(The Center Square) – Four violent rape cases dating back to 2003 have been solved through forensic genealogical investigations thanks to grants provided by the Washington Attorney General’s office with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the successful prosecutions at a video press conference today, flanked by local investigators and prosecutors from Whitman and Kitsap Counties, who had solved the cases.
Paul J. Bieker, 51, was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison for felony rape in the first degree with deliberate cruelty. Bieker abducted and raped a 17-year-old girl in McCleary in 2003.
Also on Friday, Kenneth Downing of Elk, Washington, pleaded guilty to four counts of rape in the first degree and one count of assault in the second degree with sexual motivation, closing cold cases in Pullman involving three victims from 2003 and 2004. He faces a possible sentence of 17 to 23 years.
Both men were identified through forensic genetic investigation, which involves a researcher comparing DNA evidence obtained in an investigation to a public DNA database. The researcher then constructs a family tree of possible suspects, allowing investigators to focus their efforts.
Public DNA databases like GEDmatch and Family Tree DNA contain more genetic information than does CODIS, the national law enforcement database, according to Ferguson. These databases contain DNA information that individuals have voluntarily provided and specifically agreed to make public.
Bieker was identified as one of three possible suspects through this process. Investigators focused on Bieker because he had lived in McCleary at the time of the attack. After obtaining a DNA match with a certainty of “one in 35 quadrillion” according to court notes, Grays Harbor County detectives arrested Bieker in June 2021.
Downing was identified as one of two possible suspects in the other set of cases. Investigators concentrated on Downing, who had worked in Pullman as a HVAC technician. Positive identification was made through a DNA match from discarded restaurant utensils.
Both cases were considered cold until forensic genealogical research brought new suspects to light. In the Pullman case, investigators had previously tested 35 suspects without producing a match.
The testing and research on each case costs about $5,400, according to a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s office. Funding was set aside from $2.5 million in DOJ grants received by the Attorney General for use in clearing the backlog of untested DNA from rape kits in the state.
About 24 other cases of forensic genealogical research by local law enforcement agencies are underway, according to Ferguson. Some $170,000 in dedicated funds remains available for that purpose.
Law enforcement agencies can apply to the AG’s office to have forensic genealogical research conducted for cases that meet two criteria established by the DOJ: the case must be a violent sexual assault and a cold case, meaning that all leads have been exhausted and a search of CODIS has not provided a DNA match.
Officials on both cases lauded the courage of victims, whom they noted had been been living with the traumatic effects of their attacks for nearly 20 years.
To victims unsure whether to come forward after a sexual assault, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau of Whitman County offered this encouragement.
“Law is very understanding of people who have survived these situations,” he said.
Ferguson praised the tenacity of the investigators, who had pursued cases that seemed nearly hopeless.
“It speaks volumes about these individuals and their agencies that they just don’t give up on these cases,” he said.
Kitsap County investigators also used the forensic genealogical research project to tie a 1995 murder to Douglas K. Krohne, now deceased.
