Re: 9/15/09 - New Haven Register: Jovin parents plead for improvements at state crime lab (With letter)
Jovin parents plead for improvements at state crime lab (With letter)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor
NEW HAVEN — The parents of a Yale student murdered almost 11 years ago charged Tuesday that understaffing and inadequate funding of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory is undermining investigations.
Thomas Jovin and Donna Jovin, the parents of Suzanne Jovin, a senior at Yale, wrote a letter to Gov. M. Jodi Rell appealing to her as an elected official “as well as a mother and grandmother, to rectify the shortcomings of the state lab by providing the funds and expertise, in and/or out of state, for conducting the forensic studies.”
Suzanne, a senior at Yale, was found stabbed to death on a street in the East Rock neighborhood on Dec. 4, 1998. The case has never been solved.
The Jovins said, in a recent meeting with an investigative team still looking into the killing, as well as with officials from New Haven State’s Attorney Michael Dearington’s office, “it became apparent that potential forensic investigations, made possible by significant advances in technology in the intervening decade, are not being carried out due to shortcomings in the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory.”
They said the lab, once highly regarded, “is suffering from understaffing and inadequate funding. As a consequence, the unit is struggling to satisfy the needs of ongoing and emerging investigations, not to speak of ‘cold cases’ such as the murder of our daughter.”
The Jovins wrote to Rell in light of the killing of Annie Marie Le, a Yale graduate student, whose body was found Sunday stuffed in a wall of a lab building where she was conducting research. Police are focusing on a suspect who is a lab technician, sources have said.
Rell’s office last month announced that it will use nearly $2 million in federal stimulus funds to help with the DNA testing of state prison inmates, as well as new and existing DNA samples.
The largest portion — $1.8 million — will be used to support 11 positions previously funded by grants that had expired for work other than DNA testing. A grant of $170,000 will add four new, temporary jobs and pay for kits needed to collect samples from about 4,000 convicted felons in prison.
There is a backlog of 12,000 existing DNA samples that need to be tested at the Department of Public Safety forensics laboratory in Meriden.
“The latest university-related crime in New Haven underscores the vulverability of individuals — particular women — even on campuses of renowned universities. One should not compound the tragedies of Suzanne Jovin, Annie Le and other victims by failing to apply the necessary resources for resolving the circumstances of the crimes committed against them,” the Jovins wrote.
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Governor M. Jodi Rell
Executive Office of the Governor
State Capitol
210 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
An open letter to the Governor of Connecticut, Ms. M. Jodi Rell
September 14, 2009
Dear Governor Rell,
Tragedy has again struck Yale University in New Haven. Almost 11 years after the savage murder of our daughter Suzanne Jovin, a senior undergraduate, another young woman in the prime of life, Annie Le, has met the same fate. On the basis of our own experience, we agonize and lament with the family and close friends of this latest victim.
We hope that the person guilty of this terrible crime can be apprehended quickly, which was unfortunately not to be true in the case of our daughter. However, Suzanne has not been forgotten and a team of very experienced, determined, and committed investigators are engaged in an methodological examination of all facts and circumstances related to the crime.
We are very grateful for this effort. However, during a recent visit to New Haven and consultation with the investigative team as well as with the officials of the State’s Attorney’s office, Mr. Michael Dearington and Mr. James Clark, it became apparent that potential forensic investigations, made possible by significant advances in technology in the intervening decade, are not being carried out due to shortcomings in the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory. This facility, once regarded as a leading forensic unit in the country, is suffering from understaffing and inadequate funding. As a consequence, the unit is struggling to satisfy the needs of ongoing and emerging investigations, not to speak of “cold cases” such as the murder of our daughter.
The latest university-related crime in New Haven underscores the vulnerability of individuals – particular women - even on the campuses of renowned universities. One should not compound the tragedies of Suzanne Jovin, Annie Le, and other victims by failing to apply the necessary resources for resolving the circumstances of the crimes committed against them. That is, resources that can lead to identifying, prosecuting and convicting the perpetrators. We appeal to you, in your capacity as governor of the State of Connecticut as well as a mother and grandmother, to rectify the shortcomings of the State Lab by providing the funds and expertise, in and/or out of state, for conducting the forensic studies required to achieve these ends, specifically in the case of our daughter Suzanne.
We are releasing this letter to the public because of our conviction that a general awareness of this situation will exert an appropriate influence on all the government officials in the legislature and executive branches responsible for such matters. We would also hope that heightened awareness will help to rectify the social circumstances that engender such heinous crimes.
We thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Thomas M. Jovin
Dr. Donna J. Jovin
Zur Akelei 17
Göttingen, Germany
parents of Suzanne Jovin, Yale undergraduate, class of 1999.
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