A sister's DNA may provide key evidence

Thomas Vanes, Willie T. Donald's defense attorney, filed a petition Aug. 5 for evidence from the murder to be released and tested for DNA. Victim Bernard Jimenez's Cubs jacket has sat in the Lake County Crime lab untouched for 17 years.

A possible alternative suspect, Lavelle Thompson, was murdered shortly after the Feb. 27, 1992, crime spree. Since he is no longer alive to provide a test sample to compare with any evidence found on the jacket, Vanes is requesting mDNA testing.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is an individual, genetic blueprint found in cells. Investigators use human hair, saliva, etc., to compare the blueprints of a suspect with what was left by an assailant. Mitochondrial DNA, or mDNA, is a genetic blueprint females pass on to their children. A biological sample from a sister of Thompson would have the same mDNA blueprint as a sample from Thompson himself.

Donald said he hopes the evidence is released and that the mDNA testing helps prove he was not at the scene of the crime.