Arrest made in 2006 Florida girl murder
Utilizing a new DNA law, police were able to arrest Patrick Murphy and charge him with the rape and murder of Coralrose Fullwood in 2006. Coralrose was only 6 years old at the time of her death.
Patrick Murphy’s felony burglary conviction meant court bailiffs swabbed the inside of his mouth immediately after his sentencing to get a DNA sample.
Seven months later, that sample was matched to DNA recovered from Coralrose Fullwood’s body, leading to a flurry of activity in an investigation that had gone on for two years without any arrests.
The case authorities are making against Murphy illustrates the effect of a change in state law that requires every felon to give a DNA sample.
It takes longer for the state’s DNA workers to process the evidence, but that database of 532,851 offenders has generated nearly 9,000 leads in open investigations.
Information from: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/13/...
