Genetic DNA at issue in cold case killing trial
(14 Jun 2019) Jurors in Washington state on Friday heard about the mysterious final days of a young Canadian couple killed in 1987 — as well as the novel method authorities used to finally make an arrest three decades later.
William Earl Talbott II was arrested last year and charged with aggravated murder, after authorities said they used genetic genealogy to identify him as the person who left his DNA on the clothing of one of the victims. The practice involves identifying suspects by entering crime-scene DNA profiles into public databases that people have used for years to fill out their family trees.
Opening statements began with a prosecutor describing how 18-year-old Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jay Cook, left their hometown of Saanich, near Victoria, British Columbia, for what was supposed to be an overnight trip to Seattle in November 1987. When they didn't return, their families began a frantic search for them, including renting a plane to try to spot the copper-colored Ford van they had been driving.
About a week later, Van Cuylenborg's body was found down an embankment in rural Skagit County, north of Seattle. She was naked from the waist down and had been shot in the back of the head.
Hunters found Cook dead two days later in brush near a bridge over the Snoqualmie River in Monroe — about 60 miles (95 kilometers) from where his girlfriend was discovered. He had been beaten with rocks and strangled with twine and two red dog collars, authorities said.
The couple's van was found in Bellingham, Washington, near a bus station. Van Cuylenborg's pants were in it; investigators found semen on the hem, and said it matched that on her body.
Detectives investigated hundreds of leads in the ensuing decades and tested the DNA against criminal databases, to no avail. But Snohomish County sheriff's detective Jim Scharf learned about Parabon Labs in Reston, Virginia, which was using a new DNA processing method to extract more information from samples.
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Washington man on trial in 1987 killing of Canadian couple
A man charged with murder in the 1987 killings of a young Canadian couple is facing trial in Washington state beginning this week, but the case won't challenge the new investigative technique authorities used to link him to the crime. William Earl Talbott II is one of dozens of men authorities have arrested for old, unsolved crimes in the past year using genetic genealogy. The practice involves identifying suspects by entering crime-scene DNA profiles into public databases that people have used for years to fill out their family trees. Privacy advocates have expressed concerns about whether it violates the rights of suspects and whether its use by law enforcement should be restricted. But Talbott's attorneys say how detectives found him is irrelevant to their defense to charges that he killed 18-year-old Tanya Van Cuylenborg and her boyfriend, 20-year-old Jay Cook. Instead, they argue that he's innocent, and that the discovery of his DNA — which investigators said was on her pants, vagina and rectum — doesn't make him a murderer. The police used this as nothing more than any other tip, which they followed up with traditional investigative techniques, defense lawyer Rachel Forde said. DNA on the hem of one of the victim's pants doesn't tell you who killed her and why. Van Cuylenborg and Cook disappeared in November 1987 during what was supposed to be an overnight trip from their hometown of Saanich, British Columbia, to Seattle, to pick up furnace parts for Cook's father's business. After a frantic week for their families, Van Cuylenborg's body was found down an embankment in rural Skagit County, north of Seattle. She had been shot in the back of the head. Hunters found Cook dead two days later next to a bridge over the Snoqualmie River in Monroe — about 60 miles (95 km) from where his girlfriend was discovered. He had been strangled with twine and dog leashes. Over the next three decades, detectives investigated hundreds of leads, to no avail. But in 2017, Snohomish County sheriff's detective Jim Scharf learned about Parabon Labs in Reston, Virginia, which was using a new DNA processing method to extract more information from samples. CeCe Moore, a genealogist there who is known for her work on the public television series Finding Your Roots, was using the more robust genetic profiles to find distant relatives using the public genealogy database GEDmatch. In 2018, investigators in California used this technique to arrest and charge a man with being the sadistic attacker known as the Golden State killer who killed 13 people and raped nearly 50 women during the 1970s and 1980s. With a sample from Van Cuylenborg's pants, which were discovered in the couple's van in Bellingham, Washington, after their deaths, Moore built a family tree and determined that the source must be a male child of William and Patricia Talbott. William Talbott II, now 56, was their only son. He was 24 at the time of the killings and lived near where Cook's body
Seattle City Council 10/7/19
Agenda: Presentations; Public Comment; Payment of Bills; CB 119600: relating to environmental review; Res 31911: opposing Washington Initiative Measure 976; CB 119288: relating to the City's criminal code.
Advance to a specific part
Public Comment - 2:23
Payment of Bills - 42:45
CB 119600: relating to environmental review - 43:31
Res 31911: opposing Washington Initiative Measure 976 - 1:35:57
CB 119288: relating to the City's criminal code - 1:59:09
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
Real men don't take guff from snotty kids. Neither does Disko Troop, skipper of the We're Here, a fishing schooner out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, when his crew fishes Harvey Cheyne out of the Atlantic. There's no place on the Grand Banks for bystanders, so Harvey is press-ganged into service as a replacement for a man lost overboard and drowned. Harvey is heir to a vast fortune, but his rescuers believe none of what he tells them of his background. Disko won't take the boat to port until it is full of fish, so Harvey must settle in for a season at sea. Hard, dangerous work and performing it alongside a grab-bag of characters in close quarters is a life-changing experience.
Chapter 1 - 00:00
Chapter 2 - 28:17
Chapter 3 - 1:06:04
Chapter 4 - 1:48:53
Chapter 5 - 2:22:53
Chapter 6 - 2:54:16
Chapter 7 - 3:13:36
Chapter 8 - 3:30:31
Chapter 9 - 4:15:26
Chapter 10 - 5:05:05
Read by Mark F. Smith (
KOMO-TV 6pm News, November 7, 2006
Weeknight newscast from the ABC affiliate in Seattle, WA. Most commercials were included.
Posted for educational and historical purposes only. All material is under the copyright of their original holders. No copyright infringement is intended.
ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 2019- UAE vs USA
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