Report Investigates Method to Store Biological Materials

NCJ 237838, September 2011, Grant Report, by Katherine A. Roberts, Donald J. Johnson (296 pages)

Storing biological evidence at subzero temperatures is one of the current methods employed to prevent DNA degradation until time of analysis; however, previous studies have shown that freezing biological evidence does not completely cease the degradation process. The research presented here evaluates a proprietary platform technology for the dry storage of biological materials at ambient temperature.
This report is the result of an NIJ-funded project but was not published by the U.S. Department of Justice.

FDLE: DNA evidence solves Taylor Co. cold case

WTXL Florida
PERRY, Fla. – Kenneth L. Knight, 52, is pleading guilty to the Feb. 18, 1988 murder of an Indiana woman after DNA linked him to the homicide, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Do You Live in a Rapist-Friendly State? (Yes, There Is Such a Thing.)

Huffington Post
Hitting the lottery once in a lifetime will never happen to most of us, but Brian Brockington just hit the criminal justice system jackpot, not once, not twice, but three times. DNA evidence has linked him to three sexual assaults, but lucky old Brian will soon be released from prison without ever serving a single day for any of the assaults in question.

Oetzi the Iceman’s nuclear genome gives new insights

BBC News
New clues have emerged in what could be described as the world’s oldest murder case: that of Oetzi the “Iceman”, whose 5,300-year-old body was discovered frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991.

Swedish king exhumed to solve grave mystery

The Local Sweden
Researchers have begun exhuming the remains of Magnus III Ladulås, who reigned as Swedish king from 1275 until 1290, in order to perform DNA tests to ascertain the identity of those with whom he is buried.

DNA reveals Neanderthal extinction clues

BBC
Neanderthals were already on the verge of extinction in Europe by the time modern humans arrived on the scene, a study suggests.

DNA clue could solve 47 year-old Wanda Beach murders

News.com Australia
A BLOOD spot may hold vital DNA evidence that could solve one of Sydney’s most enduring mysteries.

Ky. high court to take up DNA testing case

Fox News
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Supreme Court has taken up a request for DNA testing law brought by two men convicted in a Satanic ritual slaying of a woman in 1992.

William Dillon’s bill up for vote in House

Florida Today
The Florida House took a big step toward awarding a former Brevard County man $1.35 million on Thursday for the 27 years he spent in state prison for a murder he didn’t commit.

Court: California can force inmates to submit DNA

A divided federal appeals court ruled Thursday that California law enforcement officials can keep collecting DNA samples from people arrested for felonies.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said law enforcement’s interest in solving cold cases, identifying crime suspects and even exonerating the wrongly accused outweigh any privacy concerns raised by the forced DNA collections.