Suspect in cold case murder commits suicide days after submitting DNA: Police

(KAPOHO, Hawaii) — A man recently identified as a suspect in the 1991 murder of a 23-year-old woman has died by suicide, days after a DNA swab from his cheek matched DNA evidence collected at the crime scene 33 years ago, according to the Hawaii Police Department.

Albert Lauro Jr., 57, was identified as a suspect in the murder of Dana Ireland, who had been kidnapped and raped in the Kapoho area of Hawaii Island on Dec. 24, 1991, according to police. She died a day later at a local hospital.

“This case is still under investigation. Albert Lauro Jr. has been linked to the victim by DNA; however, his exact involvement is still under investigation. And his death was ruled a suicide by the forensic pathologist,” Hawaii Police Department Captain Rio Amon-Wilkins told ABC News.

DNA evidence had been recovered from a swab taken from Ireland’s body, from a sheet used to transport her to the hospital and from a t-shirt found at the scene and was used by police to identify a suspect in her murder this month, according to Hawaii PD.

At the time of the murder, there was no match for the evidence in any DNA database, police said.

In 2008, the DNA evidence was sent to the Forensic Analytical Crime Lab in California, and additional DNA evidence was collected from the T-shirt, which matched other samples from the scene, according to Hawaii PD.

DNA experts are now able to take data from a DNA sample and build a family tree based on known DNA from relatives. Earlier this year, an FBI agent from the Honolulu Field Office contacted police investigators with the names of some people who could potentially match the DNA sample — including Lauro Jr., according to Hawaii PD.

Lauro Jr. lived in the Kapoho area at the time of the murder, so police surveilled him, eventually collecting a utensil that he had been using and then threw away. The DNA collected from the utensil matched the DNA evidence connected to the crime, police said.

The evidence established probable cause for the crime of rape. The statute of limitations for the crime had run out, but investigators were able to continue to investigate the case as a murder — though they did not have enough evidence to establish probable cause and arrest Lauro Jr., according to Hawaii PD.

Investigators obtained a court order for a cheek swab from the suspect, then asked him to come to the station and talk to investigators — but he was not taken into custody at the time. After the swab was taken he asked to leave and was allowed to do so. The swab then matched the DNA taken from the scene of the crime 33 years ago after it was analyzed at the California lab, according to Hawaii PD.

“The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals from unwarranted search and seizure,” Hawaii Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said in a statement. “In order to obtain a search warrant, investigators would have to have established probable cause for the crime of murder and explained specifically what evidence it was seeking.”

“We remain focused on Dana Ireland, a young woman who was brutally murdered. There is still a lot about this case that we do not know and our investigation into this case continues to push forward. Our search for the truth is not over,” Moszkowicz said.

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