People of New York v Donatila O’Mahony

Computer connects bag of ammunition to suspect

Crime	On March 8, 2020, police found Lee Pedersen’s body in his Aquebogue home. He had a single gunshot wound in the back of his head. During the investigation, detectives learned that their main suspect had a friend to purchase a firearm and then borrowed the friend’s car. This car was seen on surveillance video near the victim’s home on the night of the murder and several hours later at the suspect’s home.
Evidence	Following the murder, the suspect asked the friend to dispose of evidence including clothing, ammunition, and a firearm. The friend destroyed the gun and clothing. However, police recovered a plastic bag containing the ammunition from the friend’s home.
DNA	The Suffolk County Crime laboratory produced DNA data from the plastic bag.
Match	The crime lab identified the victim’s DNA on one plastic bag swab, and calculated an uninformative match statistic when comparing that bag swab with the suspect. However, their results were inconclusive for the other swab due to the poor quality or complexity of the DNA data.
TrueAllele	TrueAllele connected the inconclusive plastic bag swab to suspect Donatila O’Mahony with a match statistic of 2.33 billion. The TrueAllele results showed that DNA from both the victim and suspect were present in the evidence.
Cybergenetics	On October 7, 2022, Cybergenetics analyst Jennifer Bracamontes testified before a Suffolk County jury about the TrueAllele DNA results. This trial resulted in a hung jury. Analyst Bracamontes testified again on January 17, 2023.
Outcome	On January 24, 2023, the jury found Donatila O’Mahony guilty of second degree murder, criminal possession of a forged instrument, and attempted grand larceny. She was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on March 2, 2023.

Media

Woman Charged In LI Man's Murder Tried To Steal His Home: DA - Patch
Prosecutor: Murder suspect forged victim’s will, attempted to flee country - The Suffolk Times
Aquebogue Murder Suspect Filed Fraudulent Will in Victim's Name, Cops Say - Dan's Papers
Jurors hear opening statements in trial of woman accused of killing Aquebogue man, forging his will - Riverhead News-Review
Lead homicide detective testifies how suspect in Aquebogue murder trial ‘didn’t seem surprised’ - Riverhead News-Review
Aquebogue murder trial ends in mistrial after second juror dismissed - Riverhead News-Review
Retrial begins for woman accused of fatal shooting in Aquebogue in 2020 - Riverhead News-Review
Donatila O'Mahony of Central Islip, charged with killing longtime friend, goes on trial a second time - Newsday
Donatila O'Mahony convicted of murdering longtime friend, forging his signature in his will - Newsday
DA: Central Islip woman found guilty of killing friend to gain ownership of home - News12 Long Island
New York woman sentenced for killing man whose will she forged in failed plot to take his home - Fox News
Woman Gets 25 Years To Life For Murdering Aquebogue Man For House: DA - Patch
Woman sentenced to 25 years to life for 2020 murder of Aquebogue man - The Suffolk Times
Central ISLIP woman sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for murder plus a consecutive prison sentence for possessing a forged version of the victim’s will - The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office