A napkin helps US police solve a 32-year-old unsolved case
By secretly collecting DNA from napkins, police discovered the suspect who raped and murdered a girl in Tacoma in 1986.
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Suspect Gary Hartman. Photo:Komo. |
On March 26, 1986, 12-year-old Michella Welch disappeared while playing with her two sisters at a park in Tacoma, northwest of the United States. That evening, police dogs found her body in a ravine, but the investigation was deadlocked and no culprit was found, according toAFP.
In 2006, thanks to advances in the field of DNA research - the human genetic code - police were able to recreate the suspect's DNA traces from items collected at the scene.
Twelve years later, using DNA testing to deduce relationships between individuals and widely used databases to find relatives, police discovered two suspects, the Hartman brothers, and tracked them down.
Gary Hartman, 66, recently went to eat at a restaurant and was unaware that an investigator was sitting at the next table. When Hartman left, the investigator collected the napkin he used and sent it to a lab for analysis. They discovered that Hartman's DNA matched the one found on the body of Michella Welch. Hartman was arrested and is scheduled to appear in court on June 25 for rape and murder.
"In this day and age, if you're a criminal and you leave DNA at a crime scene, it's the equivalent of turning yourself in. We're going to get you," prosecutor Mark Lindquist warned.