Category Archives: Transhuman News

MORRISON, Ill. Prosecutors attempted to tie Nicholas Sheley to the scene where they believe Russell Reed died and the car where his body was found during testimony Friday at Sheleys first-degree murder trial.

The state plans to call one witness Monday morning, and closing arguments are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Circuit Judge F. Michael Meersman told jurors before they left after a short day in court Friday that they should vote early, because he believed they would be at the courthouse on Election Day until they have a verdict.

Heather May, a forensic scientist for the Illinois State Patrol crime lab in Rockford, testified Friday morning that DNA from a cigarette butt found on Reeds kitchen table matched Sheleys DNA, and that the DNA on a water bottle found on the floor of Reeds car matched that of Sheley and his brother, Josh.

Reed, 93, was found beaten to death in the trunk of his 2003 Buick Century on June 26, 2008, three days after prosecutors believe Sheley killed him in the kitchen of Reeds rural Sterling home.

During his cross examination, Sheleys attorney, Jeremy Karlin, attacked the credibility of the DNA evidence, pointing out that one of the samples taken from the crime scene at Reeds home was contaminated with the DNA profile of an unknown female.

Karlin also pointed out that the matrix, a program used to analyze DNA evidence, was, according to May, inadvertently removed from the crime labs software, and that when the cigarette butt was tested for DNA a second time, no DNA profile could be developed from the remaining sample.

The trial became heated when prosecutor Mike Atterberry from the Illinois Attorney General's Office attempted to ask May why the cigarette butt had been tested a second time.

It was done at the request of the defense, and Karlin had argued outside the presence of the jury about making sure any reference to it was attributed to himself, not the defenses DNA expert, who was present during the second test.

Karlin objected and accused Atterberry of grandstanding. Meersman sustained the objection and told Atterberry to move on.

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DNA expert ties Sheley to homicide scene

More than 1 years after a burglar broke into a Belle Chasse home and stole two televisions, the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office has booked a Kenner man after his DNA linked him to the scene. Jason Paul Vedros, 30, of 2908 Roosevelt Blvd., allegedly left behind his genetic material in his blood while breaking into the Bayou Road home on April 4, 2011, the Sheriff's Office said Friday.

Vedros allegedly confessed to Plaquemines Parish detectives on Friday, saying he returned the stolen flat screen televisions, valued about $750, to a local store and receive gift cards. He then sold those gift cards for cash, Sheriff Lonnie Greco said in a news release.

Vedros allegedly broke a front window to get into the home, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The crime had gone unsolved until Oct. 22, when the Louisiana State Police Crime found a match in a state database between Vedros' DNA and blood that a Plaquemines Parish crime scene technician lifted from the home, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Detectives in turn obtained a warrant for Vedros' arrest. They got a break Wednesday, when Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Vedros for shoplifting from a business in Marrero.

Greco credited Deputy Jonathan McDaniel and detectives Paul Durnin and Aaron Verrette, and the State Police Crime Lab in helping solve the crime.

"Their keen observation of evidence left on the scene and its proper collection ultimately led to the identification of Mr. Vedros as the suspect," Greco said in the news release.

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DNA links Kenner man to Belle Chasse burglary

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Sherman Hemsley in a 1998 file photo.

A DNA test proving that a Philadelphia man is the brother of Sherman Hemsley can't be used in next week's trial because the results were submitted too late to the court, the man's lawyer said.

Richard Thornton, the Phila del phia man who says he is Hemsley's brother, is challenging a will left behind by Hemsley that lists Hemsley's friend Flora Isela Enchinton Bernal as his beneficiary.

A hearing to settle the issue is to take place Friday before Probate Court No. 1. Judge Patricia B. Chew.

Hemsley, who starred in the TV sitcom "The Jeffersons," died in El Paso on July 24 of lung cancer. His body is being kept at the San Jose Funeral Home on the East Side.

During a Sept. 24 hearing, Chew granted Thornton and

Davis asked for an extension on Oct. 19, but it was denied, court records show.

On Thursday, Davis said in a news release that a "delay at the funeral home caused the late filing."

Davis is also alleging that the delay might have been caused by problems with the San Jose Funeral Home because the funeral home's owner, Sergio Vargas, used to date Enchinton's daughter.

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DNA test too late for use in trial for Sherman Hemsley estate

Paul Fraughton | Salt Lake Tribune Kari Killian, a forensic technician at Sorenson Forensics, works in a lab extracting DNA from a sample. Tuesday, October 23, 2012

With a few quick clicks, Mark Szczepanski uploads the file from his desktop to a simple, red-and-white web page. A few seconds later, a bar graphic turns green.

If Szczepanski was a police officer, he might have just found a rape suspect.

He was using a test version of a new cloud-based DNA database offered by Utahs Sorenson Forensics, a DNA testing company. Simple to use and easy to update, the LEAD (Local Entry Accessible DNA) Database was created for local police departments and almost instantly compares DNA test results say, a suspects cheek swab with a semen sample collected at a rape scene.

It has the potential to change the way police use DNA testing, allowing them to access the information more easily and use the technology to investigate more crimes, said Lars Mouritsen, Sorenson Forensics chief scientific officer.

"Its pretty simplebut incredibly powerful," he said. The product offers a possible solution to state agencies struggle to keep up with the explosive growth of DNA testing in police work, but concerns privacy advocates who question the security of cloud-based computing and the wisdom of entrusting such sensitive information to a private company.

"How are you ensuring that data would be kept safe?" said Marina Lowe, the legislative counsel for the Salt Lake City chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Explosion of DNA data Since the firstDNA-based conviction in 1987, the technology has become an essential tool for police all over the country. Scientists can now extract DNA from miniscule collections of cells even a touch can leave enough evidence.

"DNA, for us, is extremely valuable," said Salt Lake City Police Detective Mike Hamideh, a 17-year veteran who spent eight years in homicide and narcotics. And juries schooled on the long-running hit TV show "CSI" are often looking for such scientific, non-subjective data.

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SLC company creates cloud-based DNA database for local police

Helen Wallace: We need safeguards to protect human rights and prevent miscarriage of justice.

Helen Wallace says the U.K. is undergoing a rethink on its DNA policies

The Union government is working on a new version of a legislation that seeks to set up a national DNA data base of offenders, that allows for the collection and storage of DNA samples of those accused in cases ranging from homicide, sexual assault and rape to even violations under the motor vehicle Act.

A draft version of the legislation first mooted in 2007 envisages the maintenance of several state-level databases of suspects across a list of violations ranging from Motor Vehicle Act offences to crimes such as rape and murder.

Activists have opposed the legislation as a potential breach of citizens privacy, and have challenged it on ethical and technical grounds.

Helen Wallace, a member of Gene Watch, a U.K.-based group advocating against DNA databases, feels that India must learn from international experiences, particularly from the U.K. which was the first country to set up a database in 1995 that even allowed retention of DNA records of innocent citizens.

In May, the U.K. passed the Protection of Freedoms Act which will remove about 1 million records from the database.

In an interview with The Hindu, on the sidelines of a recent lecture at the Centre for Internet and Society, Ms. Wallace spoke about the need for proper safeguards, the proposed legislation and the cost-effectiveness of doing so in a country as India.

Excerpts:

Q: Theres been a major rethink on DNA profiling and databases in the UK. What are the lessons for India here?

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DNA databases: ‘India must learn from international experiences’

It was a hot summer afternoon when Denise Porch, resident manager of a southwest Charlotte apartment complex, left a note on her front door.

Shed gone to show an apartment to a prospective resident and would be back by 3 p.m.

That was 37 years ago. Porch hasnt been seen since.

But Diane Hill still holds out hope that she will eventually learn what happened to her sister that day in July 1975.

And she became a bit more hopeful this week after learning that police have solved the case of Priscilla Blevins, another Charlotte woman who disappeared just three weeks before Porch did. Using a national database, authorities were able to match DNA from an unidentified body to that of Blevins sister.

I have accepted that shes not coming back, Hill, now 63 and living in Davidson County, says of her sister. But youd like to have something, some type of closure. I hope some day, just like (the Blevins case), that will happen.

Increasingly, the prospects are improving for families like hers as authorities fine-tune their use of DNA to help resolve missing persons cases that once seemed unsolvable.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department typically fields about 3,000 missing persons reports each year. About 70 percent involve juveniles 13-17 years old.

The overwhelming majority of the cases are solved quickly.

Among them: The confused senior citizen from west Charlotte who planned to drive to church some years ago, lost his way and was found a day and a half later in a car that had run out of gas in New York City.

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DNA database gives hope to families of the missing