DNA genealogy and AI help crack 1993 cold case murder

Houston-based Othram used investigative genetic genealogy to identify a suspect in the 1993 murder of Randy Gail Sperino in Illinois by matching crime-scene DNA to distant relatives' profiles. CentralSquare's Centerline AI analyzed over 2,000 pages of case records. Albert Zigler, 70, confessed and was charged in May.

• Othram identified the suspect via DNA of distant relatives in consumer databases
• Centerline AI processed more than 2,000 pages of records from the 1993 case
• Albert Zigler, 70, was charged in May after confessing
• More than 250,000 homicides remain unsolved in the US