The M-Vac System has secured a conviction in the 1995 cold case of Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch.
From KSL: “After about four hours of deliberation, jurors found Joseph Michael Simpson, 49, guilty of aggravated murder Thursday in the 1995 death of Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch. The teenager who had been living in Salt Lake City was found naked with her skull beaten in with a rock on the banks of the Provo River in Midway.”
The M-Vac is a liquid based biological evidence collection system. Simply put, the wet vacuum sprays a sterile buffer while simultaneously vacuuming the liquid with any cellular material that was present from a variety of surfaces.
Note that defense attorney Richard Gale said other DNA was found on the rocks at the scene. “There is a mixture of DNA,” he said. “It’s not just Joe [Simpson]. It’s from other people. DNA is not the gold standard when there’s a mixture of DNA. It points in two directions.”
In rebuttal, prosecutor Case Wade noted that while trace evidence from at least two unknown men also was found during the investigation, Simpson’s was the only DNA found in a sufficient amount to identify an individual profile.”
Case: On Dec 15, 1995 the nude body of Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch (June 5, 1978 – Dec 15, 1995) was found lying face down, bloody and broken, on the banks of the Provo River, Utah. She was just 17 years old. Parts of the large, granite rock were saved as evidence as well as scrapings from under her fingernails. In 2016, investigators used the M-Vac and collected enough touch DNA from that rock to generate a full profile.
R.I.P. Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch
[…] Discovery Channel is launching a new TV program, and the first episode (March 5th) will be on the Krystal Beslanowitch murder from 1996. In that case the M-Vac collected DNA from a couple of granite rocks, helping […]