and abducted from his home while his family was held at gunpoint. He was found beaten to death the next day. Numerous dog hairs were found on his clothing. The West Yorkshire Police believed that he had been transferred during the night to a van owned and driven by Daniel McGowan. A STR profile with 16 STR loci and minor allelic dropout matched the dog owned by Daniel McGowan. The likelihood ratio for the match was 5.3 X and very strongly supported the prosecution's case that McGowan had been involved in the abduction and murder. He and three other defendants were convicted. A prominent Greyhound racing club s DNA test concluded that a puppy was not related to a champion dam as claimed - significantly reducing it s value. After re-testing by four international labs, including Zoogen, Dr. Halverson was asked to testify, and the court found the Club s test results in error. Tom O'Connor vs. Irish Coursing Club, 1998 Dr. Halverson worked with Pat Dalton, a prominent breeder of racing greyhounds, to vindicate Tom O'Connor of misrepresentation in the registration of a litter of puppies. In 1993, Serology Ltd., the Club's DNA testing laboratory, had purported that one puppy in the litter was excluded to the dam. DNA testing by four other laboratories worldwide, including Zoogen, Inc. had found no evidence of exclusion. Dr. Halverson testified at the 1998 hearing. Serology LTD was found to be in error. Tom O'Connor was awarded substantial financial compensation. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Detachment File Number (reference: Schraeder, Daniel Fred- Murder of), Daniel Schraeder, an elderly man in Vernon, British Colombia, was murdered by blunt force trauma along with his small dog. Mixed-specie bloodstains on the suspect's jeans were not amenable to the RFLP methods available at the time. The case was reopened in 1996 and canine STR profiles from the non-human blood on the jeans matched the victim's dog. The evidence was used by the Canadian Royal Counsel to assign murder charges against the primary suspect. In September 1997, the suspect filed a guilty plea. Tom O Connor vs. Irish Coursing Club, 1998 Page 8 of 8