COLD Archives - Page 3 of 5

Additional Information

SAKI Toolkit: Prosecution of Sexual Assault Cases

September 2023

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Highlights

Police use trash and 26-year-old evidence for arrest in 1997 sexual assault of minors

Pennsylvania State Police charged Dorwart, 54, of Pleasure Road in Manheim Township, after using genealogical DNA to match semen recovered after the assaults to DNA collected from a Rutter’s cup Dorwart dropped into his trash in May, according to charging documents.

August 2023

Denver DA

Cold Case Homicide Victim Rita DesJardine Receives Justice

A Denver jury found Steven Cumberbatch (currently 61-years-old) guilty of murdering Rita DesJardine. Ms. DesJardine was 36-years old when in December 1994, her body was found in a Denver motel room. The jury found Cumberbatch guilty of one count of murder in the first degree and he was immediately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The verdict in the Cumberbatch case could never have been achieved without that teamwork and the sustained financial support from many federal grants focused on cold case work.

June 2023

Highlights

Committed to solving these crimes’: Federal grant will allow for new DNA testing in cold case murders

A new $500,000 grant will enable the DNA testing of evidence held in cases, some dating back decades. The federal grant also covers the addition of detectives dedicated to the cases and a prosecutor for when they crack a case.

May 2023

FTCOE

Just DNA Searches In CODIS

In episode three of the FTCOE’s 2023 Sexual Assault Awareness Month mini season, the presenters discuss how statutes regarding lawfully owed DNA and familial DNA searches are utilized in sexual assault investigations, such as using the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to solve cases.

April 2023

Highlights

Husband of murdered Oregon woman arrested in 35-year-old cold case

The husband of Deborah Lee Atrops has been arrested for her murder, 35 years after her death. The arrest of Robert Atrops was the first major case the Washington County Cold Case Unit has worked on since it began in 2020. The Washington County District Attorney’s Office secured a grant called Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA, which allowed them to launch the Cold Case Unit. The unit focuses on investigating and prosecuting violent crime cold cases involving identified DNA associated with a possible suspect.

March 2023

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Finding a Serial Killer—and Justice—After 40 Years

Last winter, police in Denver, Colorado, announced that they had solved the cold-case murders of four women who had died about 40 years ago, all of whom had been the victims of one man—a previously unknown serial killer named Joe Michael Ervin. It took years of old-school police work and a cutting-edge investigative technique called forensic genetic genealogy (FGG). It took the combined efforts of law enforcement in Colorado and Texas, along with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), which used two different grants to help crack the case.

January 2023

FTCOE

In-Brief Report Series: Digital Transformation Of Cold Case Reviews

This three-part in-brief series explores the impact of digital transformation on cold case files and the case review process. The first in-brief highlights the prevalence, challenges, and benefits of digital transformation on the cold case review process. The second in-brief focuses on the processes and resources available to digitize their cold case files. The third in-brief reviews the value of text analytics and the steps agencies may take to adopt these technologies for cold case files.

November 2022

CBS 12 News

New funding to help solve Palm Beach County cold cases

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO) will receive a $500,000 grant through the Department of Justice’s ‘Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA’ program. According to PBSO, the sheriff’s office can now send DNA to private laboratories that use genetic genealogy testing. This testing option is currently not available at the sheriff’s office.

October 2022

Publications

Forensic Genetic Genealogy Laboratory Considerations and Technology Limitations

The application of forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) has technological limitations and will not resolve every case. By taking the time to thoroughly evaluate cases and associated evidence with both local crime laboratory representatives and FGG vendor laboratory representatives, law enforcement investigators can greatly increase the chances of attaining successful case resolutions with FGG. This brief provides the SAKI TTA Team’s guidance on evidence submission based on current successes seen within the field and suggested questions to consider when choosing a FGG laboratory vendor [Description provided by the SAKI TTA website].

October 2022

Tag: COLD