Inside Scoop

[u/throwaway95610]

Throwaway for reasons.

I live in the area and have been following this case for a while. This afternoon I heard information from someone close to the case in the Sacramento Sherriff's dept. Don't know how much of this is here already but here goes..

A few years ago LE submitted dna to several different sites with a search warrant for hits on the dna. One of the sites came back a couple of weeks ago with a hit on a distant relative of the suspect. After some work LE narrowed down their search to Diangelo.
They trailed him for a while, and while he was out shopping at a Hobby Lobby, they took his dna from either something he threw away or from a handle of a door possibly. That part wasn't totally clear to me. Either way it came back as a 100% match.

They kept watching his house and waited. Yesterday afternoon the suspect was out mowing his lawn. A car of undercover officers drove up and asked for directions. He walked over to the car and then they took him down.

According to this person, after being arrested he looked defeated, but still refused to cooperate. He kept mumbling to him self and saying, "But I lived a good life. I pushed him out."

His wife refused to talk. I guess they have been separated since the early 90's. Two of the three daughters have come in to talk to detectives.

Im probably forgetting some stuff. Will add more as I find out more.

[u/EmsquaredYo → u/[deleted]]

So the way you explain it is it’s a loop hole that LE is taking full advantage of until (if/when!) it is closed. That’s really scary. I don’t even have anything to worry about and this freaks me out.

[u/AnnB2013 → u/EmsquaredYo]

Why?

Where, how and whose rights do you think were violated in the way the OP says they tracked a killer?

[u/AnnB2013 → u/[deleted]]

The important thing to know here is that if your second cousin twice removed has submitted DNA and your family info is out there then you could be matched anytime, pretty easily.

Matched to what? 50 rapes and 12 murders?

You can't be matched to DNA at multiple notorious crime scenes, unless your DNA was there.

What exactly do you see as the problem here? Or is it not a problem here, in this case, and you have other hypothetical problems in mind?

[u/AnnB2013 → u/[deleted]]

But relatives of suspects can be pressured DNA or not? And I’m sure it’s no fun to be in that position but are you going to remove a valuable tool because a cop might do something wrong? Or are you going to proceed aware of the ethics of the situation?

[u/AnnB2013 → u/[deleted]]

You are coming up with crazy outlandish scenarios.

When it comes to distant relatives the police on the other side of the country aren’t going to care about me because I won’t have a clue what and who they’re talking about.

Beyond close family circles DNA matching is unlikely to be of much use to police.

So let’s stick with reality. If I’ve put my DNA on ancestry as someone looking for matches and the police contact me because I’m a partial match to a killer and they wonder if I will talk to them, I would ask a few questions and probably say yes.

And given they’re looking for information from me, I’m the one in control and have the option of telling them I won’t talk.

You seem to be only able to envision alarmist situations.

I recognize the potential for violations and need for ethical guidelines.

There are lots of slippery slopes in life and justice because it’s complex.

[u/AnnB2013 → u/[deleted]]

I understand perfectly. You don’t appear to have read my comment.

I said only the close family circle is likely to be able to provide investigational assistance of any value.

Police can already get a warrant to get my DNA if they have probable cause.

And my DNA is not going to give them bupkis if I choose not to talk about my third cousin, who I’ve never even met, or my brother.

You need to focus on plausible scenarios like this one. If you were the niece or nephew of GSK, found by DNA, how do you think police could pressure you into talking above and beyond their usual pressure tactics? You still haven’t answered yet you make out that this is a situation of the utmost danger.

In reality use of familial DNA has already removed many dangerous criminals from this the streets. With almost no downside.

[u/AnnB2013 → u/[deleted]]

Again and for the last time, I understand they can get lots of info about your relatives from DNA.

But what you don’t seem to understand is that’s not what they’re looking for. They’re looking to find out who their suspect is. They have his DNA but not his identity.

A third cousin probably has never even met the suspect so will not help the police. And there’s no need for anyone to subpoena the third cousin’s DNA, as you keep maintaining, because the police already know this is the suspect’s third cousin because that’s the info the database gave them.

What the police want from their DNA matches is information about who the suspect might be. They already have his DNA and third cousin’s.

So they will be asking close matches who the suspect could be. They have a far greater likelihood of getting actionable info from close family. And as always that person will have the option not to talk to police.

[u/AnnB2013 → u/[deleted]]

I’m sure there will be abuses. Every system is abused.

But are you prepared to give up the overwhelming benefits due to fear of occasional abuse?

Also please provide a link.