A DNA match in an old murder case does not necessarily lead to a simple conviction, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The issue arises in charges filed a week apart in two high-profile and cold cases in St. Louis County. Both times, DNA matches led to charges against suspects who hadn’t been considered before during years of frustrating searches for the killers.
On Friday, a drifter was arrested in Texas and charged with the killing of a teacher who was fatally shot in 2000. The week before, a man was charged in a 1977 murder. Authorities said investigators have a lot of work to do to bring a conviction, even with the DNA evidence. Norman Gahn, a prosecutor in Milwaukee who is regarded nationally as an expert in DNA-based criminal cases, said he does not know of any murder or rape conviction based solely on DNA evidence.
Link: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/29AF1938B5916B0A86