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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.

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

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Author Notes

On this website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and are in need of renewed media attention. I only do research and leave the 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.

My database has over 325 cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database will always be free to the public to use. You cannot buy ad space on my website, ever.

All writing suggestions 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.

Defrosting Cold Cases is NOT an organization. It is my brainchild.

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

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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!

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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

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