Forensic genetic genealogy has been increasingly used by forensic scientists to solve crimes, even a cold case in Dallas.
Carrie Krejci had been looking for the man that entered her North Dallas home, tied her down, and sexually assaulted her at gunpoint since 1985 to no avail until forensic genealogy recently pointed police to a suspect.
Dallas Police Department ran the DNA from Krejci’s rape kit through the FBI data CODIS in 2003, but the results pointed to five other victims in Dallas and Shreveport rather than a perpetrator.
Upon hearing about forensic teams successfully using genetic genealogy to find suspects in 2020, Krejci emailed Dallas County prosecutor Leighton D’Antoni and asked him to look into it for her case.
Using funds from an annual $5.3 million grant that the DA’s office has received since 2015 through the federal sexual assault kit initiative, a forensic genetic genealogy investigation was pursued. It led authorities to David Thomas Hawkins, a 75-year-old former dentist from Johnson County.
“They were able to put the suspect under surveillance and get some discarded trash,” D’Antoni explained, according to WFAA. “The DNA profile from that discarded trash was an exact match to the cases we knew we had … The crime lab said it was a one in a trillion chance that it wasn’t him.”
After being arrested for aggravated sexual assault, Hawkins was sentenced to four life sentences in prison in September 2021. He later confessed to the rape of approximately 30 more women in the Dallas area.
At 72 years old, Krejci was able to look her attacker in the eyes in court and tell him, “David Thomas Hawkins, my wish for you is that you take your last breath in prison, and that you burn in hell,” according to WFAA.
While Krejci’s case likely wouldn’t have been solved without forensic genetic genealogy, the process is very expensive.
It involves creating a genetic profile of a suspect and using genealogy databases to find relatives. Yet it doesn’t use popular genealogy databases like 23andMe or Ancestry.com. The few genetic genealogy services that do, such as GEDmatch, allow users to opt-in for their information to be accessible to police.
Momentum for the forensic procedure is gaining traction and becoming more mainstream.
“The technology has been a real game-changer for law enforcement,” said Dallas FBI Special Agent Randy White, according to WFAA.
As The Dallas Express reported, the suspect in a quadruple murder of university students in Idaho last year came to the attention of the authorities after DNA found at the crime scene matched a sample provided by a family member on a genealogy testing website.
Bryan Kohberger maintains his innocence, although he did not enter a plea during his hearing on May 22. He will be tried this October.
The Center for Human Identification lab at the University of North Texas in Fort Worth will soon be accredited to perform forensic genetic genealogy and do these tests for local law enforcement agencies for free, according to WFAA.
In Dallas, there are an estimated 200,000 cold cases dating as far back as 1980. Despite DPD having a cold case squad, the backlog — including approximately 500 homicides — is rising.
As The Dallas Express has covered, staffing issues have plagued DPD as the homicide rate continues to climb. While the department has sought to build a force of around 4,000 officers, it falls short by at least 400, according to Dallas Police Association President Mike Mata.
Police response times have grown longer and residents have grown increasingly concerned, with a recent poll conducted by The Dallas Express showing “crime reduction” as the top priority among issues respondents want the City Council to take on.