The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 6

6 A The Dbs Moines Register Friday, January 21, 2000 presents Breakthrou Pool laoie ot me Month ence.irom tiniest traces ens hero build I'M. Includes our Deluxe by I' Accessory Package considered the leaders in DNA research, recently uncovered new evidence in, a murder case from 1962. A man was convicted and executed. Police matched the DNA by gathering samples from saliva on the back of a postage stamp licked in 1961. Even though Lange was murdered six years ago and much of the original evidence was in laboratory storage, there also seems to be no time limit on gathering evidence.

"The real issue becomes evidence contamination," said' Bob Rigg, a Drake law professor and former prosecutor. "You can use smaller amounts of evidence and can track it back farther. The new technology is often much more sensitive to contamination. That can wreak havoc on an investigation." the United States. Molecules called DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid, are the basic building blocks of the genes that make humans what they are.

Certain combinations of those molecules are unique to individuals and provide a genetic fingerprint. DNA evidence is generally considered the most damning evidence in criminal cases such as rape and murder. Technology for collecting and identifying DNA has improved greatly in the past half-dozen years, said Richard Willing, a USA Today reporter who covers DNA science. "In some cases, they can gather specific DNA evidence from saliva on the edge of a Coke can or in a cigarette butt," Willing said. Willing covered a case in which British law enforcement agencies, of physical evidence than ever to positive identifications on suspects.

A single hair or saliva inside a discarded ski mask can be broken down; into specific DNA evidence. "It's amazing the kind of things you will see come up in court cases," said Dean Wright, a Drake University professor of sociology who studies American crime. "Today, they can get evidence from sub-particles found at crime scenes. That's stuff that just wasn't around five or six years ago." West Des Moines police took blood, saliva, skin and hair samples from Piper during the investigation. Police could have used FBI databases, compiled in the past five years, to compare those samples with.

DNA profiles collected throughout A single hair; or 4 bit of saliva can place a suspect at a crime scene. 5 By DANIEL P. TIMIX Kri.isTKR Staff Writer West Des Moines, la. Police remained mum Thursday about what technology changes helped them build a case in a 6-year-old murder. Donald Piper surrendered to police and was charged Thursday with strangling Patricia Lange in 1993 while she stayed at the Des Moines Holiday Inn Rapid changes in evidence pro Jcessing and technology have marked the past decade.

Officials require smaller amounts and delivery and Installation In Dcs Moines and surrounding area 5 Retail Value $3559.00 5705 Hickman 515-279-7080 WeYe open 9-6 Mon-Fri, 9-5 Sat, 12-5 Sun Police arrest suspect in Holiday Inn murder PIPER 'ATTENTION COLLECTORS Hotel killings Aug. 16, 1993 Patricia Lange, 36, a guest, found strangled at Holiday Inn University Park in West Des Moines. 19 Sept. 4, 1997 Zurijeta Sakanovic, 21, a maid, found stabbed and strangled at Budgetel Inn in Clive. Jan.

16, 1998 Mariana Redrovan, 15, a maid, found stabbed at Best Western Walnut Creek in West Des Moines. Donald Arthur Piper Work history: 1979-1984 Hyatt Hotel, Des Moines, maintenance engineer, transferred to Denver. 1984-1986 Hyatt Regency Hotels, Denver, engineer. 1986 Baker Electric, Des Moines, electrician assistant. 1987 Park Inn, Des Moines, chief engineer.

1987-1993 Holiday Inn University Park, Des Moines, chief engineer. June 22, 1993 Piper leaves Holiday Inn to work as service technician at Accurate Mechanical, Des Moines. Oct. 8, 1999 Piper fired from Accurate Mechanical. Company letter said constant surveillance of Piper by police interfered with operations.

tfow coinialff inoitedto-ij- Collector's Corner Gallery 836 Main Street, Pella a oety sjeciaeoeit Millennium Light CELEBRATION SATELLITE EVENT Continued from Page LA Redrovan, 15, a maid at the Best Western Walnut Creek in West Des Moines. Piper has been charged only with Range's death. Robert A Lange, Patricia Lange's father, said he was grateful there had been an arrest "We're real happy that we're going in the direction of closure," he said from his Madison, home. "The police department has done a long job on it You always want it solved right away, but things don't happen that way." Lange said he didn't know Piper. A friend of Sakanovic's said investigators had earlier interviewed the slain Bosnian woman's family, but Ljerka Vasiljevic didn't know whether police had linked the cases.

"They are still in Des Moines," Vasihevic said of the family. They have had friends and families who had helped them through this. It will stay with them until the end of time It will never go away." Lange, 36, had moved to Des Moines from Denver to take a job with Norwest Mortgage. She had been in the hotel about 10 days. She was found by a maid on In an unusual interview last week with his lawyer, Alfredo Parrish, present, Piper accused police of harassing him and causing him to lose his job.

"The only thing I can do is look you in the eyes and look God in the eyes and say I could not murder anything," said Piper, who is married and has two grown children. "I would not hurt any human being." Wiegert said the investigation focused on Piper in June and daily surveillance by police, Division of Criminal Investigation agents and the Slate Patrol began shortly thereafter. In the interview, Piper said he had keys to all rooms, including Room 732 where Lange's body was found. But as chief mechanical engineer, he said, the keys were important to his job, He said he may have left prints in the room because his job required routine inspections of heating and cooling systems. Piper left his job at the hotel on June 22, 1993, about two months before Lange was strangled.

He claimed he resigned to get a better job at Accurate Mechanical. He said he was home at a family barbecue the weekend Lange was found. Piper said he voluntarily gave authorities saliva, blood and hair samples for testing and cooperated in several interviews. Piper said investigators may have focused on him because he worked for the Hyatt Regency hotels in Denver in 1984-86. Lange was from Denver.

Piper said he had never met the woman. He also attributed police interest January 22, 2000 we will join Thomas Kinkade live via satellite, to witness the of his latest release. A very special selection of unique pieces will be offered for Sa limited time to those who attend. in him to a 1993 sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Heidi Monis, a majd at the hotel. Morris said Piper followed her, wrote love notes to her, had edly fondled her at work, and haft confined her in a cleaning closet until she consented to sex.

She said other employees were afraid of Piper's bad temper. She alleged that Piper had taken a lock out of a door and replaced it with another so no one could enter the room while he was having sex. Morris said Piper's "sex technique was very rough and violent and not gentle." hi response, Piper said in court papers that his relationsliip with. Morris was consensual. The lawsuUe was settled out of court Details' were not disclosed "Basically," he said, "it was a woman scorned.

I had an affair against my That's something she has forgiven me about. Thank God she PELLA Collector's Corner Gallery Saturday, January 22, 2000 Doors open at 2:30 p.m. For Details Phone (515) 628-8992 7 Aug. 16, 1993. She had been bound "and killed the night before.

Autopsy results showed no signs of sexual assault Police said that semen had been found in her cervix, which indicated she had had sexual relations during the week before her death. Piper's arrest Thursday ended more than six months of surveillance. Police had staked out his home south of Des Moines. Officers followed him to work and went to his job sites. Piper was a service technician with Accurate Mechanical in Des Moines.

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