Latest Forensics News
DNA leads to arrest of Hawaii man in 1982 California killing
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) — A Hawaii man has been arrested after DNA technology helped investigators identify him as a suspect in the 1992 slaying of a 15-year-old girl who was abducted in Northern California from a bus stop, raped and killed, authorities said. Karen Stitt was...
Police hope DNA testing will solve '59 murder of Albany teen
COLONIE, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities in the Albany area are hoping modern DNA tracing techniques will help solve the murder of an 18-year-old woman more than 60 years ago. The body of Ruth Whitman was exhumed from a cemetery in Glenmont last week to perform DNA testing. The case had...
Detroit-area man held in 25-year-old St. Clair County death
PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) — A suburban Detroit man has been charged in connection with the slaying of a St. Clair County woman 25 years ago. John Germain, 54, of Hartland, was arrested by Michigan State Police at his home on Tuesday in connection with the May 1997 slaying of...
Judge to decide if firing squad or electric chair is cruel
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Whether South Carolina can start executing prisoners again either with a firing squad or electric chair is now in the hands of a judge after a trial over whether shooting or electrocuting inmates is cruel and unusual punishment banned by the U.S. Constitution. ...
Prosecutors await forensic analysis in Alec Baldwin shooting
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The investigation into the fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin is ongoing, and the New Mexico prosecutor overseeing the case says authorities are awaiting the analysis of key forensic evidence before a decision can be made about whether...
After crash, trucker's blood showed heroin-related substance
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A substance made when the body breaks down heroin was present a truck driver's blood just hours after he was involved in a 2019 crash that killed seven motorcyclists, a forensic toxicologist testified Monday. The metabolite, referred to as “6-MAM," is unique...
California court OKs death penalty in '80s sex slave murders
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction and death penalty for one of two men implicated in at least 11 notorious horrific torture-slayings in the mid-1980s in which the duo kept their victims hidden in a secret bunker in the Northern California...
76-year-old rape suspect arrested in 2 unsolved murders
FAIRFIELD, Calif. (AP) — A 76-year-old man suspected of a 2021 rape has been arrested in the killings of two women that had been unsolved for decades, authorities said. James Ray Gary, of Fairfield, was arrested last week in the 1980 killing of Latrelle Lindsay of Union City and...
Judge allows more DNA tests in 34-year-old killing in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A judge has granted a request for additional DNA tests by a man convicted of killing a 12-year-old girl more than three decades ago. Dennis Dechaine is serving a life sentence for the murder and sexual assault of Sarah Cherry, who was abducted while...
Man pleads not guilty in 1982 killing of child in California
MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — A 70-year-old Nevada man charged in the 1982 killing of a 5-year-old girl who disappeared while walking to her kindergarten class was extradited Friday to California, where he entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment, prosecutors said. Robert John...
