DNA Analysis in the Investigation of the Murder of Rachel Nickell

Cellmark Forensic Services is pleased to have been able to assist the Metropolitan Police in the investigation of the murder of Rachel Nickell. Working with colleagues at Forensic Alliance since 2002, scientists at Cellmark provided the DNA analysis which established the link with Robert Napper who today pleaded guilty to Rachel Nickell's murder. Read More

9 / 11

In 2002, Orchid Cellmark furthered its reputation as an innovator by collaborating with the New York City Medical Examiner's Office to conduct Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) tests, a technology that was developed by Orchid Cellmark for identity and relationship testing. In a forensic case, SNP technology has the advantage of detecting DNA in very small and highly degraded samples, which was what many of the 9/11 samples were. Orchid Cellmark is proud that, using this technology, we were able to help identify several 9/11 World Trade Center victims for whom other methods had failed.

Christopher Columbus

Orchid Cellmark has been working with a team of scientists and historians for a few years to assist in the identification of bones taken from a chapel in Seville. The historical fact is that Christopher Columbus was originally buried in the Dominican Republic, but the Spanish were supposed to have moved his remains first to Cuba and then to Seville. The big question is whether the bones found in the chapel in Seville belong to Christopher Columbus.

It was felt that the best approach to this question was to test those bones, in comparison to bones known to have come from his brother Diego and his son Hernando. By examining autosomal and Y-SNPs, Orchid Cellmark has been able to obtain a full Y-SNP profile from Hernando but the profiles from the other two sets of bones are incomplete.

At this time, Orchid Cellmark awaits more bones from the chapel in Seville purported to be from Christopher Columbus and his brother Diego

Billy The Kid

In 2005, Orchid Cellmark was called upon to help in the determination of the actual burial spot of William H. Bonney, aka Billy the Kid. Orchid Cellmark has tested blood from a workbench that Billy The Kid was allegedly placed on after being killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett. At this time, Orchid Cellmark awaits comparison samples from Catherine Antrim, Billy the Kid’s mother, as well as human remains from the Fort Sumner and grave alleged to contain Billy the Kid.

Workplace Harassment

In a case of workplace harassment, a maintenance worker at a Louisiana hospital found his toolbox filled with urine. There were dozens of potential suspects who could have had access to the soiled toolbox, but administrators at the hospital were determined to discover the perpetrator. Read More

Fingernail Evidence

A 14-year old girl was found strangled in the shower of the defendant, Roy Wayne Russell, in his Vancouver, WA home on November 2, 2005. Russell’s hands showed bruises and a small cut, and there were also small cuts on his abdomen. Evidence of a sexual assault was not present. Read More