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Pastimes : Murder Mystery: Who Killed Yale Student Suzanne Jovin? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (984)	10/26/2001 11:10:56 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1397

Re: 10/26/01 - WVIT/AP: Police seek DNA samples in killing of Yale student Police seek DNA samples in killing of Yale student Associated Press NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 26 - A small sample of DNA found underneath the left fingernails of a murdered Yale student is the latest bit of evidence being analyzed in an attempt to find her killer. Police and prosecutors said Friday they would seek voluntary DNA samples from men who knew Suzanne Jovin, 21, who was stabbed to death in December, 1998. Investigators said they are trying to determine if the DNA belongs to an innocent acquaintance of Jovin’s, or whether the DNA could belong to her killer. DNA given by the only named suspect in the case, thesis adviser James Van de Velde, did not match the sample found under Jovin’s fingernails, investigators said. DNA taken from her former boyfriend and from emergency workers who handled her body also did not match. Because the DNA could belong to someone who had legitimate contact with Jovin, no suspect can be eliminated simply because his DNA does not match, investigators said. Van de Velde gave DNA samples at the request of the police shortly after Jovin was killed. His lawyer, David Grudberg, said he was “pleased, but not the least bit surprised” that the DNA under Jovin’s fingernails did not match Van de Velde’s. “I am baffled by the continued denial of the New Haven police to clear Van de Velde’s name and admit they made a terrible, terrible error in singling him out as a suspect,” Grudberg said. New Haven police declined to comment, expect to say that the case remains open and police are using every tool they have to find Jovin’s killer. Analysis of the DNA, which was found in the last year or two, determined that it belonged to a man. State’s Attorney Michael Dearington said certain men who were friends and colleagues of Jovin’s would be asked to give DNA samples. He stressed that these people are not suspects. “There could be a host of legitimate sources,” for the DNA, Dearington said. Any DNA donations will be voluntary, since there is no law to force people to give samples. Police said the sample can be taken with a swab inside a person’s mouth. The samples would not be entered into any database or compared to anything besides the DNA found on Jovin. Jovin, a political science major from Goettingen, Germany, was stabbed 17 times in December 1998. Her body was found in a wealthy New Haven neighborhood just off the Yale campus. No one has been charged in her death. A $150,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer. DNA samples taken from under fingernails are generally very small, said Elaine Pagliaro, a forensic scientist who is working on the Jovin case. Analysis is sometimes done to try to find legitimate sources of DNA, and not just to find suspects, said Pagliaro, assistant director of the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory in Meriden. “It’s not a common occurrence, but it has been done before,” she said. She likened the process to the way police will investigate house burglaries by taking fingerprint samples of everyone who lives in or visited the house. Fingerprints that do not match any legitimate sources may belong to the burglars. wvit.com