CONTEXT:

Human DNA identification is a powerful tool for paternity cases as well as for criminal investigation, in which biological evidence is typed after collection from crime scenes and for the identification of human remains.

OBJECTIVE:

Identification of a criminal in a rape case with 4 suspects using STR and VNTR DNA analysis.

TYPE OF STUDY:

Forensic DNA analysis.

SETTING:

DNA Diagnostic Laboratory, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS:

Blood from 4 suspects and the victim, and skin from the fetus.

PROCEDURES:

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).

RESULTS:

Three of the suspects were excluded and one of them was identified as the biological father of the fetus after typing with CTT and FFv Multiplexes. Complementary DNA typing at 3 VNTR loci was also carried out.

CONCLUSIONS:

After typing four suspects using 6 STR loci, one of them was identified as the biological father of the fetus. In order to significantly enhance the Combined Paternity Index (PI), complementary DNA typing in 3 VNTR loci was carried out. The included suspect was found to be the biological father with a PI of 412,860 (Probability of Paternity: 99.9997 percent)