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State Senator Michael Nozzolio is calling on the State Health Commissioner to allow a sophisticated DNA testing process be used in the investigation of the murder of college student Kristin O’Connell. Nozzolio is demanding that the Department reconsider its refusal to allow evidence in the case to be sent to an advanced forensics lab in the Netherlands for “touch DNA” testing, which may provide crucial information in the 25-year-old investigation.

“It would be unconscionable for the pursuit of justice to be impeded by New York State bureaucracy,” Nozzolio said. “The Department of Health must not deny what could be the last chance for progress on this case.”

Nozzolio has written a letter to Department of Health Commissioner Richard Daines calling on him to give permission for New York State Police and the Seneca County District Attorney’s Office to send evidence to a Dutch forensic team with a track record of solving difficult cold case homicides. The Department has blocked efforts to send evidence to this lab because it has not yet gone through the lengthy process of becoming accredited by New York State.

“This world-class lab has already accepted the case and permission from the Health Department is all that is required for this matter to proceed.  Commissioner Daines must review the circumstances surrounding this case and reconsider his decision so that justice can best be served for the parents of Kristin O’Connell and the citizens of Seneca County,” said Nozzolio.

In August of 1985, Kristin O’Connell, a college student from Minnesota, was visiting friends in Ovid when she was murdered after leaving a party alone. Heavy rain washed away most of the crime scene evidence during the initial investigation and police never identified a suspect. Now modern technology has given investigators a new opportunity to solve the case through the touch DNA process, which can detect tiny amounts of cells left behind from a person's fingerprints.

“The person who committed this horrific crime remains unidentified after almost 25 years and may still be walking the streets of Seneca County. We must allow law enforcement to take every measure available to find this individual and bring them to justice. I am urging Commissioner Daines and the Department of Health to authorize this testing so that we can finally bring closure to this case,” concluded Senator Nozzolio.

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