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DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, has been around for years and years.
The gradual development, or refining, of DNA technology is ongoing even right now.
However, I also recall the first case I prosecuted that used DNA.
That’s all I could say.
Then, the defendant would be a white male.
That really doesn’t help that much.
I could say the defendant’s blood key in is A+.
That’s about … 30-40% of the population?
Didn’t help that much.
It would have to be highly corroborated.
The first trial I used DNA is really a funny story.
I’m like, “Yes, everything.”
They put that up in front of the jury.
It was a female scientist, as I recall.
So it’s incredible.
On “Bloodline Detectives,” which I’m super proud of, we are just starting Season 3.
Season 1 and Season 2 [are] streaming.
We’re looking at genetic genealogy, such as in the DeAngelo case, the Golden State Killer.
I love hearing about that case, and everyone focused on genetic genealogy because of Golden State Killer.
The way that works is, it’s crazy.
You may have to go back a hundred years.
Let’s pretend you’re the murder victim.
We find, right beside your body, a Krispy Kreme coffee cup with DNA on it.
We’ve got a coffee cup with DNA, but it doesn’t match anybody.
We sit down to find who with similar DNA was in the area at the time of the offense.
Then, you start narrowing it down to potential defendants.
Then, you have to get their DNA somehow.
The cops were waiting.
They got a crusted pizza and they got DNA off of it and made the match.
That’s how the Golden State Killer ended his reign of terror.
DeAngelo had murdered and raped for years without getting caught.
If it was not for genetic genealogy, he would never have been caught.
DNA evidence doesn’t lie
For the lay person, how definitive is DNA evidence?
That figure I threw out earlier was to explain that very thing.
The jury sits there.
I recall putting up that number on a white board, on a poster board, for the jury.
It’s hard to take in when you hear “one in 3 trillion.”
Look at all those zeros.
What’s the likelihood that the scientists at the crime lab are all lying?
What, they’re part of the big conspiracy to put this guy behind bars?
They’re not, and science doesn’t lie.
It can convict you or exonerate you.
That’s why I love this, because we are now cracking on “Bloodline Detectives.”
I’m certainly not the star of the show.
The stars of the program are those bloodline detectives that gather the DNA.
The clothing of the child is kept, and the underwear reveals semen.
If it’s not collected correctly, [there’s] no hope of cracking the case.
Who knows what happened 60 years ago?
Then the detectives, present day, have to work with and sometimes with very degraded DNA.
It’s starting to degrade.
It’s not like a fresh cut, or fresh blood taken at the scene.
There are now labs [that] work specifically with degraded DNA, extracting it.
you could use up DNA in the testing.
Now, DNA can be matched that has been very degraded, very old.
Been underwater, been in mud, like I was telling you.
That takes a long time to do.
That’s a really good question.
A lot of times, there is no impetus.
There were, as I recall, 12 superior courtrooms.
There would be one lead district attorney in each courtroom that would handle 150 new felonies a week.
Plead it, drop it, or try it.
The witnesses had died.
What’s the impetus?
Number one, for the most part, current-day district attorneys cannot keep up with caseload.
I had the oldest sitting judge in the courthouse as my judge in my courtroom.
He was too old to meet the mandatory retirement.
It worked out really well.
We would wait every Tuesday.
The jail count would come out, the jail count for each courtroom.
With that in mind, that’s why there may be no impetus to get to those cold cases.
They can pass all those laws you hear them talk about on TV.
“We’re doing the victims…” Blah, blah, blah.
They can’t just talk about it.
They got to put their money where their mouth is, and they don’t like that.
They’ve got to cover their own salaries.
I guarantee you they’ll show up for a vote for that.
There must be so many more.
My fiance was murdered many years ago, but we had a resolution.
We knew who did it.
I cannot even imagine not knowing what happened to Keith finding his body and never knowing.
Until you know and the case is resolved, you might’t even start healing.
Let’s think about these parents [whose] child has been kidnapped and murdered.
[I] hate to even say those words.
I can’t imagine what some parents go through.
They say, “Bye!”
to their child and they’re never seen alive again.
Instead of being able to mourn, every day, they wake up trying to solve the case.
They never even have a chance at healing.
I’m certainly not the star.
I’m telling you, as a crime victim, there’s no such thing as closure.
I actually cringe when I hear someone say “closure.”
There’s no closure.
You learn to go on and flip a pancake, but it’s not the same.
She has to reach over.
She can play, but it’s not like it used to be.
There’s never really any closure for these families, but at least they get that first answer.
You also have your Hallmark movies [and] the Hailey Dean mysteries.
That’s a very different spin on murder, for lack of a better word.
What does that bring to you overall?
It’s certainly lighter than other things that you do.
I’ll tell you how that happened, the whole thing, where Hailey Dean came from.
I had been prosecuting, which was my only goal after the murder of my fiance.
I was in school to be a Shakespearean English professor.
When Keith was murdered, I dropped out of school.
I didn’t know what I wanted to ever do.
I knew I didn’t want to be in the classroom anymore.
I had to do something, but I didn’t know what.
After getting through law school, I clerked for a federal judge.
I was there about 10 years when he announced he was going to retire.
I’m like, “What?”
It’s the only time I shed a tear in front of Mr. Slaton.
I didn’t want him to go, but he retired.
The new DA was coming in and …
I have no stomach for politics.
I didn’t want to run for anything.
I knew I had to find another job, but what?
They were riding high.
I didn’t know any of those people in that room, so I let them have it.
I chewed both of them a new tail hole, to put it nicely.
I was going home the next day.
Didn’t bother me.
‘Cochran and Grace.'"
I’m like, “No.
I’ve got a serial rape trial to try next week.
I shouldn’t even be here!”
I went back home, [and] Mr. Slaton announced he was going to return.
I’m like, “Holy crap.”
I called Court TV back.
I said, " I don’t want to be a defense attorney.
I’ll take that job."
What could go wrong?
New York becomes a life changer
I moved to New York.
I know nobody except Johnny, God rest his soul.
He was the toast of the town.
I was the second banana.
I was fine with that, but I knew nobody.
I would go home at night to my apartment alone.
I started writing at night, a book.
I named my heroine the name I had planned to give a daughter.
I knew after Keith I would never remarry and have children.
I picked Hailey after Halley’s Comet, once in a lifetime.
I didn’t have a last name.
I was in TV, and had started working.
I put his name on the end of it.
That was my heroine.
I mished and mashed them all together and came up with 11th Victim.
Many years later, I did get married.
I married my long-time sweetheart, David, and we had twins.
My son was fine, and I felt my grandmother, who helped raise me, with me.
I guess you’re able to figure out why 10.
This interview has been edited for clarity and for content.
