Monday, December 07, 2015

Oklahoma City bombing secret: DNA extracted from unknown leg

The Oklahoma City Medical Examiner has partial DNA from an unmatched left leg collected from the ruins of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing, reviving the possibility of a 169th unidentified victim from the 1995 terror attack as well as defense lawyers’ long-held belief that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols had an additional accomplice. An Oklahoma state forensics expert told The Washington Times the DNA tests were conducted by a private lab about two years after the attack, and no known person who was in the vicinity of the building the day of the bombing is presently unaccounted for. “The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has a copy of the results. However, the results are confidential pursuant to state law,” Oklahoma Chief Toxicologist Dr. Byron Curtis said. FBI officials said Monday they were unaware of the existence of the DNA findings on the left leg, known only as human specimen P-71, and plan to obtain the data from local authorities and the private lab to investigate its relevance to the case. The request could open the door for new DNA tests with today’s vastly improved techniques. The existence of extracted DNA from the John Doe leg opens the possibility that the DNA sample could be retested using today’s more sophisticated techniques to glean more evidence about its identity. While DNA science has vastly improved over the last two decades, the FBI lab would only retest the leg today if the agents responsible for the case made a new request, Ms. Todd explained...more

No comments: