Genealogy website leads to Golden State Killer

[handejector]

Wow.

I haven't read this whole thread.
MAYBE somebody else has posted the correct sequence of events, but the posts I did read don't indicate that.

If you research it, I'll bet THIS is how it happened:

1> When you submit your DNA to one of the genealogy services, read the fine print. You are probably giving them permission to share the data about you with other submissions that match you. If they did not have that stipulation, how could your long lost cousin find you? How could you find your lost relatives?

2> The cops did not obtain anything illegally. Not even close. They submitted the DNA collected from the crime scenes over the decades. They submitted it to several services. They got a hit at one that was a close enough match to mean the person was a relative of the killer. The service gave the results to the paying customer- the cops or DA or whoever submitted the sample, just like they will give you data.

3> They started checking the family tree of the guy that they got the related hit on. That does not take a warrant- it is all on public record- birth certificates, marriage records, school records, etc, etc.

4> They found the likely/possible suspects. They followed the old guy around. He went to a family party at a restaurant. A cop played the bus boy and waited. The old guy ate and drank and left his dishes. Cop/bus boy cleaned up the table and kept his dishes separate. No warrant required, just like one is not required for anything you discard, like a ctigarette you toss, or your garbage placed at the curb(public property).

5> They then tested the DNA from the dishes, and it matched the crime scene DNA.

GOOD WORK!

 

[Absalom]

If you research it, I'll bet THIS is how it happened:

1> When you submit your DNA to one of the genealogy services, read the fine print. You are probably giving them permission to share the data about you with other submissions that match you. If they did not have that stipulation, how could your long lost cousin find you? How could you find your lost relatives?

2> The cops did not obtain anything illegally. Not even close. They submitted the DNA collected from the crime scenes over the decades. They submitted it to several services. They got a hit at one that was a close enough match to mean the person was a relative of the killer. The service gave the results to the paying customer- the cops or DA or whoever submitted the sample, just like they will give you data.
...

Amazing. It would actually work that way.

I always thought those genetic testing services simply told you that you were 65% Irish, 32% Austrian, and 3% German shepherd, or something like that.

But while it is optional, they will give you names and the ability to contact people. And judging by the 23andMe website (see attached snip), very small percentages get you on the list of "relatives", so the net is widely cast, but easily narrowed with good filters based on the actual cases involving the killer.

And as for privacy, it's like Facebook. If you agree to put your info out there, you can't complain if it comes back to bite you.

 

[TomkinsSP]

...And as for privacy, it's like Facebook. If you agree to put your info out there, you can't complain if it comes back to bite you.

As mentioned previously Mr. Scumbag Killer, of Palo Alto, California has ZERO claim to privacy or ownership of DNA he left at a Crime Scene. IF his cousin Mrs. Roweeena Johnson of Undisclosed, Wyoming submitted her DNA to 24orMore, or another firm, there were conditions she agreed to. No privacy concerns. She is not a suspect, her privacy was not comprimised.

Not a lawyer, just a retired cop who sees nothing a Judge can object to with this evidence. Too bad it took so long to obtain.

 

[500SNW]

As mentioned previously Mr. Scumbag Killer, of Palo Alto, California has ZERO claim to privacy or ownership of DNA he left at a Crime Scene.

Sigh...I remember the days when a person was "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law" (and) "judged by a jury of his/her peers". I'm sorry to hear that, because of media coverage alone, he has been declared a "scumbag killer" before he's even had his day in court.

 

[TomkinsSP]

^^^Please re-read what I wrote. Ms. Jannelle Cruz (among others) was a person who lived and was murdered by "Mr. Scumbag Killer". Just as Mrs. Roweeena Johnson is a 'made up name', I am pretty darned sure Mr. and Mrs. Killer did not name thier little boy "Scumbag". I never said JJDA was or was not anything, and he doesn't live in Palo Alto.^^^

 

[jrm53]

I saw on the news, CBS I think and the reporter thought his civil rights might have been violated, just think of rights he violated of his victims, news people like this make me feel violated!! Jeff

 

[Erich]

If anyone wants to read the New York Times story on how it went down, this link should hook you up:

How a Genealogy Site Led to the Front Door of the Golden State Killer Suspect - The New York Times

 

[Steve912]

That was Apple and what they refused was one of the FBIs many attempts to coerce them in to writing software that would unlock any iPhone 6 or earlier.

Sounds like Apple's <edited> version.

Apple also refused to take the phone itself, and provide
the decrypted contents to the FBI. In other words,
Apple completely refused to assist in any manner.

 

[trooper2899]

That couldn’t be the case here. After 40 years they had no clue to this guy. He was never on the radar until a week ago or so. So the police wouldn’t know who a relative of his was. But that relative’s DNA innocently given to the genealogy site was found to match the killer’s DEA from various crimes since the 1970s. So DNA is shared somehow with authorities. And again, I, too think it’s a good thing since they caught him. And who knows. When using these websites people might be told their DNA could be accessed by the police, or automatically goes into database. I think that would be great. The cops need all the help they can get.

* His relative was a daughter (she's a physician)

 

[hittman77]

privacy

^. This. ^.

No



Longer





Exists.