DNAprint Genomics (DNAG)

[mingwan0]

And one from the Casper Star Tribune

http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=69828

Police turn to unusual DNA lab for clues in 1997 slaying

coboudenpvsde

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - With the trail growing cold, police investigating a six-year-old beating death turned to an unusual source for clues: a DNA lab that normally helps people determine their own ethnic makeup.

The test results, made public Tuesday, showed DNA found on the body of Susannah Chase might be that of a Hispanic or Indian man, police said.

Chase, 23, was beaten and left to die in a downtown alley on Dec. 21, 1997. Investigators submitted the sample to DNAPrint Genomics of Sarasota, Fla.

"Essentially everything had been exhausted up to this point," Kurt Weiler, commander of detectives, said Tuesday.

The DNA doesn't necessarily belong to the killer, police Sgt. Kerry Yamaguchi said.

"I think it just gives us some guidance. In the past, we've had to work in theories and guesses. Now we have something a little more concrete ... to take another look at things," he said.

Yamaguchi said investigators hope the new information may jog someone's memory and generate a new lead.

The investigative-quality DNA test cost police $1,100. DNAPrint Genomics charges $158 for a test to satisfy someone's curiosity about his or her racial makeup.

DNAPrint Genomics tested DNA in a Louisiana serial slaying case, said Tony Frudakis, the company's scientific director. The tests showed the killer was likely black, not white as police suspected, he said.

Police eventually arrested Derrick Todd Lee, who is black. He has pleaded innocent and faces a March 1 trial.

Louisiana investigators said they worked with DNAPrint Genomics but declined to comment further.

Yamaguchi said the DNA results will be used as a tool, not the determining clue in finding Chase's killer.

"This is new technology, a new theory," he said. "We want to be a little careful on the weight we give results of the testing."