A 57-year-old homicide case surrounding the sexual assault and murder of 9-year-old Marise Ann Chiverella was cracked with the use of DNA and genetic technology, according to authorities.
Pennsylvania State Police said that after finding “bodily fluids” on Chiverella’s clothing, they used the killer’s DNA to create a “facial” profile and submitted the DNA to a “genealogical database.” After going through family trees and DNA samples voluntarily provided by several relatives, police said they received confirmation Feb. 3 that James Paul Forte, who died more than 40 years ago, was the killer.
“We received the results from our DNA lab,” PSP said in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner. “The DNA profile from James Paul Forte matches the DNA profile from the semen stain on Marise Chiverella’s jacket.
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“Over the past 58 years, the Pennsylvania State Police have continuously worked this case and a special thanks to the front line team,” said Chiverella’s brother, Ron, WBRE reported. “Our family thanks you so much.”
Marise Chiverella left her house March 18, 1964, to walk to St. Joseph’s Parochial School, according to the police statement. She “was last seen alive walking east, on West 4th Street” at around 8:10 a.m., police added.
“At approximately 1:00 PM on March 18, 1964, Marise’s body was discovered in a stripping hole used for refuse, just north of Airport Road,” according to the police statement. An investigation found that the girl had been “physically and sexually assaulted, murdered, and left in the stripping hole with all her clothing and other personal items.”
Although Forte, who worked at a local bar and died in 1980, had been involved in other criminal activity, police said he was never suspected in Chiverella’s murder.
He was arrested on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, aggravated assault, and eventually reckless endangerment and harassment, according to the police statement. Although Forte pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 1974 and received a year of probation, he did not end up serving any time for a minor offense that led to another arrest in 1978, according to police, NBC News reported.
“The ability of selecting an unrelated individual (or another person) having this same profile is 1 in 480 Septillion,” the police statement said. “The Y Chromosome DNA profile was also a match to the profile of the semen stain. To put the numbers in perspective, it is estimated that there have only been 117 billion people who have ever inhabited earth. In order to find another match to Mr. Forte you would need to search over 4 million planet earths.”
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“Today is a very important day. This is the fourth-oldest cold case in the nation to be solved utilizing this technology, which makes it the oldest in the state,” Cpl. Mark Baron, the lead investigator of the case, said, according to the outlet. “What happened to her ushered in a change in this community, whether you liked it or not. This is a day the family has been waiting for nearly 58 years.”
