Latest Forensics News
Tests show DNA of death row inmate, unknown man, on knife
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — DNA evidence belonging to a Tennessee death row inmate has been found on part of a knife used in the killings of a mother and daughter 33 years ago, but DNA from an unknown man also was found on the murder weapon, an attorney for Pervis Payne said in a Memphis court Tuesday. Attorney...
Orange County drops cases affected by mishandled evidence
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Orange County's top prosecutor has dismissed some or all charges in 67 criminal cases because sheriff's deputies mishandled evidence, it was announced Wednesday. District Attorney Todd Spitzer made the decisions after his office and the Sheriff's Department jointly reviewed more...
Divers recover crashed Indonesian plane's data recorder
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian navy divers searching the ocean floor on Tuesday recovered the flight data recorder from a Sriwijaya Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea with 62 people on board. The device is expected to help investigators determine what caused the Boeing 737-500 to nosedive into...
Reports ID make of gun recovered from man killed by cops
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A gun found in the pants pocket of a man after he was killed by police in Washington fits the make of the gun likely used to kill a man after a pro-Trump rally in Portland, Oregon, new reports indicate. Portland police records released this week show the gun recovered from Michael...
Rights group: Tripoli should probe town's 338 missing people
CAIRO (AP) — A leading rights group on Thursday urged Libya's U.N.-backed government to investigate the fate of hundreds of people missing from a key town near the capital, Tripoli. Dozens of mass graves were found there after the withdrawal of a much-feared militia last summer. In a statement, Human...
Arizona border deaths hit 10-year high after record heat
PHOENIX (AP) — A project that maps the bodies of border-crossers recovered from Arizona’s inhospitable deserts, valleys and mountains said it documented 227 deaths in 2020, the highest in a decade after the hottest, driest summer in state history. The previous annual high mapped by the Pima County...
Police: Human remains found in SC city
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A coroner's office in South Carolina will conduct a forensic exam Wednesday of remains found in a Columbia neighborhood. The remains were found around 4 p.m. Monday, the Columbia Police Department said. The remains appear to be that of a man, Coroner Gary Watts said, WIS-TV reported....
Officials name man suspect in 3 Phoenix cases from 2000
PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities in Arizona say a man who lived in several states has been linked by DNA evidence to a murder and armed sexual assault cases 20 years ago in and around Phoenix. Police and the FBI said Monday that Lance David Ray, now 53, was arrested in October in Bloomington, Indiana, where he...
Man convicted of murders asks for retrial based on DNA test
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A Rapid City man convicted of murdering his wife and mother-in-law in 1983 will argue before a South Dakota judge that he should be granted a new criminal trial based on DNA testing. The Rapid City Journal reports that George Luna, 71, has maintained that he is innocent of killing...
Pennsylvania man pleads not guilty to 1969 California death
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 75-year-old Pennsylvana man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to strangling a young Southern California mother in 1969. John Sipos entered the plea in San Diego County Superior Court and was ordered held on $3 million bail. Prosecutors and police said DNA evidence and forensic genealogy led to...
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