Chris Tapp
The rape and murder of Angie Dodge occurred in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on June 13, 1996. The true perpetrator was apprehended in May 2019, nearly 23 years after the crime was committed.
Chris Tapp served 20 years in prison after being convicted of Dodge's rape and murder, based upon faulty evidence and a coerced confession. At the same time, authorities continued to search for other suspects whose DNA would match that which was left at the crime scene. In 2017, Tapp's rape conviction was vacated, and he was released from prison.
In 2014, Michael Usry Jr. was accused of rape and murder after he was identified as a suspect through Y-chromosome familial searching, a process by which partial DNA matches to relatives are used to identify an individual. After conducting a proper DNA test, though, authorities discovered that Usry did not match the DNA found at the crime scene, and charges against Usry were dropped.
In 2019, authorities used investigative genetic genealogy to identify Brian Leigh Dripps Sr. He was later found to have a full genetic match to the CODIS profile, and confessed to the crime after interrogation; he was ultimately convicted.
The case helped bring attention to investigative genetic genealogy, a process wherein searching for relatives in consumer genetic databases leads to the discovery of a suspect. With both false accusations and the ultimate conviction obtained through investigative genetic genealogy, the case is an example for how non-criminal genetic repositories are used in criminal investigations, and furthered the debate on the appropriateness of their use.
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