Napkin helps solve murder case in US

Genetic genealogy helps find DNA match of suspect after 32 years

Washington: A discarded restaurant napkin helped police officials in the US to identify a murder suspect 32 years after he committed the crime. Prosecutors charged Gary Charles Hartman, 66, with firstdegree murder and firstdegree rape in the 1986 death of a 12- year- old girl.

Washington, June 23: A discarded restaurant napkin helped police officials in the US to identify a murder suspect 32 years after he committed the crime, a media report said on Saturday.

Pierce County prosecutors on Friday charged Gary Charles Hartman, 66, with first- degree murder and first- degree rape in the 1986 death of a 12- yearold girl. Police say Michella Welch and her two younger sisters went to Puget Park, Tacoma ( Washington) on March 26, 1986. About 11 am Michella rode a bicycle home to get lunch. While she was gone, the sisters went to a business to use the restroom. When they returned, they didn’t see Michella and continued to play in a gulch until they noticed the bicycle and lunch at the spot where they were supposed to meet for a picnic, the chief said. The girls notified their baby sitter, who contacted the girls’ mother.

A search dog found Michella’s body that night in an isolated area in the gulch, more than a quarter mile away from the play area. “Michella was sexually assaulted and murdered,” Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said.

Police collected evidence, but did not make any arrests. Police developed a male DNA profile from crime scene evidence, but found no match in state and national databases. In 2016, police began working with a genetic genealogist.

Two brothers were identified as possible suspects and surveillance began, Ramsdell said. That included Detective Steve Reopelle following Hartman into a restaurant when he met a co- worker for coffee, Ramsdell said.

On Tuesday, the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory. found the DNA at the crime scene matched a napkin abandoned by the suspect in a restaurant.

POLICE developed a male DNA profile from crime scene evidence, but found no match in state and national databases. A MATCH was confirmed on Tuesday.