All articles tagged with #dna testing
A DNA test links Daniel Arguelles to Charles Manson as another son, making Sophia Maddox his granddaughter; the discovery is explored in Hulu’s My Grandfather Charles Manson, as Maddox (and her father) meet former followers and sift through Manson’s troubled upbringing to understand the man behind the crimes—without excusing them—while Maddox also pursues personal answers and even changes her surname.
Sophia Maddox, Charles Manson's granddaughter, learns from her father that he is Manson's son, a revelation later confirmed by DNA testing; the story, featured in Hulu's My Grandfather Charles Manson, follows Maddox as she discovers she has a half-brother in Michael Brunner and explores how Manson's troubled upbringing shaped his crimes, with Maddox documenting the journey and adopting the Maddox surname.
Melting ice on the Trift Glacier in Valais, Switzerland exposed the remains of two Belgian hikers who disappeared in 1992; DNA testing confirmed the men, aged 39 and 41 at the time, after a hiker spotted the remains on July 26 and authorities recovered them for forensic identification.
A South Carolina judge granted a change of venue for Alex Murdaugh’s double-murder retrial, moving proceedings from Colleton County and allowing jurors to hear his earlier testimony, while also authorizing independent DNA testing of Maggie Murdaugh’s fingernails. The judge indicated she will designate the new host county in a formal order, noting the 2023 conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court due to pretrial publicity and misconduct by a county clerk.
Alex Murdaugh’s defense launches a bid to dismiss the murder and weapons indictments ahead of his April 2027 retrial, arguing misconduct or false statements by a key case agent and pushing for new DNA testing. The motions also press to limit what prosecutors can present, potentially use portions of his first trial testimony, and even relocate the venue, as prosecutors weigh how much of his financial-crimes background and other evidence can be heard by a new jury.
Friday’s Lexington status hearing will weigh moving Alex Murdaugh’s second murder trial from Colleton County to Charleston, with prosecutors opposing Charleston due to cost and logistics while the defense argues a larger Charleston-area pool would improve impartiality. The session also covers motions to dismiss the 2022 indictments over allegedly fabricated evidence, a bid for independent DNA testing, and other pretrial issues ahead of the April 2027 retrial, as Judge Debra McCaslin has signaled flexibility on venue and recently ordered Murdaugh to appear unshackled when media are present.
Polish investigators say 55 victims of the Volhynia killings were unearthed at two exhumation sites in Ukraine—Ostrówki and Wola Ostrowiecka—with 48 remains (including 24 children) found at the latter and six at a nearby mass grave; injuries on skulls align with accounts of executions, and DNA samples are being collected to identify the victims, who will be buried on August 30 in Ostrówki in a cemetery section for UPA casualties, underscoring the enduring sensitivity of Polish-Ukrainian history.
A hair found at Nancy Guthrie's Tucson home yielded no DNA profile, but investigators say the sample remains preserved and could still help; with the FBI, authorities sent it to a California lab as part of ongoing DNA analysis across multiple labs, including investigative genetic genealogy, as Guthrie's disappearance nears the six-month mark; a reward over $1.2 million remains, and tips are urged.
Bryan Kohberger’s bid to withdraw his guilty plea in the Moscow, Idaho quadruple-murder case centers on “clumps of unknown hair” found in victim Ethan Chapin’s hands and on a bed frame. Experts say the move is a long-shot: the hair reportedly doesn’t match Kohberger’s and was never DNA-tested, leaving several explanations (including displacement or a hair from another victim). If the defense wins a hearing to represent him on this issue, arguments would focus on potential misconduct or suppressed evidence, but most observers expect the plea to stand.
Former Lake County police officer James Aren Duckett was put to death by lethal injection in Florida, the first of two planned executions on the same day, with 80-year-old Dominick Occhicone slated for the second. Duckett, who raped and drowned 11-year-old Teresa McAbee in 1987, saw DNA testing on old evidence yield inconclusive results. The move comes amid Gov. DeSantis’s accelerated death-penalty pace, marking Florida’s first back-to-back executions since 2017.
Two Florida death-row inmates ask the U.S. Supreme Court for stays to review DNA-testing issues and due-process concerns as they face execution within hours of each other. Duckett’s lawyers contend DNA testing and evidence handling were improperly limited and seek certiorari after a Florida court denied more testing, while Occhicone’s lawyers cite his advanced age, health problems, and a drug-transparency and availability dispute (Etomidate) to push for a halt and an evidentiary hearing. Florida has conducted many executions recently, intensifying the legal fight over its death-penalty protocol.
A Florida couple, Tiffany Score and Steven Mills, will maintain permanent custody of their daughter Shea after reaching a custody agreement with the child’s anonymous biological parents. DNA testing showed Shea is 100% South Asian, despite the couple being White. The couple is suing IVF Life Inc. and Dr. Milton McNichol for negligence and is calling for free genetic testing for all patients and children linked to embryo implantations in the past five years, as the clinic prepares to close and a replacement clinic (CNY Fertility) opens.
Two British twins, Michelle and Lavinia Osbourne, learned via Ancestry DNA testing that they have different biological fathers—a phenomenon called heteropaternal superfecundation that is extremely rare, with only about 20 cases documented worldwide and none previously in British history; the sisters say the discovery doesn’t alter their close bond as they continue to live in England.
60 Minutes investigates the booming, high-stakes world of elite racing pigeons, where prized birds can fetch millions and thieves—sometimes described as a “pigeon mafia”—target lofts across Belgium and beyond. The sport’s rise in prize money, especially in one-loft races, has driven a global market with auction houses like PIPA and giant Chinese demand. Security has intensified with cameras and laser barriers, while DNA testing and genetic databases are now used to identify stolen birds and recover some, including descendants of the famed Finn. Authorities have cracked several cases, convicting multiple suspects, but iconic birds remain missing as the thefts continue to ripple through the sport.
60 Minutes examines a global surge in elite racing-pigeon theft, detailing the $1.6 million-plus loss of a Belgian champion named Finn, the rise of an international 'pigeon mafia,' and how DNA testing and secure lofts are helping recover birds and convict criminals amid a high-stakes market that fuels massive online auctions.