In a recent court hearing regarding the Gilgo Beach serial killer case, Kelley Davis, a population genetics expert, compared advanced DNA analysis to reconstructing Hamlet from a damaged copy. The DNA findings from victims were believed to link suspect Rex Heuermann, confirmed through family samples. As DNA testing was outsourced to Astrea Labs, expert testimony supported its validity, highlighting its innovative tools despite the lab's limited history with murder cases in New York. Heuermann faces charges related to six out of seven murder victims, with one case currently lacking DNA evidence.
"If we assume the damaged book is Hamlet, it's easy to see how we could have gotten our data. We just had to copy each of these words and use the other words, and we know that we lost the other words."
"The judge approved a defense request for the hearing after Suffolk authorities outsourced DNA testing to the California-based Astrea Labs, which has not yet been used for any murder case in New York."
"Heuermann was linked to the murders of six of the seven women he is charged with - Jessica Taylor, Valerie Mack, Sandra Costilla, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Megan Waterman, and Amber Lynn Costello - through nuclear DNA."
"Astrea Labs uses a computational tool called IBDGem, which Davis praised on the witness stand while discussing an article by Green that she had peer reviewed."
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