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The State of Texas v Jose Noriega

DNA links burned remains of woman to her murderer

Crime On July 21, 2014, a woman’s body was found burning in a Pasadena, Texas field. The woman was identified as Rocio Montoya. Her ex-husband, Jose Noriega, was taken into custody.
Evidence Several DNA swabs were taken from Montoya’s body.
DNA The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences developed low-level DNA mixture data from the swabs.
Match The lab was unable to draw conclusions from the swabs due to the data’s complexity.
TrueAllele The computer used the same data to find that Jose Noriega matched the victim’s body with match statistics of 8.45 million, 28.9 billion and 8.36 million.
Cybergenetics    On May 9, 2016, Dr. Mark Perlin testified in a Harris County courtroom about the computer’s results.
Outcome The jury found Noriega guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Media

  • Man arrested in murder of Pasadena woman ABC13
  • PD: Pasadena mom killed by child’s father over child support dispute Click2Houston
  • Man charged in death of woman found burned in Pasadena grass field Chron