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21-Aug-2025
Wright exoneration - TrueAllele finds the answer
On August 21, wrongfully convicted Edward Wright was finally exonerated after 41 years in prison. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed a Nolle Prosequi, ending Mr. Wright's prosecution for the murder of Penny Anderson. Cybergenetics worked closely with the New England Innocence Project, using its powerful TrueAllele genotyping technology on key DNA items to provide new scientific evidence.
TrueAllele examined 230 data peaks across 23 genetic loci from a washcloth (10 peaks per locus). The computer found new exculpatory DNA evidence, producing a highly probative exclusionary match statistic of one over 475 million. The new data analysis established that neither Mr. Wright nor the deceased were present in the DNA mixture.
TrueAllele analysis. The TrueAllele distribution of LR match statistics for people who didn't contribute their DNA (left blue curve) is clearly separated from the contributor distribution (right blue curve). Wright's strong TrueAllele log(LR) statistic (green arrow) is in the center of noncontributor values (left), far from the contributors (right).
STRmix™ probabilistic genotyping software (PGS) was also used on the washcloth but failed to produce a meaningful answer. This other PGS examined just 12 data peaks across 8 loci (1.5 peaks per locus), insufficient for solving a two-person mixture. Its match misclassification error rate was 7.5%, producing an inconclusive match statistic of one over 6.5 (about 100 million times less than TrueAllele's answer).
STRmix analysis. The less informative STRmix noncontributor (left) and contributor (right) LR distributions (blue curves) overlap. Wright's weak STRmix match statistic (green arrow) lies inconclusively in both distributions.
However, the facts, science and law weren't in their favor. On December 3, 2024, the judge ruled TrueAllele evidence admissible, affirming its scientific validity. The DNA results could be heard at trial. On February 25, the jury convicted Thompson of second-degree murder.