DALLAS — A 52-year-old man found guilty of aggravated assault will spend the rest of his life in prison in the first Dallas County jury trial to use investigative genetic genealogy.
The defendant, Christopher Michael Green, was charged in a 2005 cold case of raping a young mother at knifepoint.
“We have been working this case with the Dallas Police Department since we started the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) almost a decade ago,” said lead prosecutor Leighton D’Antoni in a statement. “I remember long-time Dallas Police Department Sex Assaults Detective Todd Haecker telling me this was his ‘white whale.’ We exhausted every investigative tool without success until the DA’s Office and DPD began working with the FBI Dallas Violent Crimes Task Force, which finally cracked this case.”
Evidence of Green allegedly committing five other violent assaults was presented during the punishment phase, as well as testimony from survivors -- four of whom were between the ages of 15 and 17 during the time of their reported attacks.
“You chose your path,” said one of the survivors. “I have been waiting for this day for 24 years.”
Green maintained his innocence and testified as much during his trial, but DNA evidence and testimony resulted in the jury finding him guilty and giving him a life sentence.
“Predators can’t live with the truth. Survivors can’t live without it. The truth came to light in this courtroom,” D’Antoni said in his closing argument.
A suspect DNA profile was first identified in one of these cases back in 2001, officials say. And over the next 15 years, that profile appeared in five more cases. But without a felony conviction, Green's DNA wasn't in the national database so no match could be made.
IGG provided the breakthrough, officials say, as it led to investigators linking unknown offender DNA profiles to familial connections -- which led them to Green. Afterward, four of the six survivors identified Green in a photo lineup. After obtaining Green's DNA through a warrant, it was reportedly a perfect match for all six cases.
