Forum Photo by Richard York
Sen. Addabbo said investigators must be allowed to use resources such as Familial DNA searches “to not only find the person responsible for [Karina Vetrano’s] death…but to ease the fears of my constituents who know a dangerous individual is still out there.” Vetrano’s body was discovered on Aug. 2 in Spring Creek Park (pictured).
By Michael V. Cusenza
Two south Queens elected officials recently joined the chorus of voices calling on the State Division of Criminal Justice Services to approve expanding DNA inquiries to allow the use of familial searching.
State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) and Assemblywoman-elect Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Howard Beach) last Thursday signed a joint letter to DCJS Executive Deputy Commissioner Michael Green requesting that the agency’s “Commission on Forensic Science approve the expanded utilization of familial searching when using DNA for investigative purposes.”
Familial DNA searching is, according to the National Institute of Justice Forensic Technology Center of Excellence, a two-phase process which attempts to provide investigative leads by identifying an individual in existing DNA databases who is highly likely to be a close relative of the donor of the DNA profile derived from the evidence found at the crime scene.
Addabbo and Pheffer Amato cited the increasingly cold case of Karina Vetrano as support for their request. Vetrano, 30, a lifelong Howard Beach resident, was beaten, strangled, and sexually assaulted in the evening hours of Aug. 2 on her daily run inside Spring Creek Park. DNA collected at the scene and from Vetrano’s body yielded no hits from any law-enforcement database.
“The use of familial DNA searching in this case could help our police officers and investigators make enormous progress,” said Addabbo. “The tragic and brutal murder of Karina shook Howard Beach and the surrounding communities in many ways, and her family still must cope with the burden of her killer not yet being caught. I believe it is imperative that we use the resources and technology we have available to not only find the person responsible for this young woman’s death and ensure the highest level of consequence, but to ease the fears of my constituents who know a dangerous individual is still out there. I strongly urge the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services to grant our request to allow familial DNA searching and do their part to help bring criminals to justice throughout our state.”
The Commission last week announced that it will hold a public hearing in Manhattan on Feb. 10 to determine whether familial DNA searches should be permitted in New York and under what conditions.
“Arming our law enforcement with the necessary tools is the least we can do to honor Karina, bring justice to her family and protect our community,” said Pheffer Amato. “I strongly urge the New York State Commission on Forensic Science to immediately authorize the use of this new investigative measure and will not rest until we do everything in our power to apply every resource possible to solve this case.”
Earlier this month, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown joined the Vetrano family in asking the State to quickly authorize familial searches.
“This effective technique, currently authorized in 11 U.S. states – and in the United Kingdom, which pioneered its use – has already produced DNA leads that ultimately broke cold-case murders, rapes and other crimes,” Brown noted. “And by reliably generating leads that can allow law enforcement to identify the guilty, the technique helps to ensure that the innocent will not be wrongly charged.”
A cousin of Karina Vetrano, Maria Wurpel, has set up a petition on change.org titled “Familial DNA Testing for Identifying Killer in New York Murder/Rape Cases.” As of Wednesday evening, it was less than 700 signatures shy of 25,000.
