Posted on 07/26/2022 8:24:53 AM PDT by bitt
The murder investigation included records of Italian social clubs, draft cards, and Ellis Island immigration logs.
For decades, it seemed that Lindy Sue Biechler’s killer would never be found.
The 19-year-old newlywed’s stabbing death in her Lancaster County apartment in 1975 had stunned her community and shattered her family. As years passed, police kept working the case, slowly eliminating suspects as technology improved.
Detectives on the scene had managed to save a sample of the killer’s DNA. But for decades it had no match in DNA databases of convicted criminals. That’s when CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist at Parabon Nanolabs, a company that works with police to solve cold cases, decided to dig a little differently.
She and her colleagues in Reston, Va., identified the common ancestors of people who were partial matches to the DNA sample. They were all from a small town in Italy. And through generations and generations of genealogical records, authorities identified a prime suspect.
This week, Heather Adams, the Lancaster County district attorney, announced the arrest of David Sinopli, 68, a Lancaster native whose DNA, authorities say, matched the sample taken from the scene of Biechler’s murder nearly five decades before.
“It was a really good feeling to be able to get to this point,” Adams said. “It’s also just the beginning of the court process.”
(Excerpt) Read more at inquirer.com ...
Yes, it is possible that the victim had sex with the accused and after he left someone else came in and murdered her.
If your nephew had a DNA test then they got you, depending upon how bad they want you, you can be tracked down through relatives you have never met. Last I heard, there is enough DNA samples out there to identify 60% of the US population, 70% if you are white. By now that is probably a low figure. The cat is out of the bag.
MayflowerMadam wrote: “CeCe Moore had a pretty good series on TV a couple years ago. It’s almost magical how she pulls things together.”
One of my favorite shows. BTW, I did the DNA testing and confirmed my father was adopted. I was able to contact who I thought was a half-sister of my fathers. When I told her about my research she confirmed the adoption. She said no one in the family thought it was a big deal. My fraternal grandmother was a single mom who married the man I knew as my grandfather when my father was eight.
I was able to identify my fraternal grandfather using y-dna testing, census records, etc. I even found his picture on the web. BTW, my father was born in 1908 before birth certificates so I had a bit of digging to do.
I found out watching CeCe’s show that I had pretty much recreated her process.
I understand that. Good thing I have nothing to be worried about.
Using genealogy with public DNA profiles to determine the identity of an individual from their DNA has become available only recently.
It is used to identify countless Jane Does and criminals.
Using genealogy means you only need a distant cousin’s DNA to identify an individual from their DNA.
Forensic genealogy sometimes only provides possible suspects in criminal cases. Regular law enforcement techniques are required to determine the perpetrator and make the case against them.
DNA is getting better all the time.
But, humans make mistakes.
SPJNK.
Viable DNA has been found in the teeth of dinosaurs and mummies, so 50yrs isn’t all that long, if properly preserved.
Yep. It’s just a tool and can be used incorrectly.
It is also used to free some wrongfully convicted.
It definitely makes getting away with murder much less likely.
sure, murder, but what about insurrection or what we call insurrection and perhaps even speaking ill of powers who be...
what is allowed for the heinous crimes, others will use for what they, the powerful, deems as heinous.
Yes, I understand how genealogy works to catch criminals and is relatively new but I am not talking about genealogy.
I am puzzled as to why DNA was not used to identify criminals so many years after the initial discovery of DNA.
The doctor who discovered it did so in 1965. Why did it take 30 or more years to use it in criminal cases?
Daddy wasn’t a loser; but, boy,, that Uncle Rufus...
It has to be sequenced to give you any data and you need to know what the data means before you can know what you are looking at.
The sequencing on bacteria was first done in the 70s but DNA for humans is far more complex. There are about 3 Billion parts to the human genome.
We did not even finished completely sequencing the human genome until just a few months ago although it was mostly done in 2003.
Widespread DNA testing and publicly available DNA databases have only recently become available.
I’ll have to check it out. Thx.
I,too, noticed that.
Interesting. At our family reunion last month was a relative who was “discovered” by my niece through 23 And Me, I think.
Because it takes time to commercialize a process.
Radio phones were around since the 1940s, but did not become mobile phones in widespread use until the 1990s.
Innocent until proven guilty is a principle before the law. Meaning we can’t send someone to prison until and unless he is convicted in court
Everyone is free to conjecture on the accused’s innocence or guilt.
For example. I think OJ Simpson is guilty, even if the court found him not guilty.
I think this guy is guilty too.
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