LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER–A Denver district attorney is offering Philadephia law enforcement a new forensics technology to help them solve a high-profile strangling case, reports Faye Flam from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey has offered to help Philadelphia police with familial DNA sequencing to help them catch the Kensington strangler, a serial killer who has murdered three women in the Philadelphia area. Familial DNA sequencing uses DNA to help identify close relatives and help police identify a suspect.
“When I read that they connected a third woman’s death to this same DNA profile, I couldn’t just sit on my hands,” Morrissey told the Inquirer.
Morrissey offered to send a copy of software required by the new technology, as well as the experts to help install it. Familial DNA technology matches up DNA samples with those from databases of known offenders. It has been used used to catch a notorious serial killer in California and solve cold cases in England.
Philadelphia officials are waiting to see if there will be any legal issues in using the software, as Pennsylvania statute does not directly address the use of databases to search for relatives.
