The First Ever Cold Case Solved by a Stranger's Family Tree (Washington 1987)

Описание: The First Ever Cold Case Solved by a Stranger's Family Tree (Washington 1987)

39 years ago, a young Canadian couple boarded a ferry from Victoria to Washington State to run an errand picking up heater parts for his dad and completely vanished, leaving two devastated families and a killer walking free among the community for three decades. Their bodies were found 60 miles apart with two completely different manners of death. Authorities had clear biological evidence from the very beginning, but no way to know who it belonged to, and the investigation dragged on year after year with more than 200 dead-end leads, serial killers considered and ruled out, and one detective who devoted nearly his entire career to a case he refused to give up on. Then a complete stranger—a woman who had never heard the names of the two victims—accidentally changed everything simply by uploading her DNA to the internet to build a family tree, and a genetic genealogist identified the killer’s name in two hours from a million DNA profiles using a method that had never been used before in history.

1. CBS News — The Disappearance of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook: Following a Decades-Old Cold Case (Updated January 22, 2023)
CBS News / 48 Hours comprehensive timeline of the entire case, from the November 18, 1987 disappearance to the 2018 arrest and 2019 sentencing. Covers how Detective Jim Scharf preserved DNA evidence for 30 years, how genetic genealogist CeCe Moore identified Talbott within two hours using GEDmatch, and how investigators retrieved Talbott's DNA from a discarded coffee cup to confirm the match.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tanya-va...

2. ABC News — Signaling a 'New Era' in Forensic Investigation, Man Caught Through Genetic Genealogy Gets Life in Prison for 1987 Double Murder (July 25, 2019)
ABC News reported on Talbott's sentencing to two consecutive life terms at Snohomish County courthouse. CeCe Moore told ABC News: "The conviction and sentencing of William Earl Talbott II marks a new era for the use of genetic genealogy for identifying violent criminals since it has now been tested and tried in a court of law." Cook's sister called Talbott's refusal to plead guilty putting "a whole new generation of people through his horror."
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/signaling-e...

3. Oxygen / NBC Universal — Truck Driver Sentenced to Life for Brutal Slaying of Canadian High School Sweethearts (July 25, 2019)
AP via Oxygen confirmed William Talbott II received two consecutive life terms with no parole at Snohomish County courthouse. Cook's mother told the court she believed Jay "would've picked anyone up on a night like that." A lab report unsealed post-verdict revealed investigators had also found Talbott's DNA on zip ties discovered at the crime scene in addition to DNA on Van Cuylenborg's clothing.
Source: https://www.oxygen.com/crime-time/wil...

4. The Daily Herald (HeraldNet) — High Court Reinstates Guilty Verdicts in 1987 Murders of Canadian Couple (December 22, 2022)
The Snohomish County newspaper of record confirmed the Washington State Supreme Court voted 9-0 to reinstate Talbott's two aggravated murder convictions, overturning a 2021 appeals court ruling citing juror bias. Justice Mary Yu wrote: "A party who allows a juror to be seated and does not exhaust their peremptory challenges cannot appeal on the basis that the juror should have been excused for cause." Talbott's case returns to the Court of Appeals for remaining legal questions.
Source: https://www.heraldnet.com/news/high-c...

5. The Daily Herald (HeraldNet) — Man Guilty of 1987 Murders Solved With Genetic Genealogy (June 28, 2019)
Courtroom coverage of the historic June 28, 2019 verdict at Snohomish County Superior Court. Talbott flinched and gasped "No, I didn't do it" when the clerk read the guilty verdict. Snohomish County Prosecutor Adam Cornell declared: "Justice arrived late for Jay and Tanya, but it arrived today." This was the first trial in US history where a defendant was convicted based on genetic genealogy evidence.
Source: https://www.heraldnet.com/news/man-gu...