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    • DNA pioneer testifies at Paul Caneiro trial in Colts Neck family murders
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    DNA pioneer testifies at Paul Caneiro trial in Colts Neck family murders

    Online Niel Posted on

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    FREEHOLD – John Buckleton, a senior scientist at the New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research, began his career in forensic science by matching glass from broken windows at crime scenes with glass particles found on persons of interest.

    His career took a revolutionary turn in 1987 when he obtained a scholarship from the New Zealand government to study glass samples in the United Kingdom.

    While there, “I got along well with the DNA people,” which led him into the field of interpreting DNA evidence, Buckleton testified Thursday at a Superior Court hearing.

    Decades later, Buckleton and two colleagues created a computer program known as STRmix, which deviates from traditional DNA analysis methods to interpret complicated mixtures from multiple donors.

    The STRmix program developed some of the DNA evidence against Paul Caniero, 57, of Ocean Township, who is accused of the 2018 murders of his brother Keith, 50, sister-in-law Jennifer, 45, and niece Sophia. , 8, and grandson, Jesse, 11, at Keith Caneiro’s Colts Neck mansion.

    The victim’s remains were discovered on November 21, 2018, by emergency workers responding to a smoldering fire at the mansion. Keith Caneiro had been shot four times in the head and once in the back. Jennifer Caneiro and her two children were repeatedly stabbed and badly burned. Jennifer Caneiro was also shot in the head. Authorities say Paul Caniero committed the murders after Keith, his business partner, discovered he was stealing from companies they jointly owned.

    STRmix is ​​now being considered at a hearing before Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux, Monmouth County’s assignment judge.

    Based on an evaluation of the scientific reliability of the STRmix software, Lemieux will rule on whether the DNA evidence it generates will be admissible at Caneiro’s upcoming trial, which will take place early next year.

    While STRmix has been used in New Jersey for several years, its reliability has never been challenged in a New Jersey court, so LeMieux’s decision will have statewide implications, especially since the New Jersey State Police he recently started using it in his forensics lab.

    STRmix uses a method known as probabilistic genotyping, which deviates from a traditional method known as random matching probability.

    The random match probability generates a statistic about the probability that a match to a DNA profile can be found in the general population.

    Probabilistic genotyping, on the other hand, is able to analyze a DNA sample to which there are multiple contributors to generate what is called a “likelihood ratio” that an individual of interest can either be included or excluded as one of contributors.

    “That was the switch that unleashed this incredible power in DNA that we didn’t realize was there,” Buckleton said of the method.

    Christopher Decker, first assistant Monmouth County District Attorney, questioned the witness about his long career in DNA analysis.

    “So you were working there at that lab in the UK when the world first started using DNA testing?” Decker asked Buckleton.

    “That’s right,” Buckleton replied, explaining that he had an early role in developing how DNA evidence is interpreted.

    “We were making artificial intelligence systems for interpreting glass, and we sort of morphed to work on DNA,” he said.

    There were already probabilistic genotyping programs in use when Buckleton and two colleagues, Duncan Taylor and Jo-Anne Bright, began developing STRmix in 2011, Buckleton testified.

    They began working on it in 2011 after a lab in Melbourne, Australia, was shut down for misusing the software in reporting DNA results, he said.

    “I was part of the rescue team for the lab,” Buckleton confessed.

    The leading probabilistic genotyping software at the time cost $1 million per license, so he and Taylor were called upon by Australasia — New Zealand and Australia — to come up with a more affordable solution, he said.

    They had a prototype for the software in two weeks, Buckleton said. Within four weeks, they were analyzing DNA mixtures from four people, he said.

    The first laboratories in Australasia started using STRmix in 2012, he said.

    They did not expect the software to be used beyond Australasia, he said, but were soon contacted by agents in the United States.

    “The US heard that we did this and we got approaches from the US Army and the California Department of Justice,” he said. “They wanted to see our instrument.”

    The US military began using STRmix in 2014, he said.

    Now, there are 89 labs in the United States using STRmix, he said. The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also uses STRmix, he said.

    Buckleton acknowledged that the software has limitations, including when analyzing samples of related individuals.

    But it also has strengths, chief among them that it produces a strong inclusion ratio for a true donor in a DNA sample and a strong exclusion ratio for a fake donor, Buckleton said.

    Buckleton expressed concern that STRmix, a unit of the New Zealand agency he works for, has been criticized for setting up the software and training staff in the labs that use it.

    “Wouldn’t you rather be trained in how to fly the F-16 by someone who knows, than just read the manual?” he said.

    And, he responded to critical reports from defense experts who are expected to testify at the hearing in the coming weeks.

    “The allegation, more innuendo than allegation, was that by being associated with the development (of STRmix) I or my colleagues would do something that is adverse to justice,” Buckleton said.

    “I never understood what they thought we were going to do,” he said. “There is no evidence that I ever did anything like that.”

    Buckleton, who has been at the top of the New Zealand agency for 28 years, said he does not derive any financial benefit from STRmix.

    “I am a civil servant and I have a salary,” he said. “I don’t get a percentage of the sales. I am unpromotable and have been since I was 38. I never want to contribute to an injustice”.

    Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, has covered crimes, court cases, legal issues and nearly every major crime trial that has hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at [email protected].

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