Officials took Barrios into custody on April 10 for destroying evidence April 13, 2020 THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (KABC) -- A Ventura County sheriff's deputy has been arrested for allegedly destroying evidence and filing a false report in connection to a drug arrest he made last year. Deputy Richard Barrios, 28, of Camarillo, was arrested in connection ...

Spokane Police Wednesday detailed the DNA link between a now-dead man and the rape and murder of a 12-year-old Spokane girl in 1985. March 28, 2020 SPOKANE, Wash – With details right out of a procedural crime show, Spokane Police Wednesday detailed the DNA link between a now-dead man and the rape and murder of a 12-year-old Spokane girl in 1985. Ma...

70% of Orange County's deputies hadn't booked evidence on time March 15, 2020 Once a law enforcement officer collects evidence of a crime, he or she faces a deadline to get the material back to the station to have it recorded, or "booked," and secured. The reason is simple: The longer a weapon, drugs, video or other evidence sits in a patrol car or...

Detectives would like to identify women in pictures discovered after DNA led to charges in a pair of murders. March 5,2019 Police in Burbank said the women seen in a cache of photographs discovered during a search of an accused serial killer's home could be important clues in the man's upcoming murder trial."I don't know who they are," said Burbank...

After that review we have identified a few additional deputies who were not in compliance with our policy, Enter Article DATE HERE During a Friday briefing of various department topics such as jail reorganization and coronavirus monitoring, Sheriff Don Barnes updated reporters, saying the department was almost half way through reviewing more t...

DNA technology linked Ewing to both the Arapahoe and Jefferson county cases, March 4, 2020 DENVER – The man suspected of killing four people and sexually assaulting a young girl in 1984, who was extradited back to Colorado from Nevada in recent days, was advised of the multiple felony charges he faces in his Arapahoe County case Monday. Alex Christ...

a citizen complained that a deputy was showing the gruesome images at a Norwalk bar, February 28, 2020 In an attempt to keep the matter under wraps, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department quietly ordered deputies to delete any photos of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash scene after a citizen complained that a deputy was showing the gruesome ima...

  "The potential is they did not have all the paperwork on their case when they went through the criminal justice process," March 1, 2020 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Colorado Springs Police admit there are around 150 felony criminal cases that could be tainted by missing evidence. On Friday, the department revealed the results of an inter...

The investigation is still ongoing, CBI says. We're working on getting more details. February 27, 2020 ROCKY FORD, Colo. (KRDO) -- A police officer in Rocky Ford is facing a felony charge after an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation found that he may have stolen marijuana that was seized during an active police investigation and t...

Seized evidence is stored by Metro in an 83,000-square-foot evidence vault— February 15, 2020 It's the law enforcement equivalent of a prized taxidermy moose hanging on the wall of a hunter's den. Police departments tout their seized hauls of drugs, firearms, cash and other assets on social media after a major bust, displaying photos of what they t...

audit revealed the department's evidence storage room was not adequately maintained, February 15, 2020 ELKO – Carlin Police Chief Dennis Fobes is resigning after an audit revealed the department's evidence storage room was not adequately maintained, throwing an unknown number of pending criminal cases into question. The Carlin City Council is sched...

Now 75, wheelchair-bound and in shackles, even after 45 years she recognized him, she told the court. February 7, 2020 Editor's note: This article contains graphic descriptions of crime that some readers may find disturbing. For more than four decades, "Diane Doe" has tried to bury memories of the rape she survived as a teenager in her parents' Pal...

prosecutors have found 91 affected cases so far in their ongoing review of 22,000 cases Enter Article DATE HERE An ongoing crisis over widespread evidence problems at the Orange County Sheriff's Department is heading into court Thursday, as a judge decides whether to unseal records about a deputy who was found to have falsely stated in 74 diff...

​Sheriff's investigators referred 15 deputies to prosecutors to consider for criminal prosecution February 4, 2020 he Orange County Sheriff's Department will review about 22,000 cases associated with an evidence booking scandal involving missing items or evidence improperly booked, Sheriff Don Barnes announced Tuesday. Sheriff's deputies and invest...

Enter Headline here January 29, 2020 FRESNO — Authorities in Fresno announced Wednesday that have filed a murder charge in the rape and killing of a college student 24 years ago. Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp announced the charges against Nickey Duane Stane, 52, in the 1996 slaying of 22-year-old Debbie Dorian. Authorities said the...

Officer was arrested Monday for allegedly stealing money from a woman's backpack while officers were conducting enforcement of an illegal cannabis grow facility​ Enter Article DATE HERE LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles Police Department officer was arrested Monday for allegedly stealing money from a woman's backpack while officers were conducting e...

Internal Sheriff's Department audits – kept secret for two years by the former and current sheriff – had found hundreds of instances of late or missing evidence. January 29, 2020 An ongoing review of Sheriff's Department evidence problems has found 91 cases so far where someone was convicted of a crime but "evidence was either never booked or booke...

Bremerton Police Detective Jeffrey Inklebarger resigned Saturday in lieu of termination January 28, 2020 Bremerton Police Detective Jeffrey Inklebarger resigned Saturday in lieu of termination after a home security video system captured him allegedly stealing an unknown amount of cash during a narcotics search warrant in February of 2019. The homeo...

"In my 40 years in law enforcement, I cannot think of a case more disturbing than this one January 26, 2020 WOODLAND — In a case they described as "chilling," "heartbreaking" and "senseless," authorities announced Monday the arrest of a man suspected of murdering his own five infant children, including a baby boy discovered in rural Yolo County slo...

Using DNA evidence from Martha Morrison's half-brother, sister and the exhumed body of her father, investigators were able to identify the decades-old remains July 7, 2015. January 10, 2020 Arraignment for suspected serial killer Warren Forrest, who's accused in the slaying of 17-year-old Martha Morrison in the 1970s, was set over Friday to Feb. 7....

Packed with DNA, hair is quickly becoming a powerful source to help catch lawbreakers. January 18, 2020 SANTA CRUZ — When they're planning to rob a liquor store, most criminals think to wear gloves and cover their faces. But few of them commit to shaving their heads to avoid leaving behind even a single strand of hair. In the future, however, they ...

After arguing for years that there was no value in testing the roughly 2,000 untested rape kits in its possession, SDPD eventually began testing certain kits due to pressure from elected decision-makers. January 7, 2020 The longtime manager of the San Diego Police Department's crime lab no longer works for the department. Her departure is the lates...

Police closed the case in 1984 and it went unsolved until 2017, when the department reopened the case and conducted a full review of the evidence, December 16, 2019 New DNA evidence helped La Mesa police solved a nearly 36-year-old cold-case murder, officials announced Monday. La Mesa police said William Mambro was stabbed to death during a residen...

He calls the charge by an assistant public defender 'scandalous conjecture,' insisting he did not hide findings from the damaging audit December 30, 2019 An internal audit showing Orange County sheriff's deputies systemically mishandled evidence arrived in March 2018 while then Undersheriff Don Barnes was campaigning for the sheriff's job. As Barne...

Detectives used online genealogy databases and help from private companies to wade through Clanton's unorthodox family and numerous aliases to identify him as the suspect. December 28, 2019 A secretly snagged beer mug — and the DNA it carried — was the final piece of evidence the Douglas County sheriff's detectives needed to arrest a Florida man in...

Larsen pled guilty to tampering with evidence and theft of Schedule II type drugs through direct access to evidence in lockers while working out of Bend and Pendleton Oregon December 27, 2019 Nika Elise Larsen, a forensic scientist and crime scene investigator for Oregon State Police Crime Lab, faced a federal court on Aug. 15, 2016. Larsen pled gu...

"The implication of being able to solve these cases is immense. December 13, 2019 SALT LAKE CITY — Authorities in Salt Lake City made an arrest in a 37-year-old cold case, according to a press release issued Wednesday. Detectives from the Salt Lake City Police Department Homicide Squad said they have arrested Bryan Reed, 55. Reed is currently await...

The young girl's death was ruled a homicide. December 12, 2019 After nearly half a century, New Jersey State Police used newly gathered DNA evidence from a hopeful aunt to help investigators in San Francisco identify the remains of a murdered 14-year-old girl. It was Oct. 1, 1976, when a man walking his dog "discovered a hand protruding from the sa...

Deputies in the 'cool kids club' were spared, while others were scapegoated, ex-sergeant testifies in confidential hearing December 6, 2019 Orange County sheriff's officials selectively punished deputies who mishandled evidence over a two-year period, protecting some employees deemed to be in the "cool kids club,"' according to recent testimony dur...

Enter Headline here November 25, 2019 Orlando police detective Michael Fields was sure he had the break he needed right in front of him to close in on a serial rapist: a list of people whose DNA partially matched the man he hunted. Then the list disappeared. After a year of criticism from privacy advocates and genealogy experts, the owner of a popu...

DA concerned about possible unfair convictions in 57 cases where evidence was found to be missing November 29, 2019 More than 50 Orange County sheriff's deputies lied by reporting they had booked evidence in criminal cases when they had not, a second internal audit has found, creating fears that some defendants may have been convicted unfairly. Evi...

The first audit looked at almost 99,000 police reports over two years November 29, 2019 A rapidly growing evidence scandal has swept the Orange County Sheriff's Department and threatens to alter the criminal justice landscape in one of California's largest counties, reports the Sacramento Bee. Guilty people could go free, and innocent suspects have...

"The audits determined there were systemic problems with evidence being booked outside policy," November 18, 2019 A defense attorney behind allegations of abuses of a confidential informant program with Orange County's jails is now alleging systemic problems with the booking of evidence in cases, prompting a sheriff's spokeswoman to announce Monday...

According to Doris Grant, supervisor of the evidence room, there are about 400 guns being held. Altered or damaged guns like those with rust must be destroyed. November 18, 2019 Provo's Police Department is held to strict regulations when it comes to caring for and getting rid of confiscated guns. On Tuesday, the Provo Municipal Council realigned t...

Between late 2017 and November 2018, the department screened 313 backlogged kits,... November 4, 2019 As San Diego Police Department crime lab analysts worked their way through backlogged sexual assault kits, dozens of the DNA profiles they entered into a federal database returned matches, giving investigators a potential lead. Those results appear...

"Store Meth from a bust" October 29, 2019 Sometime after they began communicating last year, the relationship between a Metro Police detective and a woman turned sexual. Several times when she was in handcuffs for incidents like arrest warrants, alleged shoplifting, or being found inside a stolen vehicle, Lawrence Rinetti Jr., the detective, came a...

Rapid DNA led to finding a Houston man, suspected of killing a coworker in 2000. October 11, 2019 ANAHEIM, CA - A 47-year-old Houston man was behind bars Friday in Anaheim on a murder charge dating back 19 years. Leopoldo Vargas Serrano, who was taken into custody in Texas last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, is charged with gu...

Utah police investigators and forensic scientists are among the national leaders in the use of genetic genealogy to crack old and new criminal cases. October 13, 2019 Utah police investigators and forensic scientists are among the national leaders in the use of genetic genealogy to crack old and new criminal cases. "I'm excited," said Jay Henry, st...

The department's Oct. 2 post trying to locate the owners of some jewelry in the property and evidence room following a resolved case resulted in a high school class ring being reunited with a former Whatcom County high school student who hadn't seen it in 50 years. Enter Article DATE HERE "How amazing to be able to use social media for such a ...

"There is absolutely no reason why a rape kit should ever sit untested for months or years when statistics tell us that testing rape kits helps to ensure justice by identifying perpetrators" October 9, 2019 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law requiring law enforcement to test newly collected rape kits promptly in California. Bill SB 22, author...

California police say DNA has helped link a 52-year-old man to eight cold cases -- the rape and murder of a Fresno woman 23 years ago and the sexual assaults of seven Enter Article DATE HERE California police say DNA has helped link a 52-year-old man to eight cold cases -- the rape and murder of a Fresno woman 23 years ago and the sexual assau...

One of the many bills Gov. Gavin Newsom must soon decide to either pass or veto is SB22, which requires counties to submit rape kits to laboratories within 20 days and test them no later than 120 days after collection Octobert 5, 2019 It takes great courage to undergo a forensic rape examination. When a sexual assault survivor is escorted into that...

DNA evidence was discovered at the time at the crime scene, and a suspect DNA profile was identified. October 4, 2019 Editor's note – This story contains graphic detail of a murder case. Reader discretion is advised. After nearly three decades, a cold case arrest has been made for the 1991 murder of Sarah Yarborough, a 16-year-old Federal Way stude...

A rifle stolen from a Kelso resident 20 years ago was sent to the owner's next of kin this week after a Kelso police clerk found the firearm in a routine inventory of the agency's evidence department. October 5, 2019 A rifle stolen from a Kelso resident 20 years ago was sent to the owner's next of kin this week after a Kelso police clerk found the ...

He is charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault, six counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated burglary, and one count of aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies. Enter Article DATE HERE CLEARFIELD — Ogden Police Capt. Timothy Scott knew that someday the case of two brutal rapes in Clearfield from the mid 199...

Carmen Daniel Perzechino Jr., 57, is being extradited to Alaska after his DNA matched an unsolved sexual assault that happened near Sterling in January 2001 April 6, 2019 The Alaska State Troopers, with the help of the U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, have arrested a man in the Philippines after a DNA link to a sexual as...

We have been fighting for statewide regulations to ensure that all kits are tested in a timely manner. September 5, 2019 After a sexual assault, survivors undergo an incredibly invasive procedure, typically involving being examined, swabbed and photographed for several hours. The specific purpose is to collect DNA and other evidence used to identif...

OREGON MAN CHARGED AFTER DNA LINKS HIM TO KILLING AND SEX ASSAULT 41 YEARS AGOEnter heading here... September 5, 2019 The Alaska State Troopers made an arrest in connection to the 1978 murder and sexual assault of 16-year-old Shelley Connolly. On September 3, 2019, 62-year-old Donald F. McQuade of Gresham, OR, was taken into custody and charged wit...

A Cottage Grove evidence coordinator first reported suspicions about Beach in May 2015, noting he would access the evidence locker more than any other officer and often for no specific reason. August 30, 2019 A former Cottage Grove police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing drugs from a police evidence room. Phillip Allan Beach, 49, entered...

"Failure to provide adequate management controls and procedures may lead to lost, stolen or compromised evidence as well as a loss of public trust," auditors wrote. Enter Article DATE HERE SALT LAKE CITY — Unsecured evidence storage systems in Utah courts put guns, money, drugs and other items at risk of being stolen or tampered with, a new st...