Investigation ordered into 1,600 criminal DNA samples that sat untested for years

The Delaware medical examiner's office had completed its transfer to the state's newly formed Division of Forensic Science in July 2014 when the scandal-plagued agency received more unwelcome news.

A lab worker found a box containing DNA samples of about 1,600 Delaware criminals that had never been entered into a national database used to help match criminals with crime-scene evidence.

The samples, which spanned from 2001 to 2012, included that of convicted sex offender Kili Mayfield, who was indicted this summer on charges that he raped three women.

A News Journal investigation showed that two of those woman were attacked, police and prosecutors say, while his DNA sample sat untested.

The discovery was kept secret for years – despite assurances that transferring the office to the Division of Forensic Science would bring transparency to an agency rocked by mismanagement, theft of drug evidence and even forgotten body parts.

The failure to alert the public about the untested samples, including members of a commission created to monitor the medical examiner's functions, has left at least one of the commission members calling for an independent review. 

"I'm very disappointed that it's never been mentioned," said Lisa Schwind, a member of the Commission of Forensic Science who heads the public defenders' forensic unit. "The whole purpose of this [commission] is to have transparency in the whole process."

"I would be disgusted if it comes out that after we have [worked on] this and supposedly cleaned it up, that there was any effort to cover up," she said.

Schwind's comments came during a Commission of Forensic Science meeting on Monday – its first gathering since The News Journal reported the 1,600 DNA samples, including Mayfield's, had not been entered into the national database.

Mayfield's sample should have been entered into the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, shortly after his 2002 conviction. But instead it sat untested until 2014. 

By that time, police and prosecutors say the 39-year-old man raped two woman. He wasn't indicted until police said he raped a third woman last year. 

DNA samples of 1,600 Delaware convicts were not entered into national database for years

The Department of Safety and Homeland Security, which oversees the Division of Forensic Science, launched its investigation this week into the matter.

"The investigation is being conducted by the office of the secretary," said Wendy Hudson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. Hudson said the probe will also look at why this was not made public. 

Schwind contends an independent review would be best since an investigation by the department could present a conflict.

"Having the lab under Delaware homeland security's control in this case creates an exceptional situation whereas any investigation in this matter becomes an investigation of themselves," Schwind told The News Journal. 

"So we are investigating ourselves," she said. "That doesn’t smell right to me."

Few knew of the discovery

The state Medical Examiner's Office was moved to the newly formed Division of Forensic Science in July 2014 after a series of failures.

The most infamous came in January of that year when a Delaware State Police trooper was testifying at a Kent County trial and he opened a sealed evidence envelope that was supposed to contain 64 blue Oxycontin pills.

Instead, 13 pink blood pressure pills spilled out. 

As the division took control of the troubled agency in July of that year, that same month a lab worker in the medical examiner's office discovered a box of paperwork related to approximately 1,600 known offender DNA samples. The samples referenced in these documents were found to be in various stages of testing, but were not uploaded into CODIS.  

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It took months to go through and enter the samples. Some were not entered because new samples were needed from the Department of Correction because the ones they had provided did not yield a DNA profile that could be uploaded or collection information was not completed.

But during this time, it appears very few people were informed about the newly found samples.

Division of Forensic Science Director John R. Evans declined to comment on the matter following Monday's commission meeting saying the department of homeland security would provide further explanation. 

Georgetown Police Chief Randall L Hughes II, who was the division's acting director when the samples were found, would not comment either, citing the ongoing investigation. Hughes also chairs the Commission of Forensic Science. 

The box containing 1,600 DNA samples wasn't brought up in an assessment issued by Andrews International, a risk mitigation consulting firm contracted to audit the medical examiner's operations.

Hudson said the Andrews International Report was issued in June 2014 and the on-site assessment was completed sometime before that. 

"'The box' of the 1600 files of known offenders was not discovered until July 2014," Hudson said in a statement. 

The California-based security company was supposed to have performed a thorough audit of the medical examiner's functions and performance.

Hudson said they were not in a position to answer any questions about that, including if Andrews International's investigators visited the office's facilities. 

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Andrews International did not respond to a message seeking clarification. 

Hudson also couldn't explain why there was no mention of the 1,600 samples in the Division of Forensic Science's first annual report. The 2014 report acknowledges there was a backlog of about 4,300 offender samples, but does not specify that approximately 1,600 of those samples came from a box found in the medical examiner's Wilmington office. 

"These are the types of questions that will be looked into during the administrative investigation," Hudson said.

'Doesn't make any sense.'

The state's former medical examiner said he was having a hard time believing the DNA samples of some 1,600 Delaware convicts remained un-entered into a national database for years – all during his tenure.

Dr. Richard Callery, who lost his position as Delaware's chief medical examiner after a series of missteps by his agency, said that while he was on suspension, his office provided a report to then-Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf announcing the database backlog had been "eliminated!"

"I am totally unaware nor was I informed of any samples waiting to be 'found' in a box somewhere awaiting uploading," Callery told The News Journal. "Until I learn otherwise I have to believe they were incomplete profiles or lacking information required to lawfully upload them. Procedures were in place to address such samples.

"I have no knowledge if these procedures were followed after the division was restructured."

Callery was suspended from his position on Feb. 25, 2014.

That was about four months before the June 2014 report was presented to Landgraf, whose department oversaw his office at the time. The News Journal obtained the section Callery spoke about.

It started with a bold announcement: "DNA CODIS MILESTONE"

"Thanks to very diligent and tenacious work of our staff in CODIS, the backlog has now been eliminated!

"Since March 2014, 30 batches have been analyzed and entered into CODIS totaling 2,540 profiles. There are some problem samples (~130) that we will be addressing in the next couple of weeks in order to complete all of the remaining 2013 convicted offender samples. These problem samples will need to be re-analyzed for various reasons.

"All in all, OCME did a tremendous job in tackling this backlog by overcoming the obstacles posed by the computer software upgrades, staffing and instrument issues."

Callery said the report was written by Robyn Quinn, who left the office in June of this year to become a crime lab director in North Dakota. She could not be reached for comment and a spokeswoman for the North Dakota office said their workers are not permitted to speak to the media. 

Callery said he found it difficult that Quinn, and her then-supervisor Amrita Lal-Paterson, would overlook something of this magnitude. Lal-Paterson first became aware of the 1,600 files on July 16, 2014, and reported them to the Division of Forensic Science leadership, Hudson said.  

"It's unfathomable to me that I wouldn't have been informed of this or that they wouldn't have noticed it," Callery said. Callery, who headed the Medical Examiner's Office since 1994, was eliminated on July 4, 2014. 

When asked about the possibility the box was overlooked, Callery said that sounded "implausible." 

"It's sort of like losing 1,300 autopsies," he said. "It's just something that doesn't make any sense."

Callery said he would welcome an independent review. 

"I agree and fully support Lisa Schwind's call for an independent investigation," Callery said. "I welcome it and will cooperate fully with it."

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.

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