Cold Case Breakthrough?
By: Jonathan Dienst, WNBC
Updated: July 11, 2012
Investigators have linked forensic evidence from the 2004 murder scene
of a 21-year-old Juilliard student to the scene of a recent Occupy Wall
Street subway protest.
DNA evidence from the scene of Sarah Fox's murder in New York's Inwood Hill Park eight years ago has been connected to DNA from a chain left in a subway station by Occupy protesters in March,.
Fox was found nude and strangled in the park in May 2004, days after she disappeared during a daytime jog.
Investigators recovered her pink CD player in the woods just yards from her body.
Sources said Tuesday the DNA found on the CD player matches DNA found on a chain left by Occupy Wall Street protesters at the Beverly Road subway station in East Flatbush on March 28, 2012.
That Wednesday morning, protesters chained open emergency gates and taped up turnstiles in eight subway stations and posted fliers encouraging passengers to enter for free.
A "communique" posted online later that day by the "Rank and File Initiative" described the act as a protest against service cuts, fare hikes and transit employees' working conditions.
It was attributed to "teams of activists, many from Occupy Wall Street... with rank and file workers from the Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Amalgamated Transit Union."
No one was arrested in the March subway protest incidents.
Police are continuing to investigate, and are now working to try to identify the source of the DNA found in common with the chain and the CD player.
There's no immediate evidence that the DNA belongs to the protesters who chained open the gates.
Dr. Lawrence Koblinsky, a forensics expert at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the DNA link could potentially break the Fox cold case.
"You've got the same DNA left at two distinct sites," said Koblinsky. "Until they find the individual who left that DNA, we won't know. But the likelihood is high the person who left that DNA on the CD player is the killer of Sarah Fox."
Dimitry Sheinman, 47, has long been considered a suspect in the Fox murder.
He was never charged in the case and has been living in South Africa.
Sheinman recently returned to New York City, proclaiming to be a clairvoyant with knowledge of the killer's identity.
He asked to meet with police to give them information about the alleged killer; the details he offered are unknown.
Sources said Sheinman remains a leading person of interest.
He did not respond to a request for comment.
DNA evidence from the scene of Sarah Fox's murder in New York's Inwood Hill Park eight years ago has been connected to DNA from a chain left in a subway station by Occupy protesters in March,.
Fox was found nude and strangled in the park in May 2004, days after she disappeared during a daytime jog.
Investigators recovered her pink CD player in the woods just yards from her body.
Sources said Tuesday the DNA found on the CD player matches DNA found on a chain left by Occupy Wall Street protesters at the Beverly Road subway station in East Flatbush on March 28, 2012.
That Wednesday morning, protesters chained open emergency gates and taped up turnstiles in eight subway stations and posted fliers encouraging passengers to enter for free.
A "communique" posted online later that day by the "Rank and File Initiative" described the act as a protest against service cuts, fare hikes and transit employees' working conditions.
It was attributed to "teams of activists, many from Occupy Wall Street... with rank and file workers from the Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Amalgamated Transit Union."
No one was arrested in the March subway protest incidents.
Police are continuing to investigate, and are now working to try to identify the source of the DNA found in common with the chain and the CD player.
There's no immediate evidence that the DNA belongs to the protesters who chained open the gates.
Dr. Lawrence Koblinsky, a forensics expert at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the DNA link could potentially break the Fox cold case.
"You've got the same DNA left at two distinct sites," said Koblinsky. "Until they find the individual who left that DNA, we won't know. But the likelihood is high the person who left that DNA on the CD player is the killer of Sarah Fox."
Dimitry Sheinman, 47, has long been considered a suspect in the Fox murder.
He was never charged in the case and has been living in South Africa.
Sheinman recently returned to New York City, proclaiming to be a clairvoyant with knowledge of the killer's identity.
He asked to meet with police to give them information about the alleged killer; the details he offered are unknown.
Sources said Sheinman remains a leading person of interest.
He did not respond to a request for comment.
