The Yara Gambirasio case: Combining evidence in a complex DNA mixture case

Graversen, Therese; Mortera, Julia; Lago, Giampietro

doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2018.12.010

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the modulation of the effort, in this case, would not be driven by the victims’ socioeconomic status and demographics, but instead by the pressure of the media and, in turn, of public opinion. For instance, in 2010, the investigators in charge of identifying the murderer of a 13-year-old girl were able to examine as many as 18,000 DNA samples taken from relatives of the deceased and from many thousands of other males who were either local or known to have been in the area around the time of the victim's disappearance (Graversen et al, 2019). This unprecedented effort was, at least partially, related to the overwhelming public exposure of the case.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homicide clearance: Discretionary and non-discretionary factors

Aziani

Persurich

2022

European Journal of Criminology

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Previous studies have produced mixed findings regarding discretionary and non-discretionary factors associated with the likelihood of homicides being cleared. Performing Pearson’s χ2 test, logistic regressions, and random forest analyses on all homicide cases that occurred in Italy in 2014, we assess if factors pertaining to the discretionary domain – that is, nationality, age, sex, socioeconomic status of the victim, previous convictions – and non-discretionary factors – for example, weapon, location, circumstance – are correlated with the outcome of the investigation. The empirical analysis does not identify relations between victims’ nationality, socioeconomic status, previous criminal records and homicide clearance. On the other hand, homicides whose victim is male are less likely to be cleared. While high media coverage correlates with a higher clearance rate, low media coverage is not correlated with the homicide case remaining unsolved. Finally, especially in Southern Italy where mafia organizations are more entrenched, homicides committed in a criminal environment have a lower chance of being cleared. With respect to Italy, the results indicate a lack of support for the discretionary perspective that argues’ that police may use discretion in clearing homicide cases according to the sociodemographic characteristics of victims.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Homicide clearance: Discretionary and non-discretionary factors

Aziani

Persurich

2022

European Journal of Criminology

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“…When combining EPGs made from the same DNA extract, as in this case, it is natural to make an assumption that contributors are the same. In Graversen et al (2019) we show how results based on a combination of replicates, a combinations of different samples and a combinations of different kits improve the robustness of the analysis and help in fixing any complications relating to degradation. However, when combining profiles from different samples one needs to carefully consider whether there is perhaps only a partial overlap.…”

Section: Example 2: Analyses Of a Spanish Murder Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Casework applications of probabilistic genotyping methods for DNA mixtures that allow relationships between contributors

Green¹,

Mortera²,

Prieto³

2020

Preprint

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In both criminal cases and civil cases there is an increasing demand for the analysis of DNA mixtures involving relationships. The goal might be, for example, to identify the contributors to a DNA mixture where the donors may be related, or to infer the relationship between individuals based on a DNA mixture. This paper applies a recent approach to modelling and computation for DNA mixtures involving contributors with arbitrarily complex relationships to two real cases from the Spanish Forensic Police.

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“…There are many reasons for combining evidence, one important reason being that it strengthens the information about the profiles of any shared contributors. Combining the information in multiple profiles requires a slightly more complex analysis than that of single DNA mixture profiles, since it is now necessary to make assumptions about which -if any -contributors may be in common (Graversen et al 2019;Pascali and Merigioli 2012). When combining replicates it is natural to make an assumption that contributors are the same, however when combining profiles from different samples one needs to carefully consider whether there is perhaps only a partial overlap.…”

Section: Combining the Evidence From Samples B3 And B6mentioning

confidence: 99%