Question

When Theodore Conroy left his house to go to work on Tuesday morning, he saw that his car windows were broken and graffiti was painted his vehicle. When the police arrived to investigate, they found blood on the broken glass. Mr. Conroy had a bandage on his right hand. According to his own statement, Mr. Conroy accidentally cut himself at work.

When the police talked to various neighbors to ask if they had seen or heard anything, they were told that Mr. Conroy had a long-standing dispute with his cousin, Sean Williams, and that Mr. Williams might be to blame for the damage. When they visited the Williams' residence, they noticed Mr. Williams had a bandage on his left hand. When asked about it, he denied the vandalism and said he cut himself trimming bushes in his yard.

Mr. Williams suggested that teenagers were likely to be responsible for the damage. Tracking down several teenagers who had been seen in the neighborhood, it was discovered that David Tucker was present during the time frame the vandalism took place and he had cuts and scrapes on both hands. Mr. Tucker denied the vandalism and told the police he scraped his hands in a skateboard accident. The police obtained warrants for DNA samples from all three men involved for comparison with the blood on the car. Table 4-6 shows the results of the DNA testing. Based on the DNA evidence, should any of the men that were interviewed be considered a suspect for this crime? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

The DNA evidence strongly suggests that Sean Williams is the most likely suspect for the crime of vandalizing Theodore Conroy's car.

The DNA results play a crucial role in identifying potential suspects in the vandalism case involving Theodore Conroy's car.

Sean Williams emerges as the primary suspect due to a robust match of 11 out of 13 loci with the DNA sample from the blood found on the car.

The probability of another person having such a strong DNA match is highly unlikely, making Sean Williams a compelling suspect.

Furthermore, the fact that Sean Williams had a bandage on his left hand during the police interview raises suspicions.

His vague explanation for the cut adds to the circumstantial evidence, suggesting a possible connection between his injury and the act of vandalism.

While Theodore Conroy and David Tucker also have DNA matches to the sample, their matches are not as robust as Sean Williams'.

Theodore Conroy's match at 7 out of 13 loci and David Tucker's match at 6 out of 13 loci are still significant but are more likely to occur by chance than the match to Sean Williams' DNA profile.

The combination of a strong DNA match, circumstantial evidence, and a plausible link between the injury and the crime strongly implicates Sean Williams as the most likely suspect in the vandalism of Theodore Conroy's car.

The police investigation should focus on building a case against Sean Williams based on these compelling findings.