Cheapskate's DNA Could Be His Undoing

Wisconsin was the first state to issue criminal complaints "naming" the suspect through a DNA profile so as to avoid the statute of limitations. The state court of appeals upheld the practice in State v. Dabney, 663 N.W.2d 366 (Wisc. Ct. App. 2003). Today, there are some 23 such DNA complaints pending in Wisconsin. Most are for burglaries. Some are for unsolved sexual assaults. One is for an armed robbery.

The most recent complaint addressed to an an unknown defendant, however, is for threatening a county judge in 2012. It is captioned

State of Wisconsin, Plaintiff

v.

Doe, John, Unknown Male, with Matching Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Profile at Genetic Locations D3S1358 (15, 18), TH01(6, 9.3), D21S11 (29, 31.2), D18S51 (13, 15), Penta E (12), D5S818 (11, 13), D13S17 (11, 14), D7S820 (10, 11), D16S539 (13, 14), CSF1PO (11, 12), Penta D (9, 12), Amelogenin (X, Y), vWA (17), D8S1179 (12, 13), TPOX (9, 11), and FGA (22, 22.2), Defendant

The list is not just the genetic locations. (That would be useless, since everyone has these genetic locations.) The identification of the individual comes from the DNA features -- the "alleles" -- at these "loci." The identifying alleles are designated by the numbers in parentheses.

The DNA that produced this profile came from a nine-cent stamp affixed to the envelop containing the threatening letter. Presumably, the individual making the threat licked the stamp. Indeed, the same profile was found for DNA recovered from threatening letters mailed to three other public officials in Wisconsin. Whether the sender was able to get away with using nine-cent stamps in these other incidents has not been reported. If he is ever caught, postal fraud will be the least of his problems.

SOURCES

1. Ed Treleven, With Clock Ticking, DOJ Charges Unidentified Suspect for Threatening Judge in 2012, Wisc. State J., Oct. 9, 2018.
2. Meagan Flynn, The Culprit’s Name Remains Unknown. But He Licked a Stamp, and Now His DNA Stands Indicted, Wash. Post, Oct. 17, 2018