Odd that someone committed a crime such as this and had not previously been in the system or has been in the system since to have DNA to compare it to.
Here's a scary, scary fact: the perpetrator's DNA may be in the system--in the form of a swab sitting in an envelope in a prosecutor or warden's office.
There is an
enormous backlog for DNA testing in this country. Conservative estimates are that there are approximately 1-2 million samples of DNA from felons that have not yet been processed. In some states, the backlog is running 5-7 years behind; this is very, very bad news for the victims of crimes that have statute of limitations of less than the backlog time. There are a bunch of rapes where the statute of limitations ran out before the DNA evidence was processed. They know for a fact who committed the rape but since the clock ran out, he walks away free.
It's enough to make me sick and it is infuriating for law enforcement.
Labs try to do some prioritisation in processing DNA evidence--they try to move urgent cases up to the head of the line. But that is nearly impossible to decide. For instance, which is more urgent? DNA from a murder that took place recently? Or DNA from a man who has been sitting in prison for 18+ years saying he's innocent?
In at least one state, Illinois, DNA swabs are only taken as the prisoner is leaving prison. And Illinois has one of the longest backlogs in the nation.
All they can say at this point is that the DNA doesn't match any of the 5 million samples in CODIS. There's (conservatively) another 1-2 million samples from convicted felons that are waiting to be processed to be entered into CODIS. And then there's (very, very conservatively speaking) another 10 million samples from crime scenes that have not yet been processed (keep in mind that most crime scenes yield more than one sample of possible DNA).
The problem comes down to money. DNA testing is not like sticking something in a Xerox machine to make a copy; it requires a high level of training and skill to do properly. The technicians who do it probably do love their work but just like you and me, they also have to pay the bills. They do not and most of them cannot work for free.
The lab equipment for testing the samples is quite expensive. Hugely expensive. It can't just be slapped into any old room, either--it must be run within a certain range of temperature and humidity (kinda like computers only much more sensitive). The surroundings have to be cleaner than the surgical suite in a hospital, so the air circulation system has to be specially designed for the building and it has to be maintained religiously. And every janitor has to be paid as well.
Just the protective clothing for lab techs who do DNA work is expensive. A full disposable outfit is cheaper than a re-useable outfit but even the disposables are about $6/outfit. That doesn't sound like much until you consider that the technician should change outfits between each case. If the technician handles 15 cases a day (not an unreasonable case load), that's $90/day or $450/week. Times 52 weeks a year and that's $23,400. At least they don't have to pay health insurance, workman's comp and FICA for the outfits.
DNA is an incredibly powerful tool. It's easy to see it revolutionising crime investigations... if we, as a society, decide that it is worth paying for.
Frankly, that decision has not yet been made. We're making a half-hearted effort, getting great results but it's still only a half-hearted effort.
