Police say DNA evidence used to solve 2004 burglary
State police said DNA evidence has allowed investigators to solve a burglary that occurred nearly nine years ago.
Trooper James A. Pierce said that as a result of DNA analysis of blood samples taken from the 2004 robbery of a market in Menallen Township, police charged Charles R. Opel Jr. of Republic.
The 50-year-old, who is currently serving a prison sentence of 21 to 42 months at the State Correctional Institution in Pittsburgh for theft and related counts filed in Fayette County in 2011, was charged Tuesday by Magisterial District Judge Joseph M. George Jr. with burglary, theft and criminal mischief.
Pierce said the burglary occurred when Opel broke the glass front door of the New Salem Market on West Main Street at 2:38 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2004.
Once inside the store, Pierce said that Opel stole cash from the register and cigarettes from behind the counter.
Pierce said that the scene was processed by the state police forensics unit, and blood samples were collected and then submitted that evidence to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Laboratory in Greensburg.
At that point, the DNA was analyzed and became a part of the FBI laboratory’s Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. CODIS combines both forensic science and computer technology to solve violent crimes, police said, by linking federal, state and local crime labs to exchange and compare DNA profiles electronically.
At the time of the incident, there was not a match with the DNA samples taken from the crime scene, however, a match was made in June to Opel, Pierce said.
Pierce said that Opel will be arraigned at a later date before George, and a preliminary hearing will be set at that time.