Re: 11/17/09 - Hartford Courant: State Lab Must Fix Errors, Seek New Jovin Clues
YOUR VIEW: David R. Cameron
State Lab Must Fix Errors, Seek New Jovin Clues
November 17, 2009
The recent revelation that the male DNA found in the blood under Suzanne Jovin's fingernails came from a former technician in the State Police Forensic Laboratory is enormously disappointing. Indeed, it's more than disappointing; it's devastating and constitutes an enormous setback in the star-crossed investigation of the murder of the Yale student 11 years ago.
There was always the possibility, as the prosecutors warned, that the DNA could have come from casual contact with a friend and be unrelated to the crime. But there was also the possibility it came from the killer and would eventually connect him to the crime. For many, it represented the best evidence in the case, the evidence most likely to lead to an arrest. Now it turns out to have been the result of lab contamination.
Jovin was stabbed 17 times in the head and neck at about 9:45 p.m. on Dec. 4, 1998, in a residential neighborhood of New Haven two miles from the Yale campus. For some inexplicable reason, the scrapings from the undersides of her fingernails — literally the very first place one would look for the DNA of the killer — were not tested until more than two years later. In October 2001, the prosecutors announced that DNA from an unknown male was found in the scrapings.
The latest revelation raises many questions about the lab's procedures for handling evidence. It was bad enough that it took more than two years for the scrapings to be tested. It is incomparably worse that the DNA found in the scrapings is that of a former lab technician who handled the case materials. It is still worse that it took more than eight years for the lab to discover the contamination. Whatever caused these huge errors must be corrected immediately.
The revelation came as a shock to the team of former state police officers now investigating the case. Created 2 1/2 years ago and consisting of four former members of the state police major crime squad, the team, led by John Mannion, has pursued a number of leads ignored by previous investigators. Speaking of the revelation, Mannion reportedly said, "It certainly was a shock to us ... another in the litany of errors in this case. ... It's another huge bump in the road."
Some may now conclude the case will never be solved. Perhaps. But it certainly won't lessen the commitment of the team and the prosecutors to solving the case and it may even move the investigation forward. For one thing, the team will no longer have to find the source of DNA in the fingernail scrapings or worry about the absence of a match between it and the DNA of possible suspects. For another, it makes it even more imperative than it was before to conduct additional tests to find the killer's DNA.
One such test involves a new technique to discover "touch DNA" on Jovin's clothing. Traces of DNA left when someone touches an object, even slightly, can be detected. The technique led to a major breakthrough last year in the JonBenet Ramsey case. By scraping places on JonBenet's long johns where investigators guessed she may have been touched or held by the killer, the Bode Technology Group found male DNA in two places that matched DNA found earlier on her underwear. The finding led the Boulder County district attorney to conclude she was murdered by the source of that DNA, as yet unidentified, rather than by a member of her family.
The same technique could be applied to Jovin's clothing — in particular, to her coat. A reconstruction of the crime, indicating the sequence and location of the 17 stab wounds, might reveal places where the killer grabbed her or held her. No doubt many friends, first responders, medical personnel, investigators and forensic scientists touched her clothing and left their DNA on it. But the technique may reveal DNA that matches that of someone else — the killer.
Obviously, it's long shot. But after the recent revelation, it may be the best way — indeed, the only way — to obtain the DNA of Suzanne Jovin's killer.
•David R. Cameron is a professor of political science at Yale University.
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