Buzz
Dogs are well-known for their remarkable sense of smell, often bringing us all sorts of unexpected, sometimes unpleasant, discoveries. It’s usually the neighbors’ discarded trash or an abandoned shoe, but occasionally, it’s bones—sometimes even human remains. Dogs are also crucial in tracking down criminals. Just a few years ago, bloodhounds were the only animals whose evidence could be accepted in court. Although animal forensics is still a relatively new field, DNA matches from animal blood, hair, saliva, and waste products have already helped solve numerous homicide cases. Even canine urine has been key in solving a sexual assault case. Cats, birds, and even deer have also played a part in bringing criminals to justice.
10. Murderer Tracked Down By His Own Dogs
Four years after Shantay Huntington's body was found, the identity of her killer was finally uncovered. The 18-year-old woman had died of asphyxiation in May 2006. Her body, wrapped in a bed sheet and shower curtain, bound with duct tape, was discovered in a wooded area of Loxahatchee, Florida. She was miles away from Miami, where she had last been seen. A high school dropout from Colorado, she had been living in Florida for less than six months at the time of her death.
Huntington’s known male companion was ruled out as a suspect, but the case stalled there. Three years later, the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory Forensic Unit at the University of California conducted DNA tests on dog hairs found on the bed sheet. The hairs contained sufficient DNA to create a profile, which indicated they came from a full sibling of dogs owned by Liliana Toledo. The area where the body was discovered was directly across the street from Toledo's home.
When questioned, Toledo's statements shifted investigators' focus to Guillermo Romero, her estranged former brother-in-law. At the time of the questioning, Toledo's sister had a restraining order against Romero, but he owned two Akita puppies from one of Toledo’s litters. A DNA sample from Romero matched human DNA found on the shower curtain and duct tape that had wrapped Huntington’s body. The matching dog DNA and human DNA from the murder scene led to a first-degree murder charge against Romero. In 2013, Romero pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
9. Two Attack Dogs Back Down
It’s no secret that the British are fond of their hounds, so it only makes sense that dog DNA would play a role in a murder trial in the United Kingdom. In this case, DNA not only helped convict one man of murder but also exonerated another. The tragic April 2009 murder of a 16-year-old South London youth occurred during a gang altercation. The dogs, used as weapons, were ordered to attack Oluwaseyi Ogunyemi, also known as Seyi. The two dogs that were set upon Seyi were Tyson, a pit bull and mastiff mix, and Mia, a pit bull and Staffordshire mix. After attacking Seyi, he was repeatedly stabbed and beaten to death. The dogs also sustained injuries, with Tyson being stabbed in the neck.
Tyson left a blood trail leading back to the victim after he and his owner, Chrisdian Johnson, fled the scene. When police apprehended Johnson just 13 minutes after the attack, they found Seyi’s blood still on his hands. Tyson’s blood was also found on Johnson’s body, supporting the claim that he had been at the crime scene. Saliva from the other dog, owned by Darcy Menezes, was discovered on torn clothing found at the site. The only weapons recovered from the murder were the dogs themselves.
Menezes was cleared of any involvement in the murder of Seyi or the attempted murder of another young victim. A dog DNA database demonstrated that the DNA matches from Tyson and Mia were a billion times more likely to come from these two dogs than any other canines. Johnson was sentenced to life in prison, with no chance of parole for 24 years. He was also convicted of attempting to murder Seyi’s friend, Hurui Hiyabu, a 17-year-old whom he had stabbed nine times.
8. Cockatoo Seeks Revenge for Owner
It’s hard not to feel sympathy for this little bird, who became a victim of the same man who killed his owner. The white-crested cockatoo died protecting him, but its most remarkable act occurred after its death. Evidence from the Christmas Eve 2001 crime scene included feathers scattered throughout the house, showing that ‘Bird,’ named after NBA legend Larry Bird, had fought back.
The deceased owner of the cockatoo was Kevin Butler, 49, from Pleasant Grove, Texas. Crime scene evidence revealed that Bird attempted to protect Butler by diving and pecking at Daniel Torres, 30, who retaliated by stabbing the bird with a fork. Butler had been bound, beaten, and stabbed multiple times before dying. His courageous pet, a 46-centimeter (18-inch) cockatoo, succumbed to a stab wound to the back and was also missing a leg when authorities found him.
Torres and Johnny Serna denied any involvement until DNA collected from the blood on Bird’s beak was matched to Torres’s own blood sample. Faced with irrefutable evidence, Serna admitted that his half-brother had slashed Butler’s throat while Serna himself searched the house for valuables. Torres was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.
7. Sexual Predator Brought Down By His Mother’s Dog
Dane Williams, 23, from Orange County, was in San Diego for a convention when he unfortunately crossed paths with Philong Huynh. Williams’s body was later discovered discarded in a San Diego alley, wrapped in a blanket that eventually linked Huynh to the January 2008 crime. The identity of the sexual predator and murderer was confirmed when hairs from the blanket were tested and matched to Huynh’s mother’s dog.
The victim had been drugged, sexually assaulted, and murdered. Eighteen months later, San Diego police investigators made the chilling realization that the crime bore a striking similarity to another sexual assault of a heterosexual man. Both men had been drugged.
DNA evidence collected from the second victim matched evidence from a sexual assault and murder that took place 17 months earlier. However, it was the dog hairs identified through DNA testing that provided the crucial link between Huynh and the body found in the alley. Huynh was convicted in June 2009 and sentenced to life for his crimes against Williams, along with an additional 10 years for the charges related to the second assault.
6. Cat Fur Strengthens Manslaughter Case
The dismembered torso of Hampshire resident David Guy was found wrapped in a curtain on a Southsea beach in England in July 2012. Eight cat hairs were collected from the curtain for analysis. While investigators were excited about the potential of cross-matching animal hair DNA, no established system existed in the United Kingdom at the time that a court would accept as valid evidence.
The eight cat hairs, along with sample hairs from Tinker, a cat belonging to the suspect David Hilder, were sent to California for DNA analysis. The results confirmed a match. To further support their case, British investigators had the blood of 152 English cats tested. This led to the creation of the first cat DNA database in the UK, and the trial is notable for being the first successful use of cat DNA as evidence in the country.
Tinker’s DNA evidence wasn’t the only factor that contributed to Hilder’s conviction. Police also found traces of the victim’s blood in the killer’s Southsea apartment. However, the cat’s DNA evidence played a crucial role in strengthening the prosecution’s case. Hilder, a metal scrap dealer and the victim’s neighbor and friend, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 12 years.
Tinker now resides with a new family.
5. Robbers Step in Dog Poop
A triple-murder case in Indiana in September 2002 was solved with an unexpected piece of evidence—dog feces. A fragment found on Philip Stroud’s shoe was a genetic match to another sample from the dog on the property where the murders took place. Stroud, a 21-year-old killer, was part of a group of four men robbing a property in the Lakeview area. Stroud left behind a print from his Nike running shoes in dog poop on the property.
The DNA lab successfully matched the print and DNA sample taken from the suspect’s shoe. Stroud denied being at the location where the bodies of three workers, who had been constructing a loft in a barn on a Lakeville property, were discovered. All three victims had been killed by gunshot wounds to their heads.
An expert witness from the University of California testified that the feces on Stroud’s sneaker most likely came from the same dog responsible for the other feces found at the crime scene. Stroud was convicted by a jury and later resentenced on appeal to life imprisonment.
4. Grandma’s Trio of Cats Help Catch a Killer
Tracy Ann Carson disappeared after celebrating her 40th birthday at a bar in Everton, Iowa, in October 2000. Her remains were discovered seven months later by spring flooding and were found by a fisherman. Her body had been partially burned before being buried near a creek bed. Benjamin Michael O’Donnell, 24, was known to have spent time with her on the night she vanished.
The deceased woman had been wrapped in a bolt of fabric traced back to the home of O’Donnell’s grandmother. Upon investigation, cat hairs found on the fabric were matched to the grandmother’s three cats. When confronted with this evidence, along with blood traces found in the trunk of O’Donnell’s car that matched the victim’s, O’Donnell entered an Alford plea of guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder. He had previously agreed to pay $150,000 to Carson’s estate and to waive future appeals and other relief actions.
3. Deer DNA Leads to the Hunter’s Downfall
City residents may not appreciate having one in their yard, but in rural areas, animal lovers often adopt deer as pets. Neither Lawrence Cseripko nor his victim, Paul Horvat Jr., were such enthusiasts. Both were hunters. In December 1997, Horvat was fatally shot in the back after having killed a deer. It wasn’t until 2005 that his Fayette County killer was convicted. Over the eight years, the science of testing animal DNA had advanced, helping to solve earlier cases. Evidence collected by police investigators after Horvat’s death was pivotal in identifying the perpetrator.
A DNA match between venison from Cseripko’s freezer and blood and deer entrails found near Horvat’s body in 2004 tied Cseripko to the crime. The two men had exchanged heated words during the previous hunting season, with Cseripko threatening to kill Horvat if they crossed paths again.
Cseripko is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder. In an appeal that he filed on his own behalf, the 65-year-old Pennsylvania man claimed that the evidence, including the deer DNA, was not enough to convict him. The appeal was rejected.
2. Dangerous Criminal Sentenced to Life
We all share a sense of relief when a particularly dangerous criminal is locked away for good. Duane Daniels, a notorious English career criminal with nearly 1,000 offenses to his name, was finally convicted in March 2002 after a trial where dog DNA played a key role. Daniels, 27, was found guilty of first-degree murder for stabbing a London bouncer through the heart.
Daniels’s associate, Spencer Sheppard, had been thrown out of the New Cross Club in March 2002. Furious, Sheppard returned with Daniels and two others, bringing along his pit bull terrier, Colonel.
Sheppard unleashed his dog on George Napier, 36, a father of three who worked as a bouncer. As Napier struggled, he was fatally stabbed by Daniels. During the altercation, the dog was injured, leaving behind a trail of blood from its wounded ear that led authorities to Sheppard’s home. DNA from the blood found at the crime scene matched Sheppard’s dog.
The DNA evidence helped convict Daniels, Sheppard, Sheppard’s brother Louis, and a fourth suspect, Daniel Clarke, 40. Sheppard was sentenced to eight years in prison, while Louis and Clarke each received five-year terms. In a grim turn, Colonel the dog was ordered to be put down by the same judge who handed down the sentences. Meanwhile, Daniels’s violent history continued to haunt him.
1. Four Dog Hairs Expose a Murderer
Here we have yet another case where a suspect, faced with compelling animal DNA evidence, opted to strike a plea deal.
While DNA evidence can bring much-needed closure to victims and their families, the guilty pleas of certain offenders may feel like a bittersweet conclusion to the painful journey. Patrick Ramsey, 35, sexually assaulted and murdered an 82-year-old woman in her home in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Mildred Hauser was suffocated to death.
Ramsey was apprehended after using Hauser’s credit card. Authorities also discovered some of Hauser’s jewelry in his possession. Four dog hairs were found at the crime scene in August 2002. DNA from one of the hairs was matched to a dog living at Ramsey’s home. Just before his trial was set to begin, Ramsey pled guilty to first-degree murder and received a life sentence. Had he gone to trial, a conviction could have resulted in a death sentence.
