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DNA can�t solve all old crimes, say police By DAMIAN MANN Recent advances in DNA testing have the potential to help Jackson County police solve old crimes, like the one that ended in the arrest Wednesday of William Henry Allen Jr. in connection with a 20-year-old murder and rape case. But police officials believe there are probably only a few old cases in which this type of DNA testing could prove useful. Still, this type of testing is proving a powerful investigative tool for catching criminals involved in past or present crimes. The Medford Police Department has charged Allen, 36, with the murder and rape of 17-year-old Evelyn Marie Smith, who was strangled to death and left naked in a tunnel at Spiegelberg Stadium next to South Medford High School. Police said biological material obtained at the crime scene in 1981 compared with samples of DNA taken from Allen. The samples were taken in 1992, but DNA technology could not provide a match until more refined techniques were developed just recently. Allen has been charged with two counts of murder and faces a 25-year to life sentence. Police are awaiting Allen�s extradition from Northern California to Medford. This wasn�t the first time a high-profile case was solved with DNA sleuthing. Convicted serial rapist Michael Brian Huyck was caught when police took a DNA sample from saliva found on a cigarette butt, tying him to attacks on women in Medford, Ashland and Klamath Falls. Other rape cases in Jackson County have been solved using DNA testing. The remains of a homicide victim were identified using DNA samples collected from family members. Medford police Lt. Tim George said there are only two criminal cases where there is a suspect but not enough evidence at this point to bring charges. Although he didn�t rule out the potential to use DNA evidence in these cases, he added that biological material needed for testing is not always available. "We�re not sitting on a case right now where we could use this kind of testing," he said. Lt. Rich Walsh of the Ashland Police Department said only one high-profile murder case is still active, but he didn�t see that DNA testing would help solve it. Wayne Jeffers, director of the Oregon State Police forensics lab in White City, said DNA testing is routinely used in rapes, murders and arsons. On older cases, he said, the most important thing is keeping the evidence dry. Most evidence lockers, including the OSP�s, are also kept around 70 degrees, because higher temperatures will eventually degrade DNA. Investigators have to literally check every square inch of clothing or other evidence to find minute quantities of biological material, he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.