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27-Nov-2024
NBC Dateline presents the first TrueAllele Case
Dateline's Andrea Canning asked Dr. Perlin, "How satisfying is it that your method went on to become the gold standard for DNA testing?"
"I think we are more gratified that it is having an impact on criminal justice," he answered. "When you know that someone has been in jail for 25 years - and the only reason he is out of jail, and has been exonerated, is your technology."
On the night of April 13, 2006, Blairsville dentist Dr. John Yelenic struggled with a knife-wielding attacker in his southwest Pennsylvania home. Yelenic knew his assailant. The murderer slashed repeatedly, draining the life-blood from the unarmed dentist. Before exsanguinating on his living room floor, Yelenic reached out to defend himself, scratching his killer's DNA identity under his fingernails.
Five years ago, NBC Dateline reported the story of Dr. Yelenic's murder – why it happened and how it was solved. This was the first time modern probabilistic genotyping evidence was ever used in court. Fifteen years ago, the Yelenic homicide ushered in the modern forensic DNA era of "probabilistic genotyping."