Police have DNA evidence in a brutal murder, but can't match a killer -- so how did a public DNA database lead police to suspect a filmmaker of murder? CBS News correspondent Anne-Marie Green investigates.
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The ability to act
Bill is obviously somewhere in all of us because it happens every day across the country.
a half years ago, my wife and I we were living in new orleans having a good time living there and the big easy.
And I was working in the movie business have produced and had directed a few short films.
well yeah. It was then I knew it was a girl and she was young got me the reputation of being a person
who is really in the murder, and things like that
in the shower.
Escape Stab- and my name is Michael, a filmmaker
And was a suspect in the energy dodge case.
Nineteen year old, Andy dodge was murdered. Last week, the latest violent crime in idaho falls at least one of the weapons
Then it was a knife. Possessors arrived at the crime scene and found Angie dodge
I mean on the ground and it was obvious that there is a very brutal murder that had happened, a lot of blood, it's sad to see
eighteen year old girl and see her life taken at the hands of somebody else in this fashion,.
Hungary was my
my daughter, she's, a pippi
I never stop miss occur during the investigation. We collect all the evidence. We came across a significant amount of dna that we believe us from
Nor would you say that this crime scene provided really good evidence. Excellent,
The seamen sample.
for nearly two decades police could not find a match to the killer's dna, so in two thousand and fourteen they went way outside the box and searched a public dna database owned by ancestry, dot com. It led us to this Michael les rouges
here who just happen to be a shell may
Films of
homicide, kind of a murder mystery film makers. Then he cuts off her and it was pretty creepy and we had louisiana state police call him. He agreed to come
to the estate offices there new on the majority,
of the time that I was in the interrogation room. I just didn't know what they were talking about. They finally had to look at me and go no. We think that you, Michael luxury, we think that year
involved in this murder case. My whole purpose is to find who killed, Angie dodge.
Nobody ever thinks that they're gonna get picked up by the police and taken into an interrogation room and questioned about a murderer.
I want it happens to you. It is definitely a game. Changer
Greece has no time limit. I just couldn't.
I can't I can't let or her kyril dodge lost her daughter angie when she was just a teenager. She was discovering
who's. She truly was an wanting independence. She's, just let me grow up. Let me make my own mistakes that you know you don't eat.
watch me. You know you don't need to be my shadow, the
the summer of nineteen. Ninety six in idaho falls idaho, mostly warm community we're neighbors.
knew each other by name and doors were rarely locked, says former chief of police mark mcbride, but was very really very quiet, peaceful town overall, just
Three weeks before her death eighteen year old angie got her own apartment in this house. I saw her that night, but she was killed. She said it so hard growing up and she laid her head on my shoulder and we just kind of rock back and forth. I'm so grateful for that moment extremely grateful that.
Whilst were that I love her. The next morning, Angie didn't show up for work at a local beauty supply store. We gotta
phone collar and over one centre at eleven o clock in the morning and whatever Franz word came to check on and the doors along
he went in and she found a body lain there on the floor. Very bloody crime scene,
There was no sign of forced entry, but there were signs of a struggle. He thinks you fought for her life.
Yes, I do angie,
stamped and cut fourteen times and left half naked. There were no signs of rape, but the killer did ejaculate. Leaving behind what dna expert gregg hand, peking calls a pristine profile. That's a single
profile complete identification, one man to the exclusion of everyone on the planet police.
Did the dna of dozens of local man couldn't get a mad so for months they interviewed everyone Angie new, including this man, christopher tat.
although his dna didn't match and he denied any involvement after more than
Twenty eight hours of interrogation over twenty three days tap confessed to participating in angie's murder. Your did you know, Christopher talk. No good, no had no clue tap, told police that the night of angie's death he and two friends stopped by her apartment. During an argument, tap claimed, one of his friends started stabbing angie, while he held her down you're older now, while she's been the older now, but when tab went before a judge, he pled not guilty
I said you pieced he horrible beast. How can he do this? To my daughter, the defense argued tat. Dna didn't match the killers, but on may twenty eight nine
Ninety eight, it took the jury only thirteen hours to reach a verdict.
Nearly two years after Angie dodge was murdered. Chris tap faced his punishment with karel dodge glaring at him
we're guilty of the crimes of murder in the first degree and rate his sentence thirty years to life,
But the murder of Angie dodge was still an open case. Remember chris Tapp did not match the dna and he wouldn't tell police. Who did? I just couldn't understand why he would go to prison and take a life sentence and give the other person up.
Tat did give authorities several names, including some one named MIKE
Are you then typeset positive, but
Please could never make a dna match, so the case went cold by
Two thousand and nine. The killers dna had been entered into the national criminal database, known as quotas, but there was still no match so carol.
Old. Well known, dna expert, Greg han peaky, and this message they don't know who killed my my daughter.
by then there had been many advances in dna technology and so with hand. Peons help carol dodge pushed authorities to use a new, controversial search
says, called familial dna. It looks for anyone who may be related to Andy's killer, which means going
into that database in idaho of the convicted offenders and looking for a family member that might match this dna partially.
Two places dc in maryland. Pass a law that says no familial searches.
allow new york university law, professor aaron murphy, wrote inside the sell the dark side of forensic dna and says there's real privacy concerns with the meal, dna searches and the states. I think that our work,
but this are worried about. Maybe we could use your dna to see if your brother's breaking the law or your dad's breaking the law or your sons breaking the law. I do
who doesn't allow familial searches in their criminal database so gregg hand peeking
made an even more controversial suggestion.
of Amelia search through public data bases. It was just this kind of sir
of familial dna in a public database. Jed match dot com that led to the arrest last april of Joseph de Angelo he's, the man suspected of being the golden state killer responsible for at least twelve murders and fifty
Rapes, I'm the one that went to the ira, false police department and the prosecution saying we need to do this. Imagine your what
millions of americans to open up a kid like this spit into a test tube like this and then said.
and your dna off to a commercial database will now
Database owns your dna profiles and you may not realize it, but police may be able to access it.
we're interest in solving the crime and we're going to use any technique we can that we can legally use
in the summer of two thousand fourteen detective surged up public dna data base owned by ancestry. Dot com they go
I hit. I was told they got thirty four out of thirty five markers, I believe, is that good yeah? That's that's a good investigative lead. It was a close enough match to make detective Patrick Mckenna think they had found a relative of angie's killer. So police got a warrant for ancestry. Dot com to reveal his identity. It was a man named
Michael, are three senior. We know it's not that individual or we would add thirty five out of thirty five on so that's when we started doing research into the family. That
lead investigators to suspect us re son, Michael us, three junior detected mckenna wondered if this could be the like that Chris tap once named, and I were started research and have them but films that he was making a little early to try and think that possibly be us all,
I bang in the case and jesse's
Yes, do you have a particular interest in murder? I don't have a particular interest in murder
he seems like it based on your phone does? But now I really have quite an aversion to it
the authorities investigating the brutal murder of Angie dodge word.
So sure, precisely at two o clock. Three gentlemen came to my door in December, two thousand fourteen more than eighteen years after Andy's murder, two detectives from idaho falls and a louisiana state police officer brought Michael S, red junior to a state police office near the new Orleans superdome.
Started grilling, they said so what about your travels to either of you ever been idaho and- and I had in fact, actually went up there- some some friends for just one night. He was nineteen years old back then, and he and his friends drove to burg, idaho, idaho, passing right through idaho falls. Well, they were really interested in that little surprise that we were to actually play some, but not all falls. It was a big red flag for detective patrick Mckenna kind.
Weird, but I just really didn't didn't get it then one of the officers pools
warrant, biggest law enforcement guy I've ever seen in my life,
In swarmed his cheek for dna at that point I went what what's going on here, you guys, should I get a lawyer
Once they had his dna, they drove Michael us three home without any explanation. I just basically stood on my sidewalk and days it was called.
A close friend the final. We shed some light and he several what's the case. What what is this and I go.
They wouldn't tell me anything except that it was a high profile murder case in idaho falls, so he gets on the computer and within twenty seconds he's like oh yeah. This is the case. Right here is some girl named angie.
The film maker, whose movie featured a convict describing how he stabbed a woman to death, was raised
I spill out all over the floor was now suspected of doing just that to Angie dodge I mean it was very much a case of an overkill. They stabbed her and cut her and it was just a a butchery. People were like wow. What does this imply? You know for your
here. What is your life for your family? For your family's name, three remembers being terrified spending days, whole duckling home worried what police would do next, pretty sure that they were capping. My phone calls possibly staking me out and certainly checking my computer searches.
Also anxious for states away was karel, dodge Andy's mother who prayed this new lead would finally on the killer, left his dna at the scene. The shit deserve justice of victims
deserve justice, but us three new. He hadn't killed anyone any wanted answers. A local newspaper reporter showed him a copy of the warrant investigators used to obtain his dna and right there. The answer to the question why him come our way, while this is because of my dad fifteen years
ago the film makers, father Michael S, racine year for just a painted in genealogy project at his local church. A sample of his dna went to that public database which was later purchased by ancestry, dot com and that's where police came across it. There are thirty four out of thirty five elles that match. It seems shocking to me. You know thirty, four out of thirty five remain were that's a great number rights.
Who, who wouldn't be you know drawn to their thirty four out of thirty five dna markers, sounds like a stunningly close match to Angie dodge's killer, but the reasons police honed in on him, instead of any of his other relatives, are detailed in the warrant village. With my birthday, remember, Chris Tapp told police a guy named MIKE was involved in the murder police took to facebook
in found his profile. Bingo facebook showed us where he had friends living in the idaho falls area and then there's us reese films, bludgeoned her to death. With this very hammer, the more us re read the more furious. He grew that anyone would think he was a killer. It would be torture, I mean most people would not be able to discontinue sailing through their day if they were under suspicion for a rape, homicide. N y- u law, professor Erin murphy! If you google, his name one of the first things that comes up is this
MIKE's now forever associated with this very serious and gruesome incident. Do you start to think maybe someone in my family's the killer? How could I not.
Michael all three were read every day. He knew
in idaho- falls police suspected him of murdering angie dodge and the uncertainty of what would happen next, kept him up at night until january, thirteenth, two thousand and fifteen. More than a month later, they sent me an email and it says Michael Asher Jr. We just wanted to let you know that your dna did not match our crime scene dna, something you already know
in an email from police. Michael us three was officially cleared of the murder of Angie dodge, but he was still thoroughly traumatized.
You're angry at ancestry. I was angry
everybody, the police scientist. You know these data base companies, you know how could they misfire.
So bad. Forty eight hours asked ancestry dot com about us rees experience in a statement. They said they will not
are any information with law enforcement unless compelled to by a court order or search warrant us real case they say, was unique in the only time they have received a formal legal request for dna related information. After what happened to us, re ancestry, dot com told us they took action. The public database used by authorities was made private and can no longer be accessed by the public or police, but we were wondering could what happened to Michael s reign happen again to someone else with the least using another public debt
base to our surprise law, professor Erin murphy, says maybe you know these cases tend only to come to light when something goes wrong. So you might never know if police checked your dna to look for a criminal yeah. Most of them don't have to tell us how many times have you done these searches? How many people did you investigate without
Even knowing all three decided, the best way to prevent it from happening again was to go public with what happened to him in a documentary he was shocked when Angie dodges mother was willing to talk.
What he didn't realise is that karel dodge had an agenda of her own she's fairly. Soon
amid a killer is in my bloodline. Do you believe, like us? Free is related to the killer of your daughter. Somehow, despite all that, careful dogged and Michael us, three have forged a rather odd close bond, you're, really special person new or take care of, and after hearing carroll and angie story, the focus of us rees documentary changed dramatically to carol dodges search for her daughters killer. I thought that a better and more productive thing to do would be to try to make a phil.
To try to bring attention to this all three wanted to help carol. So he emerged himself in the case, starting with the man who had confessed chris tat. So many us we quickly learned Chris tap was now claiming that his convention was wars, forced and that the idaho innocence project, headed by that dna expert, gregg hand peak.
and was now working to set tat free based on the dna. Is there any
Hey that Chris could have been in that room, no, not based on the dna, the more care.
dodge learned about dna. The more she question chris s confession that he held angie down while she was being stabbed. It wasn't until I started studying science that I said it's impossible. How could the crass admit in doing what he said he did and there being no physical evidence, but it wasn't just a science that bother doktor hand peak here. He believes they. Chris task
fashion was coerced by the detectives who interrogated him come on. Man I mean under use of the bomb, was just putting up a fight. You know you're caught you're right there in my watch it and it's so frustrating this is chris tapp at forty years old he'd been inmate number five, six to six five for twenty years. You look at that twenty year old kid you know, and you realize god I was just an idiot
carla nurse? I know it's there tat says he's: confession was a lie, a story fed to him by police and then forced back out of him on tape. Your conceal specifically point now facts to me:
or or given little innuendos. That should be the stairs going on. So he went up the stairs or hints of how the murder went down
where it all began six months after an jeez murder, when one of her friends been hobbs, was arrested in las vegas for sexually assaulting a woman. At nine point now idaho falls detectives had already questioned and cleared been hobbs, but because the crimes committed in vegas was so similar, they wondered if he might be Andy's killer and so well, then, hobbs remained in custody in nevada. Detect is brought in his best.
And for questioning chris tapp the photographs that I had nothing to do with it. I dunno what you're talking about, but instead of leaving it at that tap cooperated. I felt like trust them. They're not going to do anything wrong. He doesn't know they can lie to him and most innocent people have no idea that the interrogators can lie to you.
First tap was told that there was irrefutable evidence that his friend been hobbs killed.
Dog and the tap was there when it happened at all.
tap kid denying all knowledge of the crime.
Screen, but detectives persisted
and even though he had a lawyer tap kept talking.
when they offered you a polygraph seemed like a good idea seemed like a great idea. I had nothing to hide, no, no reason not to do it, but tapp was told he was
Think deceptive detectives promised him full immunity, no jail time in exchange for the truth, as long as he didn't participate in the actual murder. That's when tap says he started telling police what he thought they wanted to hear. Remember others tap, told detectives. He was there when Ben hobbs killed angie dodge her, then just hours later
shocking twist detectives learned that Ben hobbs did not match the killers dna cap was told. There was now evidence that a third man was at Andrews apartment. That night Jeremy sarge is a friend of tat and hobbs.
Ninety minutes later tap was blaming sergeant or andy's murder.
I continue to lie. I continued givens story after story in it they should adjust start, but they did it.
The chris wedding, you stop, I didn't think I could detectives tested. Jeremy sarge is dna and it was also not a match. I wonder, is june: it came back to David forty one
the agreement ripped everything up and told me, I'm the youngest. You know liar. That's when Chris Tapp says police pushed him to change his story. One last time after twenty three days and seven interrogations, Chris tapp confessed to participating in angie's murder, while she's been the old rebel office room dots. What was the end of it all? That's. What brought me to prison authorities have repeatedly dismissed, taps claims of a forced confession until two thousand and sixteen when a shocking discovery would change
The game never before seen video tapes of seven polygraph exams administered to chris tat tapes that convinced even carol dodge across tat is innocent.
Chris tapp. Basically just got railroaded.
You're old dodge took on a new mission to freeze a man convicted of her daughters, murder and find the killer who left his dna. Even if it turned out to be a member of Michael us, reese family.
The.
As Michael was re began looking into the Angie dodge murder case, he had preconceived notions,
I confess to something that you didn't do I wouldn't do that now when you think that it's possible that anybody
do it now, as we believes that Chris Tapp was forced to confess to a crime, he didn't commit and condemned to a place where he doesn't belong. He always got to have a little faith. Gotta have a little hope. I haven't accepted this as my ad.
I can imagine spending one day in prison, let alone twenty plus years
key visa retired superior court judge who believe so strongly that Chris tap is innocent. He spent the last
war years, trying to help prove it. When you look at that
tear videos? He knows nothing. So Christopher hobbs.
He struggled for detail now. You're there. Why does he want? Their heavy runs? Are wrongful convey,
in project called judges for justice and took on taps case after watching the interrogation tapes I was I was down there is. I was in no way around judge he. They became convinced that Chris TAT had been coerced into changing his story and astounding six times in new that something was missing. There was concern
from one day saying I wasn't. There
and the next day you're standing about might do.
I'm at the crime scene and I stabbed her. I couldn't see how made that job. So I went back to look at the polygraph and my job was strong.
In between. Greece is nine interrogations detectives all
would administered seven polygraph exams, all of them were recorded, but no one had ever bother to look at the tapes because polly graphs are in.
miserable in court and the sound is barely audible,
ass a typical used to assess the credibility of the witness when their done honestly and how was it
a graph used in this case this case, was used to trick chris tap into giving false testimony are polygraph expert
So that was used like a psychological, rubber holes. They beat him up with this
college at all to coerce amanda, falsely accusing other people they manufactured testimony to get him to implicate himself in the murder of Anna
Dodge judge hebei says that detectives in this case broke the rules in the.
polygraph room and thought no one,
ever notice. The united states supreme court has held that it's improper to threaten. You can't threatened because it leads to false confessions. They threatened him with the gas chamber being accessory to murder and being a conspirator to murder.
They ve figured no one's gonna, look at the bali graphs, so it'll be hidden. No one will ever see it. He
says Chris tap was brainwashed. Reward christopher eventually comes to believe that the polygraph growth
all knowing scientific instrument that can read his subconscious and is telling the machine that he was at the crime.
Hmm,
Chris finally says yes, die, stabbed her because been threatening, and then Chris said,
police officer walks over to give me your hand like
he passed the point that
chris tab
thirty years to live charged with the death penalty? Ugly, stuff,
do you remember that moment, scared scared. That's privileged. Today my life ended.
but tat never told anyone what happened during those polygraph exams. I didn't know what to do.
Polygraph tapes was wrong. I didn't know if I would known distinct twenty years fifteen ten years ago, then maybe.
We wouldn't be here today, idaho, balls police deny any wrong doing in there
irrigation or polygraph exams
the polygraph was used as a coercive tool.
I don't know that was the tanner thing they tend to find out the truth. Over the years the courts have upheld, taps confession as valid and admissible and not the product. Of course, if police conduct
I think they are trying to cause harm, wasn't malicious and ten. I don't think it's hard for me
Wrap my head around what the police are thinking
John Thomas is crews taps appellate attorney. It's ok. You made a mistake. Just say
hey, I made a mistake. We got the wrong guy. Let's
rally around and let's get the right guy
mikey was hoping that the newly discovered polygraph tapes would be enough for a judge to grant chris tat a new trial. Those
I grant videos now new evidence the wedge to get chris in front of a judge to see the coercion that went on
or we can supply graphs or the answer to getting about which you biggest fear when it comes to this case, I guess my biggest sphere.
Of this entire case would be that it just continues on indefinitely
Chris stays in jail, karel continues to search. I hope he walks out of free
and it's not often you hear the mother of a victim say that
but the only man serving time for her daughters, murder,.
true.
For the first time ever. Michael us, three was about to come face to face with the man convicted of killing Angie dog curse. Chris TAT just take a lower, because I didn't think that this would ever have
and interview him for his document right. Why did you confess to give them what they wanted to get away from her to do whatever it took for me to go home the day s remit chris tat? He was only weeks away from.
To hearings that his lawyer, John Thomas, hoped, would set him free. We have
too much evidence showing that chris tab wasn't there. I'm innocent.
Have you ever found dna that matched chris tap at the scene. No former police chief mark Mcbride maintains that given taps confession, the vulnerable.
The absence of his dna at the crime scene proves nothing, then a stunning turn of events,
the district attorney's office wanted to make a deal, taps murder, conviction would stand, but the rate conviction would be expunged and there would be no probation
this happened just take his lamps on his twenty years and walk walk a free man.
Willing to risk another ten years in prison, tat took the deal.
there were too many what s we had.
Number of posts? Conviction petitions before in all of them have been denied.
next day of forty eight hours producer of followed John thomas, as he sped to the county jail paper work in hand,
There are headed to jail,
chris to view. Please plea
If you refuse it agrees with that, I will say
hildy
I a prison for the rest of his life, which got there got it. I didn't feel so good
Forty eight hours later tap supporters, Greg ham, peaky and my v and even Michael us, Rhee, had made it to idaho falls for an emergency hearing nervous a little over two decades. From the day Chris tapp was first arrested. He walked into the court room one more time in handcuffs all right,
His is now in session, the honorable residing and after some legal formalities
You read the stipulation every line of it before you signed it carol dodge
called on to make a victim impact statement on behalf of her daughter. Angie go ahead, miss dodge! I stand here today about us a bit, but I am a survivor of her weapon crime. The turk, my daughter's lie chris tap fought back tears and I hope that you will make for justice
energy, but it was clear that, along with her daughter, carol, considers chris tap another victim in this endless tragedy, but I am extremely happy free. You have your life back,
it's tap, but the judge still had to sign off on the deal and then with just a few words, and I do accept the stipulation judge. Alan Stephen said chris
free greece's handcuffs were removed and carol dog was the first to hold him in her arms.
Just feet away from the celebration. Victory, Angie dodges, killer continued. I got a tap on
shoulder from one of the bailiffs, and he said the detective mckenna wanted to talk to me
Detective mckenna showed Michael us three, this sketch of Andy's killer.
It was made with new technology that claims to
We create facial features using dna when he showed me
Sketch there was a split second, where I really had
sphere that I would actually recognize this person, but Michael.
a three was once again a dead end. It was not a face. He knew.
It was a little bit of relief when I saw the composite sketch, because I have never believed that someone in my family can be involved in a crime like this. It's highly likely that his family has nothing to do with this crime at,
While police still believed that us Rees family tree contained a killer law, professor airy
murphy disagreed. Ninety nine percent of people not to one another on the genome, so
I will match someone who lives on the other side of the globe was no direct genetic connection to me whatsoever and just because we're human beings. So, what's really important to ask, is what the quality of the match? How much information did you look at.
Ass it turns out. Professor Murphy was right on wines
July twelve two thousand seventeen idaho false police, put out this press release stating that they took the dna testing to the next level.
And recently received a dna report that clears Michael us, three junior and his family of involvement in the Angie dodge homicide case. The report from the dna lab all
it stated that they were eighty seven point: sixty three percent confident at the un
dna from the energy dodge crime scene did not match the three family.
carol. Dodge must now find the strength to keep going. There have to be really strong to continue the journey to justice. I dont know how she goes on, and yet I can understand
And how she could never quit carol is worried that police will never catch angie's killer if they remain focused on their theory of the crime that Chris in two of his friends killed angie. I hope that they can now go forward and get out of the chris cat box. Stop looking for two to three people. When we just have one
hey, that's all we got is one dna. Everyone involved in the case has vowed to never stop searching for the man who murdered angie dodge even the young filmmaker one suspected of being her killer. He could have walked away, and I probably would have. I continue to stick with it because, mainly because of carol dodge ooh, I want to help her. I love carol, we're in it together.
I know who falls boy the investigation into dodges, I'm going.
Hi Lindsey, Graham the host wonders podcast american scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in. U s. History, presidential lies environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our new a serious we look at the kids for cash scandal, a story
corruption. Inside america's system of juvenile justice in northeastern pennsylvania residents had begun, noticing and alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers and often
for committing only minor offences, the
b, I began looking at two local judges and wonderful
picture emerged, it made national headlines. The judges were earning a fortune carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children and force a heated debate about punishment and america's criminal justice system. Following.
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Transcript generated on 2023-06-03.