Justice has a long arm

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DNA testing has helped the Force in solving all sorts of crimes. For examples, DNA demonstrated its powerful capability in a murder case in January 1999 and a chain burglary case in November 2001.

In the murder case, a 33-year-old man was stabbed to death at his home in Wong Chuk Hang Estate. Investigating officers suspected that a former colleague of the deceased was the culprit, but the suspect claimed he knew nothing of the murder and had never entered the victim's house.

In the absence of witness or fingerprint proof, police officers were indeed facing the painstaking job of proving the suspect's linkage to the murder. Thanks to the technological development, a DNA sample of an unknown man was found on a drop of bloodstain left at the scene of crime. Later, it was confirmed the DNA belonged to the suspect. In the face of this solid evidence, the suspect had no choice but to confess killing of his former colleague during a money dispute. He was later charged and convicted.

Invisible trace containing DNA, or latent DNA , also helps detect chain burglaries.

In November 2001, officers at the Kowloon West Regional Crime Unit tracked down a "professional" burglar in an operation against burglary syndicates, and recovered more than 100 items of equipment for burglary along with cash and valuables in his Sham Shui Po flat. The arrested person, who was the sub-tenant of the flat, admitted having committing burglaries in Kowloon and Tuen Mun.

After further investigations, the officers located the registered tenant of the flat and suspected him to be an accomplice, but there was no strong evidence against him. The chance to secure a successful prosecution seemed remote.

A DNA sample was taken from the registered tenant and was run in the DNA database for comparison. It turned out that the sample matched with the latent DNA samples left at the scenes of seven burglaries throughout the territory between 1998 and 2001. The man was subsequently charged and convicted on the basis of DNA evidence.