Investigative genetic genealogy, a DNA technique that identifies suspects through distant relatives in commercial ancestry databases, has solved the decades-old murder of Randy Gail Sperino in Illinois.
Sperino, 34, was killed on 9 November 1993 in Granite City, Illinois. Her body was found hours later with blunt force trauma. DNA evidence from the crime scene yielded no matches in standard law enforcement databases, leaving the case unsolved for 30 years among more than 250,000 unsolved US homicides.
In 2023, Madison County Sheriff's Office detectives sent genetic evidence to Othram, a Houston-based company that uses investigative genetic genealogy. This approach differs from traditional forensic DNA testing, which requires direct comparison to a known suspect. Instead, the technique identifies distant genetic relatives of an unknown individual using DNA data voluntarily submitted to commercial ancestry platforms. The method gained prominence in 2018 when investigators used it to identify Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer.
Othram traced profiles submitted by extended family members to identify a male relative, providing the lead that broke the case. Detectives arrested Albert "Buddy" Zigler, 70, in May this year. Zigler confessed to Sperino's murder. Wes Sperino, Gail's son, said at a press conference: "I finally get closure and I finally know who did this."
Othram's chief executive David Mittelman compares the technique to GPS: "The DNA profile is the GPS signal and it says 'you belong here.' But to understand where 'here' is, you need a map." Public records, obituaries and census data establish how family trees connect.
The investigation also employed artificial intelligence. Detectives used Centerline AI, software from Florida company CentralSquare, to analyse more than 2,000 pages of case records. The AI helped reconstruct timelines, organise witness information and prepare questions for interrogating Zigler. Captain Tim Lawrence said: "It's so much easier than having a detective have to read through 2,000 pages."
Lawrence cautioned that technology has limits. "There comes a point where you leave the technology behind and you have to go track people down and talk to them," he said.
Mittelman noted genetic genealogy cannot solve every case: "If you have no DNA, you can't really use this technique." The approach has been adopted in Sweden, Denmark and Australia but not the UK, where the Home Office is studying its potential adoption. Denise Syndercombe Court, professor of forensic genetics at King's College London, cited privacy concerns, noting that while one person consents to DNA matching, their genetic relatives may not.
Funding remains a constraint. Mittelman said: "Every law enforcement agency wants to do it. There's just not a lot of funding for it."