All articles tagged with #dna evidence
Ahmad Alsaqer, the suspect in New York mom Jamey Carney's murder, had his Irish passport returned after being granted subsidiary protection, enabling him to flee toward Turkey as investigators fear they may not be able to charge him due to DNA traces at Carney's home. Authorities are also probing his contacts across the Middle East for help.
Prosecutors in Provo, Utah, continue a weeklong preliminary hearing in the Charlie Kirk assassination, aiming to move toward trial with the death penalty on the table, while defense lawyers challenge the FBI DNA analysis linking Tyler Robinson to the suspected murder weapon; investigators testified the towel with DNA matched two people—Robinson and his roommate Lance Twiggs—raising questions about the analyst’s conclusions, and prosecutors argue the findings are reliable enough for trial. Surveillance footage shown at the hearing placed Robinson on campus with Kirk’s staff before the shooting and later returning in different clothes to shoot from a rooftop; a judge provisionally admitted a Turning Point USA statement as relevant, and the hearing continues Wednesday.
Prosecutors in Provo, Utah, presented DNA evidence at Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing linking him to the murder weapon used in Charlie Kirk’s death: Robinson’s DNA was the majority donor on a towel and screwdriver found near a sniper perch, with Lance Twiggs’ DNA also present; FBI analyst Amanda Bakker testified to the mixed DNA results, Twiggs is cooperating and not yet charged, and authorities pointed to surveillance footage and a handwritten confession note as corroboration as they pursue probable cause for trial on aggravated murder with potential death-penalty exposure.
Prosecutors began presenting the case against 23-year-old Tyler Robinson for the killing of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, with DNA tying him to the weapon and an alleged confession in a roommate’s note. The hearing aims to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial and whether the death penalty could be pursued if convicted. Kirk’s family attended the proceedings, and testimony from a former UVU police officer marked the opening of the five-day hearing.
Alex Murdaugh will face a second murder trial in spring 2027 after his 2023 convictions were overturned on appeal; a judge ordered the new trial to begin April 5, 2027, as the defense seeks a venue change, independent DNA testing, and access to a secure laptop, while Murdaugh continues to serve time for financial crimes linked to his broader case surrounding the 2021 killings of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
The Supreme Court backed Florida death-row inmate Gary Whitton, overturning an Eleventh Circuit ruling that allowed his challenge to proceed by citing post-trial DNA evidence; the unsigned decision sends the case back for renewed consideration and mirrors a recent pattern of the Court siding with inmates facing execution. Justice Thomas dissented, arguing the court overstepped by intervening in this case while many other issues went unaddressed.
Tony Carruthers, 57, is scheduled for execution in Tennessee as his lawyers challenge whether the state’s lethal-injection drugs were properly tested and seek DNA/fingerprint testing and a mental-competence ruling; he was convicted largely on informant testimony with no physical evidence after representing himself at trial.
Texas death-row inmate James Broadnax was executed by lethal injection after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal tied to a cousin’s confession in the 2008 Garland double murder; the case also involved DNA evidence and allegations of racial bias during jury selection. Broadnax, who maintained his innocence in his final words, became Texas’s third execution of 2026, with further executions scheduled, including Edward Busby on May 14.
A former FBI agent says DNA from the Guthrie case and blood-spatter on her front steps point to a single suspect, with the agent predicting the abduction will be solved thanks to the offender’s mistakes. A reward totaling over $1 million remains for information about Guthrie’s whereabouts as the investigation continues and she has been missing for more than 80 days.
Nancy Guthrie, mother of Today host Savannah Guthrie, remains missing nearly three months after vanishing in Tucson. A private Florida lab that works with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department sent a hair DNA sample to the FBI for analysis; the FBI says there is no new DNA evidence and that the sample was transferred to the FBI Laboratory for testing, a process that could take months. Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer criticized the decision to send the sample to a private lab, arguing the FBI has the necessary advanced technology all along and that this handling should upset those seeking justice in the case.
Rex Heuermann, a Long Island architect, pleaded guilty to murdering seven women and admitted killing an eighth in the Gilgo Beach killings, ending a 17-year string of crimes that left families and investigators seeking closure. He faces life in prison with sentencing later, and the case—solved in part by DNA from a discarded pizza crust—has drawn national attention since the 2010 discovery of remains along Long Island’s South Shore.
A former FedEx driver, Tanner Horner, pleaded guilty to murdering 7-year-old Athena Strand after delivering a Christmas gift to her Texas home; prosecutors say he strangled her in a panic after an initial claim of accidentally striking her, with evidence including DNA under her fingernails and video of the attack, and jurors will decide whether he receives the death penalty or life in prison.
Attorneys for Tyler Robinson, accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, have asked a Utah judge to push the May preliminary hearing back six months to review DNA evidence on the weapon and related case files from the ATF. The defense says they have not yet access to the ATF case file or weapon protocols, while the FBI is conducting a secondary bullet analysis. They warn the review could determine whether the firearm evidence becomes exculpatory and note the discovery includes extensive digital materials (audio, video, data files) that will require hundreds of hours to process.
After nearly 36 years, authorities charged Floyd William Parrott with the 1990 Lovers' Lane murders of Cheryl Henry and Andy Atkinson; renewed DNA analysis and a 2025 tip led to Parrott's arrest in Nebraska, and he awaits extradition to Harris County as families seek long-awaited answers.
Authorities believe Nancy Guthrie was targeted in her disappearance and warn the suspect could strike again, with Sheriff Chris Nanos withholding some details of their theory; DNA on gloves found near Guthrie’s home has been linked to a person who is not a suspect in the case.