Results tagged “dna”

Escolar, a fish famous for causing diarrhea and anal leakage, has been found masquerading as tuna at sushi restaurants, according to a DNA research study recently published by a group of scientists. The escolar was found five times during the brief research project, which included visits to 31 sushi restaurants in NYC and beyond. The study also found that some restaurants are also selling endangered southern bluefin tuna.

Raymond Clark, the Yale University lab tech accused of killing a graduate student in a research building, appeared in court today. The judge set a probable cause hearing for October 20, which "would allow both sides to introduce evidence and call witnesses." Clark still has not entered a plea, but the AP reports he'll plead not guilty.

It's a story that Dick Wolf would approve of: A receptionist helped the cops catch a career criminal by setting aside a paper cup he used—all thanks to the armchair detective knowledge she acquired from watching crime dramas like Law & Order: SVU! Of course, the cops initially declined to take evidence—Detective Eliot Stabler would totally rage out about that.

Back in the summer of 1991 a Florida college student, Lynne Ronning (pictured), was working as a counselor at a camp in the Poconos. On a day off, the 24-year-old walked to a waterfall, where she was shot in the head "at point-blank range" and raped "as she lay dying," the NY Post recalls. Police found her body the next morning, "posed in a degrading sexual position" with "numerous defensive wounds." It was long suspected that Jeffrey Plishka, son of Metropolitan Opera star Paul Plishka, was guilty (the family had a home nearby the Pennsylvania camp), but it wasn't until now that DNA evidence has connected him with the horrific crime. The paper reports that the 46-year-old has been getting around courtesy of his dad's help, moving to the various family homes around the country for 18 years—one friend says, "The family has done everything it can to keep him off the radar"—which made the investigation more difficult. Plishka, who maintains his innocence, is being held without bail in Pennsylvania, jailed "on multiple counts of murder, as well as attempted rape and deviate sexual intercourse." Prosecutors are considering whether to ask for the death penalty.

Joseph Pabon was denied bail after his arraignment on second-degree murder charges yesterday. Pabon is accused of killing Eridania Rodriguez, a cleaning woman who worked at lower Manhattan office building 2 Rector Street, where Pabon was a freight elevator operator. Pabon's lawyer said his client would plead not guilty and said of the police evidence, "I think there is a problem."

After monitoring him for a week, police arrested Joseph Pabon in connection to the murder of a cleaning woman in a lower Manhattan office building. Police spokesman Paul Browne said, "We have linked DNA of Joseph Pabon of Staten Island to the murder of the cleaning lady at Rector Street." The Post reports that DNA found under murder victim Eridania Rodriguez's nails matched Pabon's: "Police said Pabon tried to sexually assault Rodriguez, but she fought back so ferociously that she scratched his hands and arms and squeezed him so fiercely that she left a palm print."

After DNA testing from the FBI proved that a Michigan resident was not 1955 kidnapping victim Steven Damman, his family and the Damman family are reeling from the whirlwind of publicity and questions. John Barnes truly believed he was the Long Island toddler who had been kidnapped at age two—partly because he never thought he fit in—and even appeared with Damman's sister Pamela Sue Horne, who was seven months old during the kidnapping, on the Today show hours before the DNA results were revealed. Horne was contacted by Barnes last fall, and she submitted to a DNA test that did not rule out that they could be related. She told Newsday this morning, "It's been a very long night," and was later seen in a wheelchair. And Cheryl Barnes, who was raised alongside John Barnes, told the Times, "This is all out of nowhere. He’s always saying something, and now it’s this? Is he saying our dad is a kidnapper?"

In December, a 44-year-old Long Island woman was found in the backseat of a SUV with a 13-year-old boy—police said both were "unclothed" from the waist down in the vehicle, which was parked outside the Baldwin Middle School where the boy attends and the woman is VP of the PTA. Now Newsday reports the Nassau County DA wants Joan Tuckruskye's DNA, "after they found a woman's saliva on the body and clothing of" the boy. However, Tuckruskye's lawyer Brian Griffin is trying to block the demand, "We have a legal process. She has rights. The government cannot invade people's privacy without meeting a legal standard," and points out the boy denies that there was sexual contact. Tuckruskye had been charged of endangering the welfare of a child, which as a maximum of a year in jail, but the charges could be upgraded to a felony if she did have sex with him.

The NY Post reports that one of the wrenches in solving the Linda Stein murder case has been removed; the blood found mixed with Stein's in her bathroom has been identified. Previously referred to as the blood of a mysterious "Male A," it turns out it was that of Officer Anthony Seguinot's, who "accidentally contaminated the crime scene by washing his hands before the final forensic examination of the bathroom sink." This puts a damper on Natavia Lowery's case, who had been claiming "Male A" is the real murderer (a previous defense pointed the finger at a ninja). Currently locked up on Rikers Island, Lowery gave birth on July 6th.