The Murder of Lorrie Ann Smith

The Murder of Lorrie Ann Smith ranks 7th in the list of Crimes Solved by DNA Ancestry Companies. Back in 1997, 28-year-old Lorrie Ann Smith was discovered in her own room by her parents. She had been shot to death and there was no sign of forced entry in the home. Police had very little to go on and the case was stalled out.

There had been no robbery, but there were hints Lorrie had attempted to fight off her assailant. As a result, DNA was left at the scene, but it had no match in the system, as in many of these cases. In 2017, a relative whose DNA matched the killer's submitted a sample to an ancestry website. Law enforcement was able to identify Jerry Lee, a prison officer, as the murderer thanks to Parabon's assistance. Lee was also charged with burglary, however it is unclear how he knew the victim or the nature of the offense.

Date: 1997