A new law extends the state’s sexual assault evidence protections to cover DNA samples. But getting justice in hundreds of cold cases will require more than just testing, survivors say.
  • Flying Squid
    68•4 months ago

    50 years. Disgusting. And they’re far from the only state.

    • Chozo
      35•4 months ago

      We’ve had a severe backlog here in Texas, too. It’s awful how widespread this is.

      • Flying Squid
        41•4 months ago

        This, to me, is the worst part of the article. About a multiple rapist who was identified recently through this program. Not because of his DNA, because of a fingerprint. You know, the thing we’ve been able to connect criminals to for over a century.

        The technology to find Shipe had been around for decades; the difference that led to him to be found now was staffing the effort with a cold-case detective, paid for with funds from the reform effort.

        All they had to do was hire one detective and a violent serial rapist was caught nearly 50 years after he may have started.

        • Chozo
          20•4 months ago

          Hey now, don’t be too hard on The System. It’s not like they were doing nothing all day while these unsolved violent crimes piled up! Those Brave Boys in Blue have been hard at work putting teenagers in prison and destroying their futures over petty drug charges this whole time. There just simply isn’t enough manpower to ruin the lives of our youth and solve actual crimes at the same time! We gotta pick one or the other, and we picked one.

  • @Cryophilia
    28•4 months ago

    “on track” is a poor choice of terms. “catching up to” maybe.