A DNA sample that could have solved a 2001 murder by a former Seattle cop languished at the FBI lab for 3 1/2 years, the station KIRO 7 news in Seattle reported.
The story unfolds like this:
In 2001, realtor Mike Emert, 40, was murdered in the Seattle suburb of Woodinville while showing a home to a prospective buyer. The murder goes unsolved.
In 2002, the station reported, that former Seattle cop Gary Krueger, who authorities suspect was a professional hitman, was convicted in a series of armed bank robberies. He went off to federal prison and was released in 2007– but not before authorities sent a swab of his DNA to the FBI’s DNA lab in Quantico, Va.
In March of 2010, he drowned shortly being involved in a home invasion robbery, the station reported.
In July of that year, the FBI finally ran his DNA and submitted it to the National DNA Index System — 3 1/2 years after local authorities gave it to the lab. The test pointed to Krueger in the 2001 murder of a real estate agent Mike Emert.
The station reported that Krueger was also a suspect in the 1981 slaying of former police officer and Everett gas station owner, Terry Dolan and in the 1984 stabbing of Bellevue attorney Jim Barry.
Mary Beth Emert, wife of the slain real estate agent, told the station she was angry about the delay.
“It makes my blood boil, absolutely makes my blood boil,” she said, adding that she feels she was denied justice because the DNA samples came after Krueger’s death.
“It’s kind of that final piece, putting it on the right place and knowing that after all this time this monster has been identified,” Emert told KIRO news. “Too bad that the system didn’t get him while they could- while he was alive.”
The FBI sent a response by email to the station, saying:
“In the interest of being fair and balanced… I’m hopeful that your special project story, on DNA testing, will mention that the FBI Laboratory successfully eliminated the federal offender backlog of over 300,000 samples in September of 2010.”
OTHER STORIES OF INTEREST
- Shooting at San Jose State University Parking Garage Leaves 3 Dead (AP)
- Judge Hears Dispute Linked to Oklahoma City Bombing (AP)
- Miss. Executes Man Convicted of 4 Slayings (AP)
- Judge Appoints Suspected Nazi Demjanjuk a Federal Defender (AP)
- Justice Dept. Says Electronic Privacy Act Needs Better Balance (Main Justice)
- Ex-Pal of Campbell Soup Heiress Admits to Extortion (AP)
- Lawyer for GlaxoSmithKline Acquitted on Obstruction and False Statement Charges (Law.com)
