Brug af DNA i seriemorder -sonde udløser bekymringer om privatlivets fred

Efterforskere, der brugte et slægtsslægt websted til at finde den eks-politimand, de mener er en skyggefuld seriemorder og voldtægtsforbryder, der skræmte Californien for årtier siden, kalder teknikken banebrydende.

Men andre siger, at det rejser bekymrende juridiske og personlige oplysninger for de millioner af mennesker, der sender deres DNA til sådanne websteder for at opdage deres arv.

Der er ikke stærke fortrolighedslove for at forhindre politiet i at trolle forfædres webstedsdatabaser, sagde Steve Mercer, chefadvokaten for den retsmedicinske afdeling i Maryland Office of the Public Defender.

"Folk, der indsender DNA til forfædres test, bliver ubevidst genetiske informanter om deres uskyldige familie, "Sagde Mercer, tilføjer, at de "har færre beskyttelse af fortrolige oplysninger end dømte lovovertrædere, hvis DNA findes i regulerede databanker."

Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, blev anholdt tirsdag, efter at efterforskere matchede gernings-DNA med genetisk materiale, der blev gemt af en fjern slægtning på et online-sted. Derfra, de indsnævrede det til Sacramento-området bedstefar ved hjælp af DNA hentet fra materiale, han havde kasseret, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert sagde.

Myndighederne nægtede at navngive onlinesiden. Imidlertid, to af de største, Ancestry.com og 23andMe, sagde torsdag, at de ikke var involveret i sagen.

DNA kan muligvis have spillet en tidligere rolle i sagen. Det var lige ved at blive taget i brug som et kriminelt efterforskningsværktøj i 1986, da rovdyret på forskellige måder kendt som East Area Rapist og Golden State Killer tilsyneladende sluttede sin årti lange angreb.

DeAngelo, en tidligere politibetjent, sandsynligvis ville have kendt til den nye metode, sagde eksperter.

"Han kendte politiets teknikker, sagde John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Louis Schlesinger. "Han var smart."

Ingen, der kendte DeAngelo gennem årtierne, forbandt ham med rækken af ​​mindst et dusin mord, 50 voldtægter og snesevis af indbrud fra 1976 til 1986 i hele staten.

Efter at han blev identificeret som den mistænkte, imidlertid, anklagemyndigheder skyndte sig at beskylde ham for otte drab.

Ud over, politiet i den centrale californiske landbrugsby Visalia sagde torsdag, at DeAngelo er mistænkt for et 13. drab og omkring 100 indbrud i området.

I 1975, af community college-lærer Claude Snelling blev skudt, mens han forsøgte at stoppe en maskeret ubuden gæst fra at kidnappe sin 16-årige datter fra sit hjem.

Efterforskere manglede DNA -beviser, så Snellings død og indbruddene var ikke inkluderet i antallet af forbrydelser i Golden State Killer, men fingeraftryk og skospor vil blive gennemgået for kampe med DeAngelo, Det sagde politichef i Visalia, Jason Salazar.

Efterforskerne ransagede DeAngelos hjem torsdag, leder efter klasse ringe, øreringe, retter og andre genstande, der blev taget fra gerningssteder samt våben.

I mellemtiden, DeAngelos naboer, pårørende og tidligere bekendte siger alle, at de ikke havde en anelse om, at han kunne være en seriemorder. Han arbejdede næsten tre årtier i et supermarkedslager i Sacramento-området som lastbilmekaniker, gik på pension sidste år. Som nabo, han var kendt for at passe omhyggeligt på sin græsplæne i forstæderne Citrus Heights.

DeAngelo arbejdede som politibetjent i landbrugsbyen Exeter, ikke langt fra Visalia, fra 1973 til 1976.

DeAngelo var et "sort får", der ikke spøgte rundt med andre betjente, sagde Farrel Ward, 75, der tjente på styrken med DeAngelo.

Ward said it's possible that DeAngelo helped with the search for Snelling's killer and the elusive burglar but he doesn't recall DeAngelo directly investigating the killing.

"I've been thinking, but there's no indication whatsoever that anything was wrong, " Ward said. "How could you just go out and kill somebody and go back and go to work? I don't understand that."

Senere, DeAngelo joined the Auburn Police Department outside of Sacramento but was fired in 1979 after he was caught shoplifting a hammer and dog repellant.

Investigators say they have linked DeAngelo to 11 killings that occurred after he was fired.

James Huddle said he always hoped police would catch the killer whose attacks prompted him to buy a pistol.

But he was stunned to find out the man arrested was DeAngelo, his former brother-in-law.

Huddle said it was "still just going crazy in my mind."

A look at DNA testing that ID'd a suspected serial killer

Joseph James DeAngelo, who authorities suspect is the so-called Golden State Killer responsible for at least a dozen murders and 50 rapes in the 1970s and 80s, was arrested more than three decades after the last killing with the help of information from an online genealogical site. Investigators haven't disclosed many key elements about how and why they took this very unusual step to find a suspect.

Here's a look at the case and some of the questions surrounding it:

HOW DID AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY HIM?

The Sacramento County district attorney's office said Thursday DNA from one of the crime scenes was checked against genetic profiles from genealogical websites that collect DNA samples to help people learn about their family backgrounds.

Authorities zeroed in on DeAngelo after determining one of his relatives whose genetic information was on the site was a familial match for the DNA from the crime scene.

They then set up surveillance at DeAngelo's home in Citrus Heights, Californien, just outside Sacramento and collected two "discarded DNA samples" from him. One didn't contain enough DNA but the other tied him to the DNA evidence.

Authorities did not identify the DNA websites that were used.

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IS THAT LEGAL?

Ancestry.com and 23andMe, two of the largest companies that produce genetic profiles for customers who provide DNA samples, say they don't cooperate with law enforcement unless they receive a court order.

Both said Thursday they did not receive a court order in the DeAngelo case and were not otherwise involved.

Ancestry.com has said it hasn't received any such requests for genetic information in the last three years.

A 23andMe spokesman said the company "has never given customer information to law enforcement officials" and that their platform doesn't allow for the comparison of genetic data that was processed by any third party.

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HAS THIS EVER BEEN DONE BEFORE?

The issue of law enforcement comparing DNA to samples in genealogical databases garnered national attention several years ago when a New Orleans filmmaker was identified in an Idaho murder based on a DNA sample that his father had given years earlier.

As part of a church-sponsored genealogy project, the man's father had provided his DNA, which was later sold to Ancestry.com.

The company was required to identify the man to police after receiving a court order. But he was eventually cleared after his DNA didn't match the evidence at the crime scene.

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WHAT IS THE DNA TEST THAT INVESTIGATORS USED IN THAT CASE?

The technique is known as familial DNA testing and it has raised ethical issues in the forensics community. Typically with the method, investigators search law enforcement databases to identify likely relatives of the person who may have committed the crime.

Critics say that familial DNA testing allows for searches of innocent people who happen to be related to someone suspected of committing a crime or otherwise provided their DNA for inclusion in a database. Law enforcement officials have argued the technique can provide investigators with valuable leads.

I 2008, California became the first state in the country to authorize the testing. It since has been used in at least eight other states.

The method led to the arrest of Lonnie Franklin Jr. in the Los Angeles "Grim Sleeper" serial killings from 1985 to 2007. Los Angeles County sheriff's officials also used it last year to solve the decades-old killing of the ex-wife of Righteous Brothers singer Bill Medley.

© 2018 Associated Press. Alle rettigheder forbeholdes.