HONOLULU (KHON2) -- A new suspect in the Dana Ireland case was identified earlier in July with the help of expert genetic testing.
Hawaii Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz told KHON2 that they reviewed the preliminary DNA match and started investigating a few potential suspects that the FBI forwarded.
They landed on one suspect.
"That person lived in the Kapoho area at the time of the murder, which is a very small neighborhood. And that person has lived here pretty much his whole life, except for a short time it looks like he left and came back. And he still lived here, so from a process standpoint it made sense to start there," Moszkowicz told KHON2.
Detectives surveilled the new suspect, referred to in court documents as "unknown male #1," and covertly collected a fork that he discarded and sent it to the lab.
The DNA on that item came back as a match for items collected at the murder scene in 1991, specifically a swab taken from Irelandʻs body, a sheet used to transport her to the hospital and from a t-shirt found at the scene.
"We know that his DNA is in the victim, that it was at the scene and we can reasonably infer that he had sexual contact with the victim at some point around the time of her death. But thatʻs it. We donʻt have any evidence that we could introduce in court that would help us establish probable cause that he intentionally or knowingly caused her murder."
Moszkowicz said that "unknown male #1," now identified by HPD as 57-year-old Albert Lauro, Jr. voluntarily talked to HPD on Friday, July 19, at which time a court-ordered cheek swab was taken for another DNA test.
The suspect committed suicide days after that interview and the sample came back as a match the next day.
The Hawaii Innocence Project questioned why the suspect wasnʻt arrested at the time the swab was taken.
"While the DNA at the scene and from the victim certainly established probable cause that “Unknown Male #1” had committed the offense of rape, the statute of limitations for that charge ran out several years prior. The only remaining crime still within the statute of limitations was murder. Based on what the investigators knew at the time, there was not enough information to establish probable cause to arrest Lauro Jr. for murder," HPD said in a statement.
Moszkowicz said there is still evidence that theyʻre reviewing, including the Lauroʻs cell phone and the transcription from the interview.
“We remain focused on Dana Ireland, a young woman who was brutally murdered. There is still a lot about this case that we do not know and our investigation into this case continues to push forward. Our search for the truth is not over,” added Chief Moszkowicz.
According to the prosecutorʻs office, HPD informed them that they intend to complete the investigation into Lauro Jr. in the next two weeks.
Anyone with information about this case can call CID Captain Rio Amon-Wilkins at (808) 961-2251 or email Rio.Amon-Wilkins@hawaiicounty.gov.
As for Albert Ian Schweitzer and Shawn Schweitzer, who were both exonerated of Irelandʻs murder, the county deputy prosecutor said in court records that the fact that the recovered DNA does not belong to either of them does not mean that they are "actually innocent."
A hearing for the motion to preserve evidence that may have been collected during the detectivesʻ time with the new suspect was to be held on Tuesday morning but the prosecutorʻs office said in a new statement:
"Our Office takes conviction integrity seriously. With respect to Tuesday’s hearing, our Office has filed a motion to request a short continuance to allow HPD to complete their investigation and ensure that the Hawai‘i Innocence Project, our Office, and the Court is afforded an opportunity to review the entirety of HPD’s investigation regarding Unknown Male #1 prior to the Court rendering any decision."