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(NewsNation) — Authorities used forensic genealogy to track down Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, the man accused of raping and murdering Rachel Morin in 2023.
Claire Glynn, the founding director of Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy at the University of New Haven, joined “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Friday to talk about the process. She said the method entails using the unknown DNA sample to build out a family tree of relatives until a suspect is found.
Martinez-Hernandez’s defense disputed the discovery of the DNA, saying the results weren’t 100% linked to him. Glynn says it could happen when some genetic markers are lost in a DNA profile during the forensic process if the sample was contaminated or only a low sample was found.
Prosecutors on the case say they found multiple DNA samples from Martinez-Hernandez from the site and on Morin.
“Whenever you have multiple different DNA samples on different sites and sources on the body and on the victim, that’s giving a lot of strength to the evidence,” Glynn said.
Glynn said the tool is new and is being used more in cases similar to Morin’s and other challenging cases. It was used in the Golden State Killer’s discovery in 2018.
“In the time since 2018, 1,200 different cases have benefited from the use of forensic genealogy,” Glynn said.