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Oops? DNA From 2004 Murder & 2012 OWS Incident Might Be Lab Tech's
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 11, 2012
Modified Jul 11, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 11, 2012
Modified Jul 11, 2012
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Yesterday, law enforcement officials told media outlets that DNA found at the 2004 murder scene of a Julliard student was linked to a 2012 Occupy Wall Street subway protest. Today, sources are saying the DNA might actually belong to a lab tech and the link was a lab error.
In 2004, Sarah Fox was last seen going to a jog; her body was later found in Inwood Hill Park, with her CD player near her. It was initially suggested that DNA from the CD player matched DNA found on a chain left at a subway station where OWS held a fare strike protest this past March. Now a law enforcement source tells the Post, "It was a total screw-up," and that the sample was contaminated. Another says, "What are the chances that the killer came in contact with this chain and left his DNA on it all these years later?" And the NY Times reports:
The DNA that investigators initially believed was recovered from skin cells on the slain woman’s portable compact disc player and from the chain found after the March protest came from a laboratory supervisor at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the person briefed on the matter said.
“The O.C.M.E. tainted the samples and it was the O.C.M.E. supervisor’s whose DNA was on both,” the person said.
But Ellen S. Borakove, a spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner's Office, said, “We’ve excluded all medical examiner personnel.” She added that the office was still working on the test.
The Medical Examiner’s Office maintains a database of employees’ DNA for the purpose of eliminating such errors.
The main suspect in Fox's murder had been a neighbor who was giving police tips—Dimitry Sheinman was never arrested and lately has claimed he was clairvoyant and would give the police the name of Fox's killer.
Anyway, onto bigger questions, like, why are police collecting DNA from OWS crime scenes? Is it because the FBI is involved? And are they trying to match protesters to the poop?
Tagged
contamination
dna
DNA evidence
lab tech
occupy wall street
ows
sarah fox
screw up
subway strike
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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