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...

Los Altos police issued a news alert confirming that three officers were exposed to fentanyl while processing evidence. August 12, 2019 A Los Altos police officer was in stable condition Monday (Aug. 12) at a local hospital after being exposed to the narcotic fentanyl earlier in the day, according to press releases from the Santa Clara County Fire ...

Man pleads guilty to 1998 cold-case murder of Laurel teenager (DNA) August 1, 2019 BILLINGS – A suspect has been identified and pleaded guilty to the cold-case murder of Miranda Fenner, the Laurel teenager brutally killed while working at a video store in 1998. Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that...

A woman is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive her lawsuit claiming the city of San Francisco has a pattern and practice of failing to investigate sexual assaults. July 31, 2019 SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – Nine years after she was drugged and raped by a stranger attending a city-sponsored event, a woman is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive her l...

"A little over a year ago came this concept of investigative genetic genealogy -- the latest and perhaps the greatest advancement to help law enforcement find the truth and solve violent crime July 7, 2019 SACRAMENTO, Calif. - For more than two decades, all California authorities knew about the man behind three violent sex crimes was his DNA profil...

The Idaho State Police lab initially lacked the capacity to conduct DNA testing on scrapings from Bristow's fingernails July 1, 2019 A 32-year-old Idaho cold case murder has been solved through DNA found on the victim's fingernails Tammy Bristow, 18, was found strangled in her apartment in Sandpoint on Jan. 8, 1987. Police had initially arrested a ...

The new law allows anonymous kits to be unprocessed right away, but the kits would be preserved for at least 10 years in case the survivor decides to come forward after the assault. July 1, 2019 BOISE — A law went into effect Monday requiring law enforcement to test all sexual assault kits, with rare exception. Previously, assault victims could ref...

Brown said his internal audit revealed cash, drugs and more than two-dozen firearms are unaccounted for July 2, 2019 t's time for a complete and thorough investigation into the City of Tonasket and the former Tonasket Police Department. Somebody needs to be held accountable for the shenanigans in Tonasket – once known as a quiet community that has ...

Shangri La operated as a medical marijuana cooperative at the time of the raids and was closed after Kroll's 2016 arrest June 26, 2019 Three years and nine months after Ventura County Sheriff's detectives raided the marijuana dispensary he leads and his Ojai home, Jeffrey Kroll was told Wednesday the computers, member records and virtually everythi...

This year detectives received a lead that, with the help of the FBI, allowed them to create a genealogical profile that lead them to identify Anderson as a person of interest. May 31, 2019 SANTA ANA (CBSLA) – Thanks to genealogical DNA evidence, a Marine veteran was arrested in New Orleans last week on murder charges in the 43-year-old cold case ki...

Miller was indicted in connection to missing drug evidence from the evidence locker at the Hilo Police Station. June 11, 2019  KAILUA-KONA — With two retired Hawaii Police Department officers facing criminal charges, Hawaii Island is the latest county under public scrutiny. But the Department of Justice's Federal Bureau of Investigation isn't ...

The genealogy database that helped authorities track down the alleged Golden State Killer and dozens of other suspects has changed a key policy over privacy concerns, a move that could hamper future criminal investigations. June 11, 2019 The genealogy database that helped authorities track down the alleged Golden State Killer and dozens of other su...

Police found DNA evidence on the victim's body, but it took years to identify a suspect. June 14, 2019 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - More than three decades after a Fort Carson soldier was found strangled to death, police believe they caught her murderer. Arrest papers obtained by 11 News detail how authorities tracked the alleged killer down. P...

A legal settlement filed Wednesday extends restrictions for three more years on when Los Angeles Police officers or other City workers may remove property that belongs to people experiencing homelessness from streets and sidewalks. May 29, 2019https://www.nbclosangeles.com/investigations/Los-Angeles-Skid-Row-Map-Expands-Homeless-510578381.html As p...

Curtis Rogers, the founder of the free DNA website GEDMatch, wanted to do all he could to help police solve a disturbing assault case out of Utah. May 26, 2019 He knew his website, full of more than 1.2 million completed DNA kits, could help. After all, it had helped solve the so-called Golden State Killer case last April through a new forensic tec...

A change to GEDmatch, a third-party genealogy site that's helped crack cold cases through user's DNA, may hinder law enforcement's ability to use the database to catch killers. Enter Article DATE HERE A change to GEDmatch, a third-party genealogy site that's helped crack cold cases through user's DNA, may hinder law enforcement's ability to us...

The break came when Santa Clara investigators submitted DNA from the Perlov crime scene to the genealogy website GEDMatch. Enter Article DATE HERE A second Stanford University decades-old cold case has been linked to a man who was arrested six months ago through DNA. Leslie Perlov, a Stanford grad, and Janet Taylor, the daughter of a Stanford ...