01-28-2017, 04:30 PM
Familial DNA Cracks 40-Year-Old Cold Case -- California
![[Image: 3C9726A900000578-0-image-a-24_1485608009561.jpg]](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/01/28/12/3C9726A900000578-0-image-a-24_1485608009561.jpg)
The person who raped and killed the ex-wife of Righteous Brothers singer Bill Medley more than 40 years ago has finally been caught using a controversial DNA testing method.
Investigators say they tracked down Karen Klaas' killer using DNA from a relative of the suspect after she was attacked at her home in Hermosa Beach, California back in 1976.
The 32-year-old was sexually assaulted and strangled with her pantyhose in the horrific attack on January 30 more than 40 years year. She and Medley shared a 10-year-old child. Karen died a few days later in the hospital after failing to regain consciousness.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department revealed the breakthrough in the decades-old cold case on Friday. A sheriff's spokeswoman would not say whether investigators had formally made an arrest in the case and declined to identify the suspect.
Officials re-opened the cold case in 2009 and pulled together a composite of the murder suspect, but were unable to get any further leads.
Authorities said the attacker was tracked down by using the DNA of a relative of the suspect. The familial DNA technique, which has raised ethical issues in the forensics community, allows investigators to search law enforcement databases to identify likely relatives of the person who may have committed the crime when there's no match to perpetrator's own DNA in the system.
Law enforcement officials have defended the technique by arguing that to can provide valuable leads to investigators.But it has been criticized by some who fear it can potentially put law-abiding citizens under genetic surveillance.
Full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...olved.html
The person who raped and killed the ex-wife of Righteous Brothers singer Bill Medley more than 40 years ago has finally been caught using a controversial DNA testing method.
Investigators say they tracked down Karen Klaas' killer using DNA from a relative of the suspect after she was attacked at her home in Hermosa Beach, California back in 1976.
The 32-year-old was sexually assaulted and strangled with her pantyhose in the horrific attack on January 30 more than 40 years year. She and Medley shared a 10-year-old child. Karen died a few days later in the hospital after failing to regain consciousness.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department revealed the breakthrough in the decades-old cold case on Friday. A sheriff's spokeswoman would not say whether investigators had formally made an arrest in the case and declined to identify the suspect.
Officials re-opened the cold case in 2009 and pulled together a composite of the murder suspect, but were unable to get any further leads.
Authorities said the attacker was tracked down by using the DNA of a relative of the suspect. The familial DNA technique, which has raised ethical issues in the forensics community, allows investigators to search law enforcement databases to identify likely relatives of the person who may have committed the crime when there's no match to perpetrator's own DNA in the system.
Law enforcement officials have defended the technique by arguing that to can provide valuable leads to investigators.But it has been criticized by some who fear it can potentially put law-abiding citizens under genetic surveillance.
Full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...olved.html