Wisdom Tooth DNA Solves Vancouver Dumpster Murder | The New Detectives | S2 E3

A burned body in a Vancouver dumpster seems unidentifiable. Detectives wager on wisdom tooth DNA, while cigarette butts and PCR expose a killer and free an innocent man. In July 1991, a janitor discovered a charred body in a Vancouver industrial park. Homicide detectives Al Catley and Rick Crook faced a blaze that raged around 2,000 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. X-rays revealed a gunshot wound and an unusual extra tooth centered between the front incisors. Forensic odontologist Dr. David Sweet turned to the victim’s impacted wisdom teeth, extracting protected tissue that survived the fire. The lab built a DNA profile and matched it to blood in exotic dancer Chris Cruz’s car, where investigators also found a gas can, a bloody tire iron, and a .22 rifle. The odds of a coincidental DNA match were calculated at 1 in 540 million. Confronted with the evidence, Cruz confessed to killing Lynn Breeden and received a life sentence for second degree murder. In rural Clay County, Alabama, Sheriff Ralph Toland and forensic scientist Angelo Delamana investigated blackened bones beneath a burned mattress. Eleven fresh cigarette butts ringed the scene. Under ultraviolet light, saliva-soaked filter tips glowed, guiding precise cuts for DNA testing. Profiles from two smokers emerged. With only trace DNA from the victim’s femur marrow, the lab used PCR to amplify the fragments, then reconstructed Peggy Laughlin’s profile using blood samples from her siblings. The DNA on the cigarettes matched Peggy’s, placing her at the scene with her husband, Jimmy Parris. Blood spatter in Parris’s van and a missing carpet piece recovered from his home tied the story together, helping secure his conviction. DNA can also deliver justice to the innocent. With Barry Scheck and Louise Hochberg’s Innocence Project, Troy Webb’s case was retested at Paul Ferrara’s Virginia lab. Modern DNA profiling excluded Webb as the source of the biological evidence. The governor granted a pardon, and Webb walked free in 1996. Primary keyword: DNA profiling Secondary keywords: wisdom tooth DNA, cigarette DNA, Vancouver murder, Innocence Project, PCR Search intent: Learn how forensic DNA from teeth, cigarettes, and degraded samples solved murders and exonerated the wrongfully convicted. #DNAProfiling #ForensicScience #TheNewDetectives #TrueCrime #InnocenceProject #ColdCase #CrimeLab