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DNA nabs robber in 13-year-old Lethbridge case

ConnectMyDNA™ announced today that it has nationally launched its revolutionary new DNA testing product for the consumer market, offering secure and affordable genetic testing to people all over the world. ConnectMyDNA™ is the first DNA testing product which provides results in an engaging visual and social environment. DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC), a world leader in DNA testing, is the parent company of ConnectMyDNA™.

FAIRFIELD, Ohio (PRWEB) February 06, 2012

ConnectMyDNA™ announced today that it has nationally launched its revolutionary new DNA testing product for the consumer market, offering secure and affordable genetic testing to people all over the world. ConnectMyDNA™ is the first DNA testing product which provides results in an engaging visual and social environment. DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC), a world leader in DNA testing, is the parent company of ConnectMyDNA™.

ConnectMyDNA™ features the Gene Ring™, which is a revolutionary new concept in DNA technology that merges modern art with cutting edge science. Not only is it an eye-catching symbolization of a person’s unique genetic makeup, it's also a scientifically accurate tool that allows a person to visually compare their DNA profile to friends, families and population groups around the world. Using 13 specific markers in a person’s DNA, the same used by forensic sciences for identification purposes, ConnectMyDNA™ matches these markers to DNA of population groups in over 60 countries to determine the ten country populations that a person most closely matches. No two Gene Rings™ are alike, but some are more connected than others and discovering those connections is what ConnectMyDNA™ is all about.

“ConnectMyDNA™ initially launched through HomeRun.com as a test to determine the sustainability of the product and demographics of its users. Within days of launching, ConnectMyDNA™ sold over 1000 units, making it one of the top selling products for HomeRun.com. This is a product which is simple to use, affordable and engaging for everyone. Customers receive an easy-to-use DNA Collection Kit containing the information, instructions, and tools they need to collect a sample of their DNA with a simple cheek swab. The next step is to send the package back to ConnectMyDNA™ in a prepaid envelope and await results. When a customer receives their results, they can securely view their Gene Ring™, a visual illustration of their genetic makeup, online,” said Peter Vitulli, DDC President and CEO.

Vitulli added, “The Gene Ring™ doesn’t contain any genetic information regarding the person’s health or genetic predisposition and is generated using a proprietary technology stored in a secure database so that genetic information can’t be decoded. ConnectMyDNA™ is not intended to be an ancestry test or product – instead it is designed to be a fun, educational product that introduces people to the world of DNA through the Gene Ring™ and population matches. Although the test is based on science, the results can be entertaining as well as enlightening and are an exciting way for people around the world to compare their genetic similarities to their family, friends, and others.”

There are many social features available through ConnectMyDNA™. Customers receive their results online and are offered a variety of ways to view their genetic data, learn about the people and places that their DNA most closely matches, and share their Gene Ring™ with their friends on their favorite social networks.

About DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC), Parent Company of ConnectMyDNA™

DDC is one of the largest DNA testing companies in the world. Founded 17 years ago, DDC offers comprehensive DNA testing services for paternity and other family relationships, forensics, cell line authentication, and ancestry. DDC receives more than 800,000 consumer calls each year, and has performed over 1 million DNA tests since the company was established. The Company is known for its groundbreaking technologies, including an exclusive license for the most innovative and accurate non-invasive prenatal paternity test using SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) Microarray Technology, which only requires a simple blood draw from the mother and alleged father. DDC’s unique Dual Process™ ensures all professionally collected DNA samples are independently tested twice producing legal results of unmatched quality and reliability. DDC is recognized through a number of accreditations nationally and internationally achieving perfect ratings in its past 16 inspections including those performed by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) and the College of American Pathologists (CAP). DDC is also accredited by ACLASS to meet the standards of ISO 17025 and the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board International and follows the DNA Advisory Board (DAB) guidelines, which attests to DDC’s superior forensic testing service. For more information: http://www.dnacenter.com or 1-800-362-2368.

###

Jan Strode
CEO Advisors
619-890-4040
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New DNA Product Simplifies Science and Gives Consumers Affordable Access to People and Places Their DNA Most Closely …

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A trial opening this week has the dramatic elements of a TV crime show — a bloody murder scene, two pretty women and a love triangle that could have precipitated the killing.

But other factors have made this case even more compelling. The defendant was a highly respected veteran police detective and the evidence that led to her arrest is 26 years old.

The case of Stephanie Lazarus has already inspired multiple TV reality shows. On Monday, attorneys will present their opening statements outlining the evidence.

Without the science of DNA, developed in intervening years, Lazarus, 51, probably would never have been charged with the murder of Sherri Rasmussen and would still be working at the Los Angeles Police Department.

It is the classic cold case which gathered dust in a police evidence room for decades until a new review suddenly raised suspicions among detectives who wondered if one of their own could be involved.

Lazarus had been mentioned in the original file because she had been the ex-girlfriend of Rasmussen's husband, John Ruetten. He discovered his wife dead, shot and bludgeoned presumably by an unknown intruder.

The murder scene had blood spattered walls, overturned furniture and Rasmussen's body bludgeoned and shot through with three bullets. She was 29-years-old, a nursing director at a hospital and a newlywed. She and Ruetten married a few months before she was killed.

Investigators on the case noted there had been a series of robberies in the neighborhood and chalked it up to a killing during a burglary. There was one piece of physical evidence that intrigued detectives who were giving the case a second look. It was saliva from a bite wound on the victim's arm that had never been analyzed.

Back in 1986, when the killing occurred, it was assumed the bite came from a man — probably a burglar who broke into the couple's condominium.

But a DNA laboratory came up with a shocking result. The bite came from a woman.

In a TV-like maneuver, detectives secretly followed Lazarus until they could recover a cup from which she drank. They gathered her DNA and the result was a probable match. The investigation had taken a new turn and police faced the devastating possibility that the murder was committed by one of their own, a veteran detective who worked just across the hall from the robbery homicide division.

Lazarus has pleaded not guilty and expressed shock during an interview with detectives that she would be accused of such a crime.

“You're accusing me of this? … “Am I on 'Candid Camera' or something? This is insane,'” she said. ” This is absolutely crazy ”

Rasmussen's parents have accused police of dropping the ball when the killing occurred. They said little note was taken of their efforts to point detectives toward Lazarus who had been in a romantic relationship with Ruetten before his marriage to Rasmussen.

A lawyer for the Rasmussen family has said that Lazarus confronted her rival at the hospital where she worked and told her: “If I can't have John, no one can.”

When Rasmussen's father continued to prod detectives to look at the ex-girlfriend as a suspect, attorney John Taylor said he was told: “You've been watching too much TV.”

In subsequent years, Lazarus continued to move up the ladder in the LAPD, becoming a detective with a specialty in art forgeries. She married a colleague and they adopted a daughter. The former detective has been in custody since 2009. Her lawyer, Mark Overland, has hinted he has some witnesses who could absolve her. And he is questioning the reliability of the DNA evidence.

Defense attorney Dana Cole, who is not involved in the case, predicted that the defense will launch a fierce challenge of the DNA evidence, claiming it was contaminated during collection and further degraded as years passed.

“They have to attack the DNA,” said Cole. “The typical defense in cases like this is to call experts to say there is DNA contamination and the evidence is not reliable,” he said.

As for the love triangle, he said, “It provides motive. No question about that. But it's not conclusive. You still have to prove the defendant is responsible. There are many love triangles in which no one gets murdered.”

.

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Blood, saliva and DNA are keys to murder case

BOCA RATON, Fla., Feb. 6, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DNA Brands, Inc. (OTCBB:DNAX.OB – News) announces it has agreed to a new merchandising/marketing agreement with Circle K's Florida Region. This is the 5th consecutive marketing agreement between the two companies.

DNA's Vice President of Sales, Russ Rickon, said, “Working closely with the great people at Circle K last year led to significant growth within their stores over the previous three years.” Rickon added, “Because of enhanced merchandising efforts by our own distribution company Grass Roots Beverage, we look for 2012 to lift us up to the next level in the category while increasing value to Circle K's energy drink section.” Rickon concluded, “Partnerships of this caliber will enable DNA to reach its goals, as it moves towards becoming a national brand.”

Ron Ashley, Circle K Category Manager, said, “DNA has shown over the past four years to be a great partner that has set itself apart from the others through creative marketing and great taste. We feel very confident this partnership will prove to be a great one for Circle K.”

About DNA Brands, Inc.

DNA Brands makes DNA Energy Drink(R), the award-winning, best-tasting energy drink at the 2010 World Beverage Competition, DNA Beef Jerky(TM) and DNA Shred Stix(TM). DNA Energy Drink(R) is a proprietary blend of quality ingredients in four flavors: Citrus, Lemon Lime, Sugar Free Citrus and CRANRAZBERRY. DNA is a proud sponsor of many action sport teams consisting of top athletes from Motorcross, Surf, Wakeboard and Skateboard and has received tremendous TV and media coverage.

Independent retailers throughout the state sell the DNA Brand products as well as national retailers including Walgreens, CVS, Race Trac and Circle K.

True to its actions sports roots, DNA Brands, Inc. has earned national recognition through its sponsorship of the DNA Energy Drink/Jeff Ward Racing team where it competes on a world-class level in Supercross and Motocross, reaching millions of fans. DNA Energy Drink(R) can also be found in other action sports such as Surfing, BMX, Wakeboarding and Skateboarding and its athletes are recognized stars in their own right.

For more information about DNA Energy Drink, its athletes and sponsorships, please visit www.dnabrandsusa.com

Safe Harbor Forward-Looking Statements

To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, future collaboration agreements, the success of the Company's development, events conditioned on stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made.

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DNA Brands and Circle K Sign New Merchandising/Marketing Agreement

A woman suspected of being the mother of a battered toddler whose plight has gripped India has been brought to Delhi for DNA tests.

The 22-year-old, called Munni, has been brought from Rajasthan for questioning.

Police say the woman has claimed to be the mother of the toddler, who has been named as Baby Falak.

The girl was admitted to hospital two weeks ago with serious injuries, including human bite marks all over her, and remains in critical condition.

Police earlier arrested two men and two women in connection with the case.

Main suspect

Police say they suspect the baby was handed on a number of times before a teenage girl brought the child to a hospital in the capital.

Munni has reportedly told police her husband had forced her into prostitution, so she had run away from him.

The main suspect in the case, a man called Rajkumar, who is not Munni's husband, is still at large. He is believed to have handed the baby to the teenage girl.

Police said they were trying to verify Munni's claims and were continuing to search for the main suspect.

Baby Falak remains in critical condition, with infections in her chest. Last week, she was taken off the ventilator but has now been put back on it.

The toddler is being constantly monitored by a team of doctors who say they have never seen such cruelty inflicted on a baby.

The toddler has undergone two surgeries so far.

She was brought to hospital on 18 January with broken arms and a partially smashed head

The teenage girl said she was the mother and that the toddler had fallen from her bed.

Police say their interrogation revealed that the teenager had been abandoned by her father and abused by a couple who pressed her into prostitution.

The teenager's father is among those arrested.

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DNA test in Indian toddler case

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Washington considers collecting DNA upon arrest in serious crime

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Wash. state considers collecting DNA upon arrest

Southern Utah authorities are hoping to solve a 50-year-old mystery over a deadly flash flood with the help of a human skull fragment found in the Virgin River several years ago.

The September 1961 flood caught a Boy Scout group and others by surprise and killed five people in the river's Zion National Park Narrows section.

Springdale Police Chief Kurt Wright told The Spectrum of St. George ( http://bit.ly/ApAyZf) that only three of the bodies were recovered, and he thinks the skull fragment holds the answer to what became of one of two 17-year-old Salt Lake City boys whose bodies were never found.

The parents of Eagle Scouts Alvin Nelson and Frank Johnson have since died, but Wright was able to track down a living sibling for each and received DNA samples from them last week. He hopes the samples will identify whether the skull was from one of the boys.

Wright said he became interested when he learned of a free program at the University of Texas that matches DNA to identify skeletal remains. The skull fragment and DNA samples now are on their way to Texas for examination.

Doralee Freebairn, 65, of Holladay, the sister of one of the boys, said she hopes the DNA samples bring closure.

“It's a tough thing. Without that body, you don't really believe that they're gone,” she told The Spectrum. “My feeling's strong that it's my brother Alvin. But the DNA will tell.”

Past searches failed to turn up the bodies of Nelson and his best friend, Johnson, who both attended East High School in Salt Lake City. The boys were doing what they loved and enjoying the outdoors before the flood struck, Freebairn said.

“One of the girls who survived said they looked up and heard this horrible sound coming through the canyon,” Freebairn said. “It was a beautiful day before the storm moved in.”

The bodies of Scoutmaster Walter Scott of Murray; Steven Florence, 13, of Park City; and Paul Nicholes, 17, of Salt Lake City, were recovered.

___

Information from: The Spectrum, http://www.thespectrum.com

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DNA, skull may solve Utah flash flood mystery

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Wash. considers collecting DNA upon arrest

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Scientists keen to test DNA technique

Investigators knocked on Bennett S. Barbour's door on Valentine's Day 1978 and arrested him on a charge of raping a College of William and Mary student at gunpoint a week earlier.

The slight, 22-year-old handyman from rural Charles City County had been married just a few months when he was taken into custody, the romantic greeting card and box of candy for his pregnant wife left unopened.

Today, Barbour is a divorced, 56-year-old convicted sex offender who has bone cancer, and who desperately wants to clear his name. “I ended up losing my wife,” he said. “I told them I didn't do it, but they railroaded me and locked me up.”

Now, the state has proof that he is innocent.

Tests conducted in 2010 on material from Barbour's old case file as part of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science's post-conviction DNA project identified the DNA of a known offender in biological evidence taken from the scene and failed to find Barbour's DNA.

The DNA report has been in the hands of authorities for 18 months, but Barbour learned about his ticket to exoneration only two weeks ago.

Matthew Engle, legal director of the Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law, plans to petition the Virginia Supreme Court for a writ of actual innocence on Barbour's behalf.

“He is innocent, and the DNA proves it,” Engle said last week.

And Nate Green, the Williamsburg/James City County commonwealth's attorney, agrees.

“This does exonerate him, so we will be joining in their motion as soon as they make it,” said Green, who was in second grade when Barbour was convicted. “From everything that I've seen, this seems to be very clear cut … and this mistake needs to be corrected.”

* * * * *

When Barbour was convicted, DNA testing was not available.

Deirdre Enright, another of Barbour's lawyers and also with the U.Va. Innocence Project Clinic, said, “I don't know how they found him guilty without DNA.” According to documents in the 1978 case file and news accounts of the trial, three witnesses testified that they were with Barbour at the time of the Feb. 7, 1978, attack in the Parkway Apartments in Williamsburg.

Arrest records show Barbour was 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 115 pounds at the time. The victim was 5 feet 8 and weighed 135 pounds, Barbour said.

Also, a March 24, 1978, forensic lab report obtained by Barbour's current lawyers shows that even the relatively crude blood typing performed on seminal fluid left by the assailant strongly suggested that Barbour was not the attacker. The seminal fluid was left by someone who is Type A, as was the victim. Barbour is Type B.

And “negro” hairs taken from the crime scene were said to be “not consistent” with a sample from Barbour, the report said.

Still, the jury found Barbour guilty, siding with the identification made by the 19-year-old victim who, according to a probation office report, identified him by police mug shots and in a lineup.

The 1978 lab report from his forensic case file was signed by Mary Jane Burton, the forensic serologist who performed blood typing for what is now called the Virginia Department of Forensic Science in the years before DNA testing was available.

Samples of evidence that Burton taped inside her old case files are now being tested by the department in an effort to clear people wrongly convicted from 1973 through 1988. Barbour's case was among those; the DNA in his case was tested in 2010.

In addition to his smaller stature, Barbour said he had had a pin holding an elbow together at the time of the rape. “I was hardly able to move my arm at all,” he said. Enright said Barbour was born with a medical condition that can lead to easily broken bones.

She said his case “demonstrates the power of the 'he said, she said' battle.”

Barbour had a solid alibi; he did not match the suspect's description; he has brittle bone disease; and he did not have a gun, said Enright.

“But (the victim's) identification of him still wins that contest.”

* * * * *

The trial judge, Russell M. Carneal, and Barbour's defense attorney, Charles L. Beard, are dead, and the trial transcript is missing. The prosecutor, former Williamsburg/James City County Commonwealth's Attorney William L. Person Jr., now retired, could not recall Barbour's case.

The investigators who worked the case are no longer with Williamsburg law enforcement and also could not be reached for comment. But court records suggest that in 1978, two of them had some doubts about Barbour's guilt.

Barbour's troubles began earlier in 1978 when he rode along in a vehicle driven by a childhood friend who burglarized his employer's business. Barbour, according to police, readily confessed to that crime not long before the rape occurred.

Barbour was arrested for burglary before the Feb. 7 rape; it was apparently that arrest that led police to take his mug shot, which apparently wound up in a photo spread shown to the Williamsburg rape victim.

Barbour had alibi witnesses: his mother-in-law, his brother and a woman “who is of the white race and the only white witness called by the defense,” noted a motion to set aside the guilty verdict.

Nevertheless, on April 14, 1978, he was convicted of rape by a jury. On April 17 he was sentenced to 8 years for charges in the unrelated burglary and on April 28 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the rape.

In a post-sentence report, probation officer Frederick W. Toepke wrote: “I think it should be brought to the Court's attention that since the Court trial I have talked to the Police Officers who investigated this matter and it is still their personal opinion(s) that perhaps a strong possibility exists that (Barbour) could be innocent of the charge. I was further informed that the investigation of this offense is continuing.”

According to the transcript of Barbour's sentencing, Beard asked the judge for leniency. “He has maintained then, now, and at all points, that he was innocent. The evidence you heard was questionable,” said Beard.

But at the sentencing the judge said the case “boiled down, as I recall, to a question of credibility, a question of who you believed; and the jury believed, obviously … the Commonwealth's witness.”

Barbour wound up serving 4½ years of his 18-year sentence, making parole his first time up for consideration. Parole was not abolished in Virginia until 1995.

Ward and Mary Anne Miller, a New Jersey couple, hired a Richmond lawyer to argue Barbour's case before the Virginia State Parole Board in 1982 at the request of Mary Anne's mother, Anne Morecock of Williamsburg.

“My mother was very upset about this situation. … No one believed it, nobody thought he really did it,” said Miller. The Morecocks knew Barbour because his mother was Anne Morecock's maid in Williamsburg.

In a letter to the parole board on Barbour's behalf, investigator Fred Dunford wrote, “Having investigated him in the past (not for the rape), I am firmly convinced that Bennett Barbour will not be a threat to the community if he is paroled.”

“I do not believe he is a violent person. As you know, he is a victim of brittle bone disease and his bones break very easily. He is also a shy person most unlikely to approach anyone in a violent manner,” wrote Dunford.

* * * * *

Green, the current Williamsburg prosecutor, has briefed the 1978 rape victim on the developments. He said she is handling things as well as could be expected.

“It's a difficult thing for her. She thought this was behind her and now it's back in her life,” Green said. “She (feels) some guilt, but she's not forgetting the fact that she was the victim here. And the comment that she made to me was, 'The person who did this has now victimized both of us,'” meaning her and Barbour.

And now, Green said, “She is joining in my concurrence that he needs to be exonerated.”

He said he is still weighing whether to bring charges against the man whose DNA was identified in the testing. “It's a 30-year-old case. I'm making sure that all the pieces that would be needed are there,” Green said.

Barbour's arrest and conviction for rape has been hard on his family. “It was like a bolt of lightning just came in and shattered everything,” said a sister, Maureen.

Barbour was born in Charles City County, the youngest of Dorothy and Spencer Barbour's seven children. His father died in 2008.

According to the probation officer's report, Barbour and his 18-year-old wife lived in the same three-bedroom home of his parents, where Barbour had spent most of his life. Barbour “owns one 1961 Ford Falcon automobile, which currently does not run. He and his wife have no savings or checking account, nor do they own anything of tangible value,” the report said.

His sister, Maureen, said, “If Daddy even thought he had done it he would kill him. We were raised strict.”

“I went to church somewhat after the time they arrested him and jailed him, and I was in church crying my eyes out. I mean it was terrible. It really did something to the family.”

His mother, now 85, never believed her son was guilty. “I've always thought he was innocent,” she said. Barbour said his ex-wife, Valerie, brought his daughter, Zekita, born after Bennett was imprisoned, to visit him while he was behind bars.

After his release, he had a career as a chef and cooking became his passion. He also was convicted of several driving offenses and served some time in jail, the result of a drinking problem, Barbour said.

A few years ago, he was diagnosed with bone cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy at the VCU's Massey Cancer Center. On Friday, he was at the hospital after a bad reaction to medication, his lawyers said.

Barbour, who now has three grandchildren, stays in touch by telephone with his 34-year-old daughter, who lives in another state.

One afternoon last month, he was playing cards with a nephew when he got word that a lawyer wanted him to call him. Barbour called the next day and learned there had been DNA testing in his case, something he had sought in 2004 without success.

He contacted the Innocence Project Clinic at U.Va. and soon learned that the DNA results cleared him and implicated someone else.

“I'm like, 'What?' Stunned. Very stunned and relieved,” he said. “It was about time I got a break in life because I've been dealing with this for 34 years.

“I would like my name cleared, and I would like some restitution for them putting me away for something I didn't do, and I want everybody to know that I never touched this woman, I never had any contact with this person.

“I didn't get a chance to help raise my daughter like I wanted to. I'm a good man. And I wanted to be a part of my kid's life. They took all this away from me.”

Read more:
New DNA test could exonerate man convicted of 1978 rape

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DNA results in in missing toddler case

STAMFORD — A top state DNA analyst testified Friday that a blood sample found at the 2002 homicide of Anna Lisa Raymundo contained the genetic profile of Sheila Davalloo, the self-represented defendant accused of her murder.

The sample, which came from a bathroom sink handle adjacent to the foyer where Raymundo was found bludgeoned and stabbed to death inside her Shippan condo, served as the state's only piece of physical evidence tying Davalloo to the crime scene and the lynchpin of its case against her.

The prosecutor, Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney James Bernardi, saved the damaging testimony for his last witness and rested his case Friday afternoon.

Since testimony began nearly two weeks ago at state Superior Court in Stamford, Bernardi called more than a dozen witnesses to testify against Davalloo, laying out his theory that the 42-year-old former pharmaceutical researcher killed Raymundo out of an obsessive and violent desire toward her boyfriend, a co-worker Davalloo had an affair with in 2001.

On Friday, Michael Bourke, a supervisor at the state's DNA lab, testified that a blood stain on the bathroom sink handle contained a mixture of genetic profiles belonging to Davalloo and Raymundo.

Bourke testified the probability of finding someone at random with the same genetic profile as the sample would be 1 in 8.5 million within the Caucasian population.

People of Middle Eastern descent such as Davalloo, an Iranian-American, fall into the Caucasian category when it comes to genetic profiles, he said.

Davalloo cross-examined Bourke about the state crime lab losing its national accreditation last year because of a backlog of cases, which left it unable to access the FBI's national DNA data bank. Bourke said the lab's suspension from the national data bank did not affect cases before it lost accreditation. That means analysts entered samples from the 2002 Raymundo homicide into the FBI data bank, which opened the samples up to comparisons from a national pool of DNA profiles.

Davalloo stumbled over questions about the state crime lab's recent troubles, allowing Bourke to evade queries about the lab losing its FBI certification and other problems. Bourke denied seeing any errors with the crime lab's DNA analysis.

“Last September, isn't it true that the DNA lab flunked its peer review?” Davalloo asked.

“I'm not sure I understand your question,” Bourke replied.

Davalloo asked about several dumbbells found at the crime scene with blood on them. Bourke said bloodstains on three of the dumbbells contained Raymundo's genetic profile plus another unknown contributor. He said out of the 39 samples investigators sent to the crime lab for DNA testing, only the sink handle registered a match for Davalloo.

The state rested Friday afternoon following a brief re-direct examination of Bourke, allowing Davalloo to present her defense. She called one witness to the stand, a former co-worker at Purdue Pharma who testified he couldn't recognize the voice on a 911 call that alerted police to the Raymundo homicide. She plans on calling more witnesses Tuesday, including a convicted felon who admitted to being in the general area of the Raymundo homicide.

Davalloo faces an uphill battle next week as she tries to discredit or deflect the evidence and narrative Bernardi presented through eight days of testimony. Davalloo is serving a 25-year prison sentence for the attempted murder of her former husband in March 2003.

Last week, Bernardi had her ex-husband, Paul Christos, testify about how Davalloo stabbed him twice in March 2003 during a game involving handcuffs and blindfolds, and once more outside a hospital before lying to police about his wounds. Christos detailed the stories his former wife told him about a “love triangle” at her office involving a woman named Anna Lisa. Davalloo mentioned breaking into Anna Lisa's home and bought a lock-pick kit at one point, Christos said.

Bernardi had Nelson Sessler, the co-worker at Purdue Pharma in Stamford, testify about how Davalloo unexpectedly met him at a Las Vegas airport in 2002 and sat next to him as they flew back on the same flight. Sessler also turned over hand-written letters Davalloo sent him following her arrest for her husband's stabbing in which she professed her love for him. Sessler said their relationship never became that serious. He didn't know Davalloo was married until after her arrest.

A voice recognition expert testified last week that Davalloo made the 911 call from a fast food restaurant on Shippan Avenue that alerted police to Raymundo's dead body at 12:13 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, 2002. The 911 caller told dispatchers that a man was attacking her neighbor.

Davalloo faces 25 to 60 years in prison if convicted of murder.

Staff writer Jeff Morganteen can be reached at 203-964-2215 or jeff.morganteen@scni.com.

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DNA expert testifies in Stamford murder trial

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DNA advances aiding Abilene police in cases

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Sheriffs: Expand DNA databank

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DNA turning our story into tell-all

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DNA key in case against Ocampo, D.A. says

A “significant DNA link” has led prosecutors to drop charges against a Yorba Linda man suspected of fatally stabbing his mother and older brother and instead connect suspected serial killer Itzcoatl Ocampo to the Oct. 25 crimes.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said that Eder Herrera, 24, was expected to be released from Orange County Jail on Friday night and that two additional charges would be filed against Ocampo in the murders of Raquel Estrada, 53, and Juan Herrera, 34.

Ocampo, 23, has already been charged in the deaths of four homeless men, one of whom was stabbed more than 60 times. The slayings occurred between Dec. 20 and Jan. 13 in northern Orange County.

In the Herrera case, DNA found on items taken from Ocampo’s Yorba Linda home matched a profile from the October slayings of Estrada and Juan Herrera.

“This case has now expanded from murdering random vulnerable strangers to murdering people he knew,” Rackauckas said at a news conference Friday.

The younger Herrera, who had been a classmate of Ocampo's at Esperanza High School in Anaheim, was accused of stabbing his mother more than 30 times and leaving her body in the kitchen. His brother was stabbed more than 60 times and the body left in a hallway until police responded to a tip at 11:30 p.m. The person believed they heard strange noises coming from the home.

Rackauckas said there was “significant evidence” that led to the filing of charges against Herrera, including a witness who saw a person he believed was Herrera dragging something from the front door of the house back inside.

“Based on blood evidence at the scene, it appeared that victim Juan Herrera had attempted to escape out the front door before being dragged back inside,” Rackauckas said.

Eder “Herrera spent the evening driving around randomly with a friend,” he said. “His behavior was suspicious.”

Rackauckas said the investigation is ongoing.

RELATED:

Suspected O.C. serial killer kept knife sharpener in bedroom

Serial killer suspect said, 'I did something terrible,' uncle says

Ex-Marine accused in homeless killings often gave money to needy

— Nicole Santa Cruz

Photo: Itzcoatl Ocampo at his arraignment last month. At right is Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Link:
O.C. homeless slayings: DNA links Ocampo to double homicide

Physiological processes and chemical reactions in cells are highly specific and take place in several reaction steps. Multiple enzymes must cooperate in order to catalyze the sequential steps of the required chemical transformations – and are much more efficient at it than synthetic systems. The natural systems can only be effectively imitated if the individual enzymes and factors have the correct relative orientations in space. DNA-origami structures can be used as “molecular switchboards” to arrange enzymes and other proteins with nanometer-scale precision.

Various methods for binding proteins to DNA-origami structures have previously been developed, but in most cases they require modification of the protein. “A method based only on proteins is desirable,” says Morii, “because it would simplify and accelerate the binding of proteins to the origami.”

Morii and his team settled on the use of zinc-finger proteins as “adapters”. A polypeptide chain of zinc-finger protein grabs a zinc ion to form a stable compact fold; this fold referred to as a “zinc finger” and can bind to specific DNA patterns. It is possible to make zinc fingers that recognize any DNA pattern desired.

The scientists produced rectangular origami structures with several defined cavities. At these locations, the origamis contain various DNA-recognition patterns for different zinc fingers. The researchers then made proteins that contain zinc-finger units at one end and a fluorescing protein or biotin molecule at the other end. Biotin binds specifically to the large protein streptavidin. Atomic force microscopic images show that the streptavidin molecules always bind specifically to the intended cavity in the origami rectangle.

“Our results demonstrate that zinc fingers are suitable site-selective adapters for targeting specific locations within DNA-origami structures,” says Morii. “Several different adapters carrying different proteins can independently bind at defined locations on this type of nanostructure.”

More information: Takashi Morii, Zinc-Finger Proteins for Site-Specific Protein Positioning on DNA-Origami Structures, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, http://dx.doi.org/ … ie.201108199

Provided by Wiley (news : web)

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Zinc-finger proteins act as site-specific adapters for DNA-origami structures