Advances in DNA technology help solve a 24-year-old sexual assault case

HOLLAND, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – DNA technology has once again solved a cold case in western Massachusetts. This time it led to an arrest in a brutal sexual assault case that dates back more than two decades.

This case marks an important milestone for Hampden County. According to District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, this is the first time that forensic genetic genealogy has helped in the arrest of a criminal. This suspect is charged with sexually assaulting a woman in Holland, Massachusetts nearly 24 years ago, and thanks to this technology, he’s finally facing a judge today. Gulluni assured us that this was just the beginning.

He said: “A woman who lived in the Holland area, in the eastern part of Hampden County, was walking on a Sunday afternoon and was grabbed from behind by a person. She was then dragged into the nearby forest line and raped. She was threatened and eventually reported that an unknown white man had sexually assaulted her.”

He told us that despite extensive law enforcement efforts, no suspects have been identified at this time.

However, early forensic evidence has been collected and preserved, and Gulluni explains that a DNA profile was created but no matches have been found so far.

Nearly 24 years later, 48-year-old Jamie Dodge of Brownsville, Maine, is charged with aggravated rape and kidnapping. He appeared before a judge on Wednesday for arraignment.

Gulluni said Dodge was identified as a suspect using groundbreaking scientific findings called forensic investigative genetic genealogy.

We learn more about how this technology works.

He explained: “Genetic genealogy takes aspects of a DNA profile and allows trained individual scientists to match aspects of that person’s DNA profile to people who have known profiles in the database, and then they can build a family tree from that,” he said “You tell us that certain people are related to a certain person who represents our unknown profile, in this case in identifying Jamie Dodge as a suspect in the crime in 2000.”

Gulluni told Western Mass News that this technology has actually been around for several years, but it is becoming increasingly credible and has led to several successful prosecutions across the country.

“The first famous case solved using this technology was the Golden State Killer in 2018, and just five or six years since then the technology has evolved, it has become more efficient and more companies are able to use it , and so on.” Expertise.”

Gulluni told us that his cold case unit is actively combing through its records to identify which crimes might be solved through genetic genealogy.

Gulluni added that his office works daily to identify cases with a forensic aspect that could be used to generate new leads, now that they have access to this ever-evolving DNA technology.

He added that the DA’s office catalogs the many unsolved cases throughout the county, dating back to the 1950s.

“Proof of this is the fact that just last week we resolved the nearly 58-year-old case for which Donald Mars was convicted in court, following our recent indictment.”

And Gulluni explained why it’s important to never give up on these cases, no matter how cold they get.

“Whether the perpetrator is still alive or not, these answers are important for families and for those of us in the criminal justice system.”

In this latest arrest, Dodge is being held on $250,000 bail. His next court date is July 11.

Copyright 2024. Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.