GREEN BAY (NBC26) — A small, east coast group of students and staff making a big difference. How innovative forensic research was the key to finding freedom for the Bintz brothers.
- Students, staff at Ramapo College of New Jersey conducted key DNA findings that led to Bintz brothers' exoneration.
- The college's Investigative Genetic Genealogy center (IGG) took on the case in 2023 and within two days found a lead.
- The program's directors explain the process in finding the DNA matches and how forensic research is used in unsolved crimes.
- The directors say the project was funded through public donation and relied on public DNA testing.
- Click hereto learn more about IGG and how you can get involved.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
A massive Green Bay discovery found 1,000 miles away.
"Prior to two years ago, very few people around the country had heard of Ramapo College," David Gurney, Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) Director at Ramapo College of New Jersey, said.
I spoke with him and assistant director Cairenn Binder Friday Morning about the vital role the program played in the exoneration of David and Robert Bintz.
"We use advanced DNA testing and public records to identify people, whether that's unidentified human remains or suspects in violent crime," Binder said.
NBC26 first broke the news on Wednesday.
In 2000, the Bintz brothers were found guilty in connection to the 1987 murder of Sandra Lison and were sentenced to life in prison with no physical evidence being found.
In 2019, The Great North Innocence Project stepped in with hopes of proving the Brothers' innocence.
In 2023, the organization reached out to Ramapo College for assistance in analyzing the evidence through IGG.
Within two days, a team involving six students found a lead revealing now-deceased William Hendricks as the potential suspect.
According to criminal records, Hendricks had a violent criminal history.
"He had been in prison for violent, forceful rape on the same woman in two separate occasions and had just gotten out of prison a couple of months, maybe one month, before the attack on Sandra Lison," Gurney said.
It did not end there. The center, using public DNA testing, found genetic connections through Hendrick's cousins.
Hendrick's body was exhumed, tested and a match was found.
"But even then, the state has to take that to the next level and allow the exoneration of the Bintz brothers," Binder said.
On Wednesday, the court set the brothers free.
"We're hoping that IGG will continue to be used as the new frontier in DNA investigations and that the streets will be safer as a result," Binder said.
The directors say none of this would have been possible without public DNA testing.
They encourage people to upload tests to databases compatible with law enforcement searching.
Click herefor more information on the program and how to help.
