By Amanda McElfresh, Staff Writer
A bill proposed by U.S. Rep. David Vitter, R-Metairie, would bring more money to the state for testing of backlogged rape kits.
Vitter introduced the bill in the House of Representatives in May, when authorities were on the hunt for a serial killer who was known to have killed at least five South Louisiana women.
The bill was designed “to give priority funding for DNA backlog elimination and self-defense training, prioritizing for states and municipalities that are in the midst of combating a serial killer,” it stated.
In addition, the bill said a lack of funding has prevented about 500,000 DNA evidence kits in the United States from being processed.
“Over 3,000 DNA kits have not been processed in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana serial killer case,” the bill states.
Vitter said it was the serial killer case that brought his attention to the issue.
“I really focused on it because of the serial murder case,” he said. “It highlighted what an important tool DNA evidence is.”
Vitter said this particular bill is an attempt to bring $1 million to Louisiana for equipment upgrades to the five crime labs in the state. While the bill has not yet passed, Vitter said funding headway is being made to clear the backlogs in the form of other financial assistance.
Vitter said crime labs have already received about $2.4 million from federal grants.
Iberia Parish Sheriff Sid Hebert, who has been instrumental in trying to obtain more money for the DNA testing of backlogged cases, said if the new law is passed, it will greatly help in testing old cases.
“Prior to this new law, old cases with no suspects were stalled with no way to advance them,” Hebert said. Rape crimes remained unsolved because the state could not afford to test cases with no suspects.
Hebert estimated the cost for testing each DNA sample to be $500 to $600.
Hebert said when the serial killer case came about, authorities theorized that if they could analyze old cases and develop a possible link between them, perhaps some type of composite drawing or profile could be developed to help authorities catch the killer.
Earlier this year, the state allocated $650,000 to get the process started, Hebert said.
“As time goes on, we believe about 80 percent of the cases could be solved,” Hebert said.
But Hebert said there are benefits of prioritizing this expense. Last week, the Acadiana Crime Lab in New Iberia was the first to do sampling by sending 15 cases for testing. Of those, four cases from 1987 were connected to someone in the DNA database, Hebert said.
“As time goes on, we believe about 80 percent of the cases could be solved,” Hebert said.