This text belongs to ‘Dossier Negro’, a newsletter inspired by the podcast of the same name, which Enrique Figueredo will send on Wednesdays on a biweekly basis. If you want to receive it, sign up here.
The scientific revolution has meant that certain goals for humanity that seemed unattainable are now within reach. Advances have occurred in the most different disciplines and have helped to satisfy a thousand tasks of daily life, making them simpler or faster. The field of justice and criminology have not been fields that have been left out of this leap forward whose cadence has not yet reached its end. One of the elements that have most modified the rules of forensic medicine and scientific police has been the knowledge about DNA and how to use it properly in order to clarify criminal matters. If it is a homicide or murder, the genetic fingerprint is extremely important evidence in any investigation or judicial procedure. The discovery of DNA, for example, of a suspect on towels in the bathrooms of an apartment where a double murder was committed in the town of Almonte (Huelva) in 2013, was taken as almost unbeatable evidence by the accusations. Discussions during the trial at times became scientific in tone. In the Almonte crime, the subject of the latest installment of Dossier Negro, an eight-year-old girl and her father: María and Miguel Ángel Domínguez were stabbed to death.
It was also DNA that played a very important role in solving a crime that occurred in West Virginia (United States) in 2012. Two teenagers, Shelia Eddy and Rachel Shoaf, killed their friend Skylar Neese with 50 stab wounds. The police found in Sheila’s house the knives used to carry out the murder with a huge amount of the victim’s genetic material. They killed her so that she would not tell that one drunken night, the two murderers had had sexual relations with the deceased as her witness.
Analysis and counteranalysis. Despite having occurred in 2001, one of the cases that has brought genetics back to the forefront of today is that of the murder of the young Catalan Helena Jubany. After years and years of persecution of possible culprits, the judge in the case has requested that some of the victim’s clothing be re-analyzed to see if it has produced a mixture of various DNA.
Exculpations. The gradual improvement in DNA work has allowed the review of many old cases that seemed unsolvable. In many cases, a culprit has been discovered decades after the fact. However, the tragic opposite case has also occurred: a person convicted for years in prison turns out to be innocent in the end when it is proven by the scientific method that he was not the author.
DNA collections. In all countries, genetic profile banks proliferate. Although the processing of this information is very delicate and requires modern legislation on data protection, it is considered a tool of maximum interest in the fight against crime.
Story with intrigue. The discovery of deoxidoribonucleic acid (DNA) forever changed our understanding of genetics. The deciphering of the genetic code was the next great leap. His complete discovery was surrounded by envy and possible cases of scientific espionage during the 1950s, as explained in this La Vanguardia inforeport.