NorCal Lab Analyzing Animal DNA In Murder Investigations

A dog has a DNA sample taken in a laboratory. (CBS)

DAVIS (KPIX 5) A Northern California laboratory is providing crucial evidence in murder investigations using DNA extracted from the pets of crime victims.

The Forensics Unit of the Veterinary Genetics lab at the University of California, Davis is the go-to lab for getting results that qualify for convictions in court.

We are the only accredited laboratory in the world doing this type of work, said Beth Davis, a scientist with the UC Davis lab.

The scientists here isolate animal DNA for use in cases ranging from abuse to horse-breeding to cold-blooded killings.

If you own a dog or a cat, you know, youve got fur on your pants. You go to your car, it gets in your car and youre carrying their DNA, their signature with you everywhere you go, said Davis.

In 2008, Steven and Linda Riley were stabbed to death in their home in Sacramento County, their bodies discovered after they failed to show up to their jobs.

The bloody crime scene did not have any blood from any suspect, and the couples family had no idea who could have done it.

Eventually, the suspicion centered on the couples son, Matthew, even though there was no physical evidence pointing to his involvement until prosecutors took a close look at a pair of boots found on the roof of his former apartment building two years after the murders.

The idea was that he most likely killed in his socked feet and put his socked feet back into those boots and drove home, said Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Chris Ore.

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NorCal Lab Analyzing Animal DNA In Murder Investigations