Chapter 6 Life Bar ‘The Golden Standard’ – An Alternate Universe Lacking the Existence of Genetic Genealogy Georgina Tomas Genes are like a story, and DNA is the language that story is written in. (Sam Kean, American Author) With forensic DNA analysis widely regarded as the ‘golden standard’ of forensic evidence, case investigations and criminal cases have shown that genetic genealogy is pivotal in discovering who the perpetrator is. Through the interpretation of DNA testing and its new adaptation of credibility towards case investigations, it will lead to the establishment of what genetic genealogy is and how it has made an impact in the progressions of forensic evidence. To propose a hypothetical situation where genetic genealogy does not exist, one can examine the impacts on individuals in society and in investigation. Understanding genetic genealogy is key in ensuring that further advancements take place in the novel field of forensic science, as it concerns the nature of DNA analysis, from the many fallibilities of processing to the standardization practices across all laboratories. The importance of forensic genetics will be distinguished through a hypothetical universe inexistent of genetic genealogy prior to the Golden State Killer (GSK) case. The absence of genetic genealogy will be used to highlight the divergence in an alternate timeline to then unravel the major impacts it would further have on the GSK case. The external consequences that would be involved in the justice system regarding social and privacy-related issues will also be examined. 59 The Forensic Science Alternate Universe Golden State Killer Case Between 1974 and 1986, the name ‘Golden State Killer’ was the moniker for a man by the name of Joseph James DeAngelo. His criminal pursuits gradually increased in severity, beginning with burglaries, progressed to rape, and eventually advanced to murder. He was a former police officer who was convicted between 2018 and 2020, for over 120 burglaries, 58 rape cases, and 13 homicides (P v DeAngelo, 2018). During the years of 1974-1986, when his criminal activities occurred, law enforcement was unable to discover who was responsible for these serial crimes, causing the case to go cold for 40 years (P v DeAngelo, 2018). It was not until 2001, when forensic advancement with DNA evidence began to reveal information to aid this unsolvable case. DNA evidence recovered from the sexual assaults and homicide crime scenes were preserved in storage and later discovered to be linked to a single suspect as a result of further advancements of forensic DNA analysis. Though it took multiple years for investigators to link these cases together, it was beneficial to have DNA evidence preserved. Since forensic DNA testing was not well advanced during the time these crimes occurred, the preemptive preservation of DNA evidence led to the discovery of the perpetrator’s identity in 2018 (P v DeAngelo, 2018). Although the advancement of forensic technology helped investigators discover that these cold cases were linked, it did not provide them with enough information to narrow down the suspects. Since the DNA gathered from the crime scenes and sexual assaults did not match any DNA profiles in the existing DNA index systems, the investigation became stunted. After many attempts to discover new evidence, failures in finding the perpetrator (resulting in wrongful arrests), and the use of a National DNA Index System (NDIS), investigators turned to genetic genealogy. Genetic genealogy is a combination study of heredity and genes, referencing the process on which heritable traits are passed down from generation to generation. Online ancestry testing sites were used throughout this investigation, specifically including the upload of perpetrator DNA to a site called GEDmatch. GEDmatch is a genealogy website that allows individuals to find their families, relatives, and discover their family tree, in which helped to solve the cold case. Online ancestry sites were used in hopes of potentially identifying any of the perpetrator’s family members, allowing investigators to work with a smaller pool of suspects. An investigator that was interested in the case decided to take it upon 60 ‘The Golden Standard’ – Alternate Universe Nonexistent of Genetic Genealogy himself to create a fake account on GEDMatch and uploaded the DNA from the case (Winton et al., 2018). It was later found that though there were familial matches, it still did not create a small enough list of suspects. Investigators began to connect familial matches to create different, distinct family trees. The suspect pool was narrowed further by comparing the results from the GEDMatch database to the DNA testing results they obtained from the crime scenes and sexual assaults. Investigators found one with similar matches to a 75-year-old man by the name of Joseph DeAngelo (P v DeAngelo, 2018). Due to the insufficient amount of evidence against Joseph DeAngelo, investigators were unable to obtain a warrant to acquire his DNA for comparison. Thus, investigators gathered his DNA from his car door handle while it was parked on public property, after physically spotting Joseph driving the car. Additional DNA was gathered from items he disposed of in his trash, like tissues, that were put out on the front street of his home. Both samples were found to be a match to the DNA found in the 1974-1986 murder and rape case investigations (BayAreaNewsGroup, 2021). Joseph DeAngelo was found guilty of multiple first-degree murders, with special circumstance murder during commission of rape, special circumstance murder during commission of a burglary, special circumstance murder during commission of a robbery, and 26 counts of different offences of the same crime class (P v DeAngelo 2018; Phillips, 2018). He received multiple life sentences without any possibility of parole. Genetic Genealogy is Indispensable Genetic genealogy is a proficient development for a finer analysis of DNA, by creating investigative leads that discover the missing person or the suspect through a comparative process that produces their family connections. Genetic genealogy has assisted in identifying multiple suspects in many case investigations and has helped to decrease the number of wrongful convictions. As with DNA analysis, comparing the data to DNA index systems leaves more room for error and the rates of wrongful accusations, as partial sequences found on a scene can skew the results. In the case of the GSK, law enforcement wrongfully arrested multiple suspects who were released because their DNA did not match that found on homicide crime scenes and sexual assaults. This could have ended horribly if the DNA samples gathered were cross-contaminated or skewed, as it could have led to wrongfully 61 The Forensic Science Alternate Universe convicting a different suspect based on their initial DNA analysis (Weyermann & Roux, 2021). Forensic genetic genealogy is a relatively new concept in the forensic field. With new techniques, arises ethical views of this procedure and whether law enforcement should be able to use genetic genealogy to aid in their investigations. The ethical concern pertains to privacy and social issues, as well as the public perspective. Ethics should be considered due to the information this technique reveals, like the participant’s ethnicity, medical history, and physical features (Wickenheiser, 2019). Although genealogy websites’ policies prioritize the participants’ privacies and forbid law enforcement to use their data to aid in investigations, some genealogy websites have updated their policies to allow the use of data for criminal investigations (Gafni et al., 2018). These new policies also provide the participant with the option to opt out of using their DNA to assist in any investigations, still providing the sense of privacy. Despite this, there is still an issue with consent. By granting permission to use DNA for an investigation, individuals are giving consent on behalf of their immediate and extended family members as well, due to the DNA’s familial linkage. This leaves an individual, for example a sibling or parent, who did not agree to have their DNA used during an investigation, with their rights violated through the initial person who gave consent (Guerrini et al., 2018). An additional issue then arises where genetic genealogy databases hold greater importance to law enforcement and prosecutors than DNA data compiled from DNA index systems to which law enforcement have access. SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) are variations in a DNA sequence at a single position. Genealogy databases hold a large amount of SNPs, and this allows for an individual's physical characteristics or medical history to be divined (Katsanis, 2020). The database provides law enforcement with additional information that they would not initially have through DNA testing and the DNA index systems. What is unknown to participants, however, is that law enforcement does not get access to the individuals’ SNP profiles, and they receive the same information as any other member of the database, which includes any familial matches (Guerrini, 2021; Katsanis, 2020). This ensures the public’s private information, like their family medical history or ethnicity, is not provided to law enforcement to be misused. 62 ‘The Golden Standard’ – Alternate Universe Nonexistent of Genetic Genealogy Some judicial courts believe that law enforcement should not be able to have access to these databases, as it goes against human rights