Genetic Genealogy Links Kohberger to Murders: Should Genealogy Details be Released?

One of the bombshell pieces of evidence in the Bryan Kohberger murder case is the fact that Kohberger's DNA is a "statistical match" to DNA found on a knife sheath at the scene. Investigators found the Ka-Bar knife sheath "face down and partially under both Madison's body and the comforter on the bed."

A probable cause affidavit unsealed in January stated that the DNA found had been matched to Kohberger’s father. The elder Kohberger's DNA was recovered from trash outside the family home. A short tandem repeat (STR) analysis was performed to develop a profile. That profile was compared against material from Kohberger’s cheek swab. The result of the comparison is a statistical match—meaning the profile is at least 5.37 octillion times more likely to be from Kohberger rather than an unrelated random person.

The prosecutors have argued for sealing information related to the use of investigative genetic genealogy. Court documents state that is needed to protect from disclosure "the names and personal information of the hundreds of innocent relatives on the family tree, the names of the publicly available genetic genealogy services used, and certain other information."

Hear the arguments made by both legal teams.

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