Inside Maine crime lab that helped catch suspected Alaska cold case killer
The Maine State Crime Lab played a critical role in the recent arrest of a Maine man in connection with a 26-year-old cold case killing in Alaska.
The lab processed a cheek swab from Steve Downs and uploaded the results to a state and federal database known as the Combined DNA Index System.
Police said Downs' DNA was a perfect match for DNA found at the Alaska crime scene and he was charged with the murder and sexual assault of 20-year-old Sophie Sergie.
"I think as the database gets bigger, there is the potential to solve more crimes," Maine State Police Crime Lab Director Lt. Scott Gosselin said.
The crime lab has 17 scientists working thousands of cases a year. DNA profiles are processed in the lab and uploaded to CODIS.
"Every day, the amount of convicted offenders that submit to our database gets bigger. The amount of convicted offenders that get added to the national database gets bigger," Gosselin said.
In addition to CODIS, there are private companies, such as Ancestry.com, that have their own databases. Police are tapping into those databases to help solve crimes.
In some cases, the DNA of a relative is being used to identify suspects. Police said Downs' aunt sent her DNA to a genealogy website, which was later used to identify Downs as a suspect in the Alaska killing.
"Between five and 10 cases every month, whether it's from a case out of New York or California or Oregon or even inside the state of Maine, connects to our database and resolves a case based on the database DNA alone," Gosselin said.
With more people submitting their own DNA voluntarily to find ancestors, they inadvertently became part of a pool that could lead to further cold cases being solved in the future.