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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v Raphael Perez-Rodriguez
TrueAllele links knives to homicide of Air Force veteran
| Crime | On July 16, 2020, Dennis Fink’s home was ransacked and robbed by an assailant. The next day, Mr. Fink’s body was found in the woods behind his home. He had been stabbed multiple times. |
| Evidence | Police collected knives as evidence from a stolen vehicle that contained items taken from the victim. |
| DNA | The Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab produced DNA data from the knives. |
| Match | Due to an insufficient quantity of DNA, the crime laboratory could not interpret the evidence data. |
| TrueAllele | TrueAllele connected the one knife to Raphael Perez-Rodriguez, with a match statistic of 16.3 billion. TrueAllele linked the second knife to the victim, with a statistic of 2.78 thousand. |
| Cybergenetics | On April 20, 2022 Cybergenetics analyst Jennifer Bracamontes testified before a Berks County jury about the TrueAllele DNA results. |
| Outcome | On April 21, 2022, the jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree murder and other charges. He was sentenced to life in prison followed by 6-25 years. |
Media
- N.J. man accused of stabbing 76-year-old to death in Berks County: police PennLive
- Suspect in USAF vet's homicide charged in 2019 burglary WFMZ News
- Trial begins for man accused of killing Air Force veteran in Berks WFMZ News
- Man found guilty of 1st-degree murder in stabbing of Berks Air Force veteran WFMZ News
- Son of decorated Berks fighter pilot who was murdered by burglar delivers powerful victim statement Reading Eagle