So the Wisconsin DOC was outsmarted by an in-custody prisoner, who had other people donate DNA samples and and fingerprints.
“We have reason to believe that Walter Ellis convinced another inmate to give a DNA sample and an accompanying fingerprint of the other inmate because he did not want to give a sample for reasons I think we can now appreciate,” said Van Hollen.
The switch prevented a CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) hit, from linking Ellis to serial killings, allowing at least one additional victim 6 years later:
If Ellis’ DNA had been in the system, it might have allowed police to connect Ellis to multiple murders sooner.
Ouithrean Stokes was killed six years after the DNA switch.
Read the whole tragic story here.
Related posts:
- Wisconsin Department of Justice doesn’t “get it”
- CSI Miami Episode 703 “And How Does That Make You Kill?”
- State hits crime lab on DNA cache
- National Rape Kit News Stories
- Baby CODIS?
- Trigger ID instead of fingerprinting
- Prosecutors Move To Seize Control of Crime Lab
- Innocent Man in Jail for 25 Years? And 8 Years Too Long
- Further Fallout from the Houston Crime Lab Scandal
- Follow-up on Beaufort County DNA Lab
