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  • Användning av DNA i seriemördarsond väcker integritetsproblem

    John Lopes, en brottsplatsutredare för Sacramento Sheriff's office, bär lådor med bevis tagna från hemmet till den mordmisstänkte Joseph DeAngelo till en sheriffs fordon på torsdag, 26 april, 2018, i Citrus Heights, Kalifornien DeAngelo, 72, anhölls i tisdags misstänkt för att ha begått flera mord och våldtäkter på 1970- och 1980-talen i Kalifornien. Myndigheterna tillbringade dagen med att gå igenom hemmet efter bevis. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

    Utredare som använde en genealogisk webbplats för att hitta den före detta polisman som de tror är en skum seriemördare och våldtäktsman som skrämde Kalifornien för decennier sedan kallar tekniken banbrytande.

    Men andra säger att det väcker oroande juridiska och integritetsproblem för de miljontals människor som skickar in sitt DNA till sådana platser för att upptäcka deras arv.

    Det finns inga starka integritetslagar som hindrar polisen från att trolla i databaser med anor, sa Steve Mercer, chefsadvokaten för den rättsmedicinska avdelningen vid Maryland Office of the Public Defender.

    "Människor som skickar in DNA för att testa förfäder blir omedvetet genetiska informanter om sin oskyldiga familj, "Mercer sa, och tillägger att de "har färre integritetsskydd än dömda brottslingar vars DNA finns i reglerade databanker."

    Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, arresterades i tisdags efter att utredare matchat brottsplats-DNA med genetiskt material som lagrats av en avlägsen släkting på en webbsajt. Därifrån, de begränsade det till Sacramento-områdets farfar med hjälp av DNA från material som han hade kasserat, Sacramento läns åklagare Anne Marie Schubert sa.

    Myndigheterna avböjde att namnge webbplatsen. Dock, två av de största, Ancestry.com och 23andMe, sa på torsdagen att de inte var inblandade i fallet.

    T. Abbott, vänster, och John Lopes, höger, från Sacramento County Sheriffs brottsplatsundersökningskontor, konferens om lådor med bevis som samlats in från hemmet till den mordmisstänkte Joseph DeAngelo, torsdag, 26 april, 2018, i Citrus Heights, Kalifornien DeAngelo, 72, anhölls i tisdags misstänkt för att ha begått flera mord och våldtäkter på 1970- och 1980-talen i Kalifornien. Myndigheterna tillbringade dagen med att gå igenom hemmet efter bevis. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

    DNA potentiellt kan ha spelat en tidigare roll i fallet. Den kom precis i bruk som ett brottsutredningsverktyg 1986 när rovdjuret, omväxlande känt som East Area Rapist och Golden State Killer, uppenbarligen avslutade sin decennielånga våg av attacker.

    DeAngelo, en före detta polis, skulle förmodligen ha känt till den nya metoden, sa experter.

    "Han kunde polistekniker, " sa John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Louis Schlesinger. "Han var smart."

    Ingen som kände DeAngelo under decennierna kopplade honom till raden av minst ett dussin mord, 50 våldtäkter och dussintals inbrott från 1976 till 1986 i hela staten.

    John Lopes, en brottsplatsutredare för Sacramento Sheriff's office plockar upp påsar med bevis tagna från hemmet till den mordmisstänkte Joseph DeAngelo för att placeras i en sherifffordon på torsdag, 26 april, 2018, i Citrus Heights, Kalifornien DeAngelo, 72, togs i förvar, tisdag, misstänkt för att ha begått flera mord och våldtäkter under 1970- och 1980-talen i Kalifornien. Myndigheterna tillbringade dagen med att gå igenom hemmet efter bevis. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

    Efter att han identifierats som misstänkt, dock, åklagare skyndade sig att åtala honom för åtta mord.

    Dessutom, Polisen i jordbruksstaden Visalia i centrala Kalifornien sade på torsdagen att DeAngelo är misstänkt för ett 13:e mord och omkring 100 inbrott i området.

    1975, av community college-läraren Claude Snelling sköts när han försökte stoppa en maskerad inkräktare från att kidnappa sin 16-åriga dotter från hans hem.

    Utredarna saknade DNA-bevis så Snellings död och inbrotten inkluderades inte i sammanräkningen av Golden State Killer-brotten men fingeravtryck och skospår kommer att granskas för matchningar till DeAngelo, Det sa Visalias polischef Jason Salazar.

    Denna odaterade bild från polisen tillhandahållen av Sacramento County, Kalifornien, Sheriff's Office visar Joseph James DeAngelo. DeAngelo, en misstänkt seriemördare i Kalifornien som begick minst 12 mord och 45 våldtäkter i hela staten under 1970- och 80-talen identifierades i onsdags, 25 april, 2018, som tidigare polis, sa en tjänsteman. (Sacramento County Sheriff's Office via AP)

    Utredare genomsökte DeAngelos hem på torsdagen, letar efter klassringar, örhängen, disk och andra föremål som tagits från brottsplatser samt vapen.

    Under tiden, DeAngelos grannar, släktingar och tidigare bekanta säger alla att de inte hade någon aning om att han kunde vara en seriemördare. Han arbetade nästan tre decennier i ett stormarknadslager i Sacramento-området som lastbilsmekaniker, gick i pension förra året. Som granne, han var känd för att noggrant ta hand om sin gräsmatta i förorten Citrus Heights.

    DeAngelo arbetade som polis i bondestaden Exeter, inte långt från Visalia, från 1973 till 1976.

    DeAngelo var ett "svart får" som inte skojade med andra officerare, sa Farrel Ward, 75, som tjänstgjorde i styrkan med DeAngelo.

    En bil backas ut ur garaget till ett hem som genomsökts i samband med gripandet av en man misstänkt för mord, onsdag, 25 april, 2018, i Citrus Heights, Kalifornien Sacramento County District Attorney's Office planerar att göra ett stort tillkännagivande i fallet med en seriemördare som de säger begick minst 12 mord, 45 våldtäkter och dussintals inbrott i Kalifornien på 1970- och 1980-talen. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

    Ward sa att det är möjligt att DeAngelo hjälpte till med sökandet efter Snellings mördare och den svårfångade inbrottstjuven, men han minns inte att DeAngelo direkt undersökte mordet.

    "Jag har tänkt, men det finns inget som tyder på att något var fel, " Ward said. "How could you just go out and kill somebody and go back and go to work? I don't understand that."

    Senare, DeAngelo joined the Auburn Police Department outside of Sacramento but was fired in 1979 after he was caught shoplifting a hammer and dog repellant.

    Investigators say they have linked DeAngelo to 11 killings that occurred after he was fired.

    This undated photo released by the FBI shows artist renderings of a serial killer and rapist, also known as the "East Area Rapist" and "Golden State Killer" from 1976 to 1986. A California sheriff said Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer accused of being a serial killer and rapist, was taken by surprise when deputies swooped in and arrested him Tuesday, 24 april, 2018, as he stepped out of his home. (FBI via AP)

    James Huddle said he always hoped police would catch the killer whose attacks prompted him to buy a pistol.

    But he was stunned to find out the man arrested was DeAngelo, his former brother-in-law.

    Huddle said it was "still just going crazy in my mind."

    This undated photo released by the FBI shows part of East Area Rapist Crime reports at the Sheriff's department evidence room in Sacramento, Calif. Volumes of reports about the murder investigation are contained in the evidence room at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. A California sheriff said Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer accused of being a serial killer and rapist, was taken by surprise when deputies swooped in and arrested him Tuesday, 24 april, 2018, as he stepped out of his home. (FBI via AP)

    A look at DNA testing that ID'd a suspected serial killer

    Joseph James DeAngelo, who authorities suspect is the so-called Golden State Killer responsible for at least a dozen murders and 50 rapes in the 1970s and 80s, was arrested more than three decades after the last killing with the help of information from an online genealogical site. Investigators haven't disclosed many key elements about how and why they took this very unusual step to find a suspect.

    Here's a look at the case and some of the questions surrounding it:

    HOW DID AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY HIM?

    The Sacramento County district attorney's office said Thursday DNA from one of the crime scenes was checked against genetic profiles from genealogical websites that collect DNA samples to help people learn about their family backgrounds.

    Authorities zeroed in on DeAngelo after determining one of his relatives whose genetic information was on the site was a familial match for the DNA from the crime scene.

    They then set up surveillance at DeAngelo's home in Citrus Heights, Kalifornien, just outside Sacramento and collected two "discarded DNA samples" from him. One didn't contain enough DNA but the other tied him to the DNA evidence.

    Authorities did not identify the DNA websites that were used.

    ___

    IS THAT LEGAL?

    Ancestry.com and 23andMe, two of the largest companies that produce genetic profiles for customers who provide DNA samples, say they don't cooperate with law enforcement unless they receive a court order.

    Both said Thursday they did not receive a court order in the DeAngelo case and were not otherwise involved.

    Ancestry.com has said it hasn't received any such requests for genetic information in the last three years.

    A 23andMe spokesman said the company "has never given customer information to law enforcement officials" and that their platform doesn't allow for the comparison of genetic data that was processed by any third party.

    ___

    HAS THIS EVER BEEN DONE BEFORE?

    The issue of law enforcement comparing DNA to samples in genealogical databases garnered national attention several years ago when a New Orleans filmmaker was identified in an Idaho murder based on a DNA sample that his father had given years earlier.

    As part of a church-sponsored genealogy project, the man's father had provided his DNA, which was later sold to Ancestry.com.

    The company was required to identify the man to police after receiving a court order. But he was eventually cleared after his DNA didn't match the evidence at the crime scene.

    ___

    WHAT IS THE DNA TEST THAT INVESTIGATORS USED IN THAT CASE?

    The technique is known as familial DNA testing and it has raised ethical issues in the forensics community. Typically with the method, investigators search law enforcement databases to identify likely relatives of the person who may have committed the crime.

    Critics say that familial DNA testing allows for searches of innocent people who happen to be related to someone suspected of committing a crime or otherwise provided their DNA for inclusion in a database. Law enforcement officials have argued the technique can provide investigators with valuable leads.

    2008, California became the first state in the country to authorize the testing. It since has been used in at least eight other states.

    The method led to the arrest of Lonnie Franklin Jr. in the Los Angeles "Grim Sleeper" serial killings from 1985 to 2007. Los Angeles County sheriff's officials also used it last year to solve the decades-old killing of the ex-wife of Righteous Brothers singer Bill Medley.

    • This undated photo released by the FBI shows a sketch and details of a stolen ring the attacker who became known as the East Area Rapist took from one of his victims. Authorities said the attacker ransacked homes and took coins, jewelry and identification. Joseph James DeAngelo, once sworn to protect the public from crime, was accused Wednesday, 25 april, 2018, of living a double life terrorizing suburban neighborhoods at night, becoming one of California's most feared serial killers and rapists in the 1970s and '80s before leaving a cold trail that baffled investigators for more than three decades. (FBI via AP)

    • Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones discusses the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo for a string of violent crimes in the 1970's and 1980's, at a news conference, onsdag, 25 april, 2018, i Sacramento, Calif. DeAngelo, 72, was taken into custody at his suburban Sacramento home, tisdag, on suspicion of committing at least 12 slayings and 45 rapes in California.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

    • In this undated photo released by the FBI shows East Area Rapist Ski Masks in Sacramento, Calif. A California sheriff says a former police officer accused of being a serial killer and rapist was taken by surprise when deputies swooped in and arrested him as he stepped out of his home. Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said deputies planned to arrest Joseph DeAngelo when he left his home on Tuesday, 24 april, 2018. (FBI via AP)

    • This undated photo released by the FBI shows a home invasion ransacking by an attacker who became known as the "East Area Rapist" at an unknown location in California. Authorities said the attacker ransacked the home and took coins, jewelry and identification. Joseph James DeAngelo, once sworn to protect the public from crime, was accused Wednesday, 25 april, 2018, of living a double life terrorizing suburban neighborhoods at night, becoming one of California's most feared serial killers and rapists in the 1970s and '80s before leaving a cold trail that baffled investigators for more than three decades. (FBI via AP)

    • John Lopes, a crime scene investigator for the Sacramento County Sheriff's office, carries boxes of evidence taken from the home of murder suspect Joseph DeAngelo to a sheriff's vehicle Thursday, 26 april, 2018, in Citrus Heights, Calif. DeAngelo, 72, was taken into custody Tuesday on suspicion of committing multiple homicides and rapes in the 1970s and 1980s in California. Authorities spent the day going through the home for evidence. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

    • Sacramento Sheriff's deputies carry evidence taken from the home of suspect Joseph DeAngelo to a sheriff's vehicle Thursday, 26 april, 2018, in Citrus Heights, Calif. DeAngelo was taken into custody, tisdag, on suspicion of committing multiple slayings and dozens of rapes in the 1970's and 1980's in California. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

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