• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About the writer and her website
  • References
  • Archives
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Contact Page

Defrosting Cold Cases

Research website by Alice de Sturler

  • Cold Case Research Methods
  • How to search for cases
  • Case of the Month: Charles Lee Snowden
  • Book Reviews
  • Cold Case Database
    • Index
      • Cases Index A-G
      • Cases Index H-N
      • Cases Index O-Z
    • Summaries
      • Case Summaries A-G
      • Case Summaries H-N
      • Case Summaries O-Z
You are here: Home / Cold Case News / Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 6

Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 6

March 12, 2021 By Alice

Sophie Sergie black and white versionCentral Maine reports that on Thursday, the hearings in the 1993 rape-murder of Sophie Sergie continued by video conference. Steven H. Downs attended. He is charged in this case.

We heard from CeCe Moore, the chief genetic genealogist with Parabon NanoLabs. She matched part of the DNA found in semen to a profile in GEDmatch. That profile belonged to an aunt from Downs and overlapses his for about 23%. She sent her finding to Alaska State Police and noted that she called it a tip. “I would not expect that anyone would ever be arrested based on this work alone,” Moore said. She did testify in March 2019 before a Grand Jury. Downs was then charged.

What was discussed today brings up again the problems with forensic genealogy. I wrote about that here and here. In short: privacy. Downs did not give permission to have his DNA compared to profiles in GEDmatch. Did his aunt give permission to have hers used for investigative purposes? One of the defense’s motions is to have the results of “third-party DNA” e.g. without his client’s permission, tossed. Parabon Nanolabs did not require a search warrant from Alaska State Police. The privacy issue needs to be addressed and preferably outlined in federal regulation to ensure epople’s rights are the same across the USA.

“Next month, Superior Court Judge Thomas Temple is expected to hear testimony about whether alternative suspects and gun evidence should be allowed at trial.” That will be of interest to me. Should the DNA be tossed, is there any other hard evidence to tie Downs to the crime scene and Sophie Sergie? Were all other suspects eliminated?

I am also curious to hear more about a psychological profile of Sophie Sergie’s killer and whether that matches Downs.

Last, Parabon has used DNA for phenotyping in other cases. An example is here. After testing a sample for DNA, the lab can tell within a certain percentage of confidence what characteristics they found: hair color, eye color, skin tone, the shape of the face, ancestry, and even the level of face freckling. These confidence statements give police a visual of what the DNA bearer most likely looked like. On top of that, it can help police eliminate people as suspects. Was that done here as well and if so, does it match Downs?

To be continued.

Thank you for sharing!

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Cold Case News, Unsolved Tagged With: Alaska, DNA, phenotyping, Sophie Sergie

Primary Sidebar

Dina Fort

Author Notes

On my website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and need renewed media attention. I only do research and leave active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book. Please check the FAQ page for more!

My database has hundreds of cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database is free to the public.

All writing suggestions for cases that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

If you have any questions about my website please check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, the about page, and the tabs in both menu bars. If you still cannot find the answer there, please contact me.

Thank you,

Alice de Sturler

Copyright

If you use my work, please add a link back. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. Thank you!

Protected by Copyscape

Categories

Top Posts & Pages

  • Owachige Elice Osceola
  • Missing: Joanna Lopez
  • Cold Case Database
  • The 1966 cold case of Valerie Percy
  • Norvel Robert Nelson III: remains found

Subscribe to DCC by email

Enter your email address to get new posts notifications in your inbox

Recent Posts

  • Bitter Blood by Jerry Bledsoe
  • Assassin’s Lullaby by Mark Rubinstein
  • Remembering Charles Lee Snowden
  • The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian
  • Guilty Verdict for Patricia Louise Smith

William Thomas Zeigler

Category: ALL POSTS

On March 31, 2016, an evidentiary hearing was held to request touch DNA testing. On July 18, 2016, Judge Whitehead denied that request.

On November 23, 2016, an appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court. On April 21, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court denied the request for touch DNA analysis.

On May 8, 2017 a motion for a rehearing with the US Supreme Court was filed. It was denied November 13, 2017.

In the summer of 2019, the appeal for DNA testing to the Florida Conviction Integrity Unit was denied.

Richard Lapointe

Category: ALL POSTS

In March 2015, the Connecticut State Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Richard lapointe. On Oct 2, 2015, International Wrongful Conviction Day, Richard was set free. The judge ruled that he cannot be retried for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin. Richard Lapointe died on Aug 4, 2020 of Covid19 complications.

In 1987, someone killed Bernice Martin. I hope that she will not become a forgotten file.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

Copyright © 2022 ·News Pro · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.