John Wayne Gacy's DNA evidence

[BiffSplitkins]

CHICAGO (AP) — Detectives have long wondered what secrets serial killer John Wayne Gacy and other condemned murderers took to the grave when they were executed — mostly whether they had other unknown victims.

Now, in a game of scientific catch-up, the Cook County Sheriff's Department is trying to be creative: They've created DNA profiles of Gacy and others and figured out they could get the executed men entered in a national database shared with other law enforcement agencies because the murderers were technically listed as homicide victims themselves when they were put to death by the state.

READ MORE

Nice little loophole they found in that DNA law. Should be interesting to see what they find.

[wolfknight]

I think this is a good thing. May bring some closure to some families and help solve crimes that are in a cold case.

[Keel M.]

It would certainly make sense to get DNA samples before executing prisoners, because you know they don't confess to all of their crimes. Just the ones the police figured out.

Hopefully, as wolfknight says, families will get closure.

Great find Biff!

Edited December 3, 2012 by Lady Kasey

[Bonecrusher]

Fantastic news.

I can see a high percentage of these cold case murders getting cleared up.

Surely we have detected all these serial killers by now because nobody can stay smart.

Tbh these serial killers do have known stalking grounds but who's to say they didn't murder elsewhere.

However the only known anomaly is the Zodiac killings.

They will need more than DNA to get to the bottom of that.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Walnut Whip

[BiffSplitkins]

Fantastic news.

I can see a high percentage of these cold case murders getting cleared up.

Surely we have detected all these serial killers by now because nobody can stay smart.

Tbh these serial killers do have known stalking grounds but who's to say they didn't murder elsewhere.

However the only known anomaly is the Zodiac killings.

They will need more than DNA to get to the bottom of that.

Gacy traveled a lot so I'm sure his DNA will be compared with just about every other DNA sample in every unsolved case.

I was impressed with the loophole that they used so that they could even be allowed to use his DNA in the national database to begin with.

[Bonecrusher]

Gacy traveled a lot so I'm sure his DNA will be compared with just about every other DNA sample in every unsolved case.

I was impressed with the loophole that they used so that they could even be allowed to use his DNA in the national database to begin with.

It's important to note that Gacy,Bundy et al didn't get convicted because of DNA evidence.

So when when we trawl through the cold cases we are looking for traces of bodily fluids like semen and saliva.

Even a stray pubic hair is enough for a sample. We need to get cracking on this.

But Modus Operandi and fingerprints are also important for comparisons but harder to prove.

I'm very intrigued by the missing 15 days or so between Bundy's last escape to his Florida dorm swansong.

A psychopath like that wouldn't keep his compulsions in check for too long.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Walnut Whip

[Keel M.]

I heard about Israel Keyes killing himself in Alaska upon arrest and the report stated that he traveled around the country randomly killing people. Hopefully something like this new database will help figure out who those random people were.

[BiffSplitkins]

I heard about Israel Keyes killing himself in Alaska upon arrest and the report stated that he traveled around the country randomly killing people. Hopefully something like this new database will help figure out who those random people were.

The database itself really isn't that new. The laws on how DNA can be obtained from criminals are though. Gacy was exempt from the law because he was executed in 1994 and couldn't qualify for the database under the felon provision at the time of his lethal injection. But, they figured out that they could qualify him as a person who died of homicide (because technically, he was killed by the state). The law states that any victim of homicide can have a DNA profile in the database. Luckily the coroner still had DNA blood samples from Gacy.

[Keel M.]

Oh. I miss understood. Thanks for clearing that up.

[CuriousLittleOne]

excuse me for opening up this forum again , but just found this:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-12-19/news/chi-man-reunited-with-family-41-years-after-feared-a-gacy-victim-20131219_1_gacy-victim-gacy-investigation-william-george-bundy

The Hutton family may spend their first holiday season together in 41 years after Robert Hutton, whose family feared he might have been a victim of John Wayne Gacy, was reunited with his father and sister through an investigation to identify the serial killer’s unnamed victims, the Cook County sheriff’s office announced Thursday.

[libstaK]

The database itself really isn't that new. The laws on how DNA can be obtained from criminals are though. Gacy was exempt from the law because he was executed in 1994 and couldn't qualify for the database under the felon provision at the time of his lethal injection. But, they figured out that they could qualify him as a person who died of homicide (because technically, he was killed by the state). The law states that any victim of homicide can have a DNA profile in the database. Luckily the coroner still had DNA blood samples from Gacy.

The incongruity of their finding is, well simply blinding. So they consider someone killed by the state a victim of homicide? Talk about opening a can of worms. Not that I have any issues with them collecting his DNA mind you.