Genealogy leads NC police to suspect five years after 74-year-old was killed, cops say
A team of North Carolina investigators was stalled on a homicide case — until it turned to genealogy for clues, officials said.
Five years after a 74-year-old man was killed, a suspect has been charged in connection with his death, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday.
In 2016, the agency started investigating the death of George Washington Price. Officials said he was found stabbed at his home in Elizabeth City, roughly 165 miles northeast of Raleigh.
Law enforcement officers didn’t have enough evidence to solve the case, so in 2020 they decided to seek help from a DNA technology company, the State Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.
The company, Parabon NanoLabs, says on its website it uses genetic information and historic records to build family trees. Those tools can help identify suspects when police have no DNA match on record.
In 2018, similar services were used in California to track down Joseph DeAngelo, the so-called Golden State Killer, decades after the crimes were committed, The Sacramento Bee reported.
“The SBI is always looking for innovative ways to serve the people of North Carolina,” Robert Schurmeier, director of the state agency, said in the news release. “We understand the role of technology in solving cases and bringing closure to families who’ve suffered tragic losses.”
The State Bureau of Investigation, which worked with the Pasquotank County Sheriff’s Office, said officials combined genetic genealogy information with “traditional police work” to link a suspect to the 74-year-old’s death.
David Lee Blair, 55, was charged with murder and arrested Tuesday in Winston-Salem, officials said. He was taken to the Forsyth County Detention Center with no bond and was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, according to state records.
