DNA: 12,000 Felons - MISSING

This is what you call incompetence.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A fellow prisoner posed as Walter E. Ellis in 2001 and gave a DNA sample for him, keeping the accused serial killer out of a statewide database and letting him avoid capture for years, according to a state Department of Justice memo.

It wasn't an isolated incident. DNA for about 12,000 felons convicted since 2000 is missing from the database, the department said Wednesday.

Even today, the failures in the system that allowed Ellis' bogus sample to slip through likely still exist, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said.

"Twelve thousand doesn't shock me. We know there were submissions not made," he said in an interview. "There are issues out there that still need to be corrected."

"THERE ARE ISSUES OUT THERE THAT STILL NEED TO BE CORRECTED"?

The understatement of the year!

The missing samples would represent about 10% of all DNA profiles in the database, which law enforcement and prosecutors constantly rely on to solve crimes.

...Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm called the missing DNA samples "deeply disturbing."

"This is a huge deal, and it has to be corrected immediately," Chisholm said. "There are no excuses for this. There are none. It is unacceptable from a public safety standpoint."

If not for Ellis, the larger problem might not have been discovered, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said.

"This investigation not only solved a crime but exposed a systemic problem, so it succeeded on multiple levels," Flynn said. "It is a serious issue. We need to be able to rely on the integrity of the DNA samples, that they are both accurate and complete."

...The 12,000 felons missing from the database were convicted between January 2000 and last week, said Gary Hamblin, the Department of Justice official in charge of the DNA investigation. The missing DNA spans the tenures of Van Hollen, Peg Lautenschlager and Gov. Jim Doyle, who was attorney general in 2001 when the fraudulent sample was submitted for Ellis.

This is inexcusable.

Ten percent of the DNA profiles that shoud be in the database are not.

Not ten profiles, not ten hundred, but over ten thousand!

This is beyond an embarrassment. It's a disgrace.

It's weird to say, given the string of murders in which he's been charged, but thank you, Walter Ellis.

It took an alleged cold-blooded murderer to expose this stunning failure.

Walter Ellis: Charged with 5 More Murders

Walter E. Ellis has now been charged with seven murders, and that may be just the beginning.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Suspected serial killer Walter E. Ellis is now charged with murdering seven women over 21 years, after prosecutors expanded their case against the unemployed factory worker Thursday.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said he wouldn't be surprised if the number of victims tied to Ellis grows as the State Crime Laboratory continues DNA testing on 20 other cases of prostitutes strangled in Milwaukee.

Not included in the new counts against Ellis are the homicides of Carron D. Kilpatrick, 32, from 1994 and Jessica Payne, 16, from 1995 - even though investigators have found Ellis' DNA on both victims.

In each case, another person was charged. In the Kilpatrick homicide, Curtis McCoy was acquitted. In the Payne case, Chaunte Ott was convicted but was later freed after Ellis' DNA was found on her.

Ott filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday, suing the City of Milwaukee, two former police chiefs and several detectives, claiming that the police conspired to frame him for Payne's murder.

Chisholm said the Kilpatrick and Payne investigations remain open.

"We do not feel at this time that we can meet our requisite burden of proof on those cases," Chisholm said.

The amended complaint against Ellis charges him with killing Deborah L. Harris, 31, and Tanya L. Miller, 19, both in October 1986; Irene Smith, 25, in 1992; and Sheila Farrior, 37, and Florence McCormick, 28, in 1995.

Ellis was charged earlier with killing Joyce Mims, 41, in 1997, and Ouithreaun Stokes, 28, in 2007.

Ellis faces life in prison for each homicide. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bond.

Chisholm declined to say if Ellis has confessed to any of the crimes. There is no indication in the nine-page complaint that he admitted to anything.

Ellis has a long criminal history and spent five stints in prison. His DNA should have been in a state database of all felons, but it wasn't. Officials are still not sure why.

Ellis was in prison in 2001, and Department of Corrections records show that his DNA was taken. It was shipped to the Department of Justice, a corrections spokesman said.

But officials with the Justice Department said they never received the sample. They said the sample also was not received by a different lab in Texas that was developing profiles for the state at that time.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said an investigation into what happened is ongoing.

That missing DNA sample was a major screw-up. It may have been a matter of life and death.

Thank God Ellis is finally locked up.
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Amended Criminal Complaint
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Related posts:

Walter E. Ellis

Walter E. Ellis: Criminal Complaint

Walter E. Ellis: Criminal Complaint

Walter E. Ellis (Photo)

Here's a pdf of the criminal complaint in the case of Walter E. Ellis, the 49-year-old charged in a string of murders in Milwaukee over a 21-year period.
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Related posts:

Walter E. Ellis

Walter Ellis: Charged with 5 More Murders

Walter E. Ellis

Walter E. Ellis (Photo)

Walter E. Ellis is a "person of interest" in the serial killings on Milwaukee's north side.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee police have arrested a 49-year-old man in connection with the killing of at least six prostitutes over 21 years in the city, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The suspect, Walter E. Ellis of Milwaukee, was arrested at noon Saturday at a hotel in Franklin by a swarm of police officers, the sources said. A witness confirmed a large number of officers descended on the hotel for an arrest.

Ellis was booked on a temporary felony warrant and was being questioned Sunday by detectives in the Milwaukee police Prisoner Processing Section, the sources said.

...Police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said a suspect was being interviewed.

"Milwaukee police have a person of interest in custody who we are talking to regarding a number of cold case homicides," Schwartz said. "More information will be provided by Chief Flynn and D.A. Chisholm at a news conference Monday."

Ellis' DNA has been found on at least seven females killed between 1986 and 2007, the sources said. Police officials have said they think someone else killed one of those victims, a white 16-year-old runaway whose throat was slashed. The other victims, all prostitutes and African-American, were strangled.

The State Crime Laboratory also has been processing DNA found on two dozen slain prostitutes to see if there is a match with Ellis. The seven killings occurred in an area roughly bounded by N. King Drive, N. 27th St., W. North Ave. and W. Capitol Drive. One victim was found in the Menomonee River, but authorities believe she was killed elsewhere.

Court records show Ellis once lived close to the area where many of the homicides occurred.

Ellis was criminally charged 12 times between 1981 and 1998 for violent and property crimes, according to online court records.

Ellis' last felony conviction was in 1998. Ellis was sentenced to five years in prison for recklessly endangering safety, according to court records. Further details of that case were not available. Of the seven victims who have been linked to Ellis, none was killed between 1998 and 2006.

There also was a gap between 1987 and 1994. Online records show Ellis was released from federal prison in December 1992. Details about that case were not available Sunday.

What's troubling is that Ellis has such a lengthy criminal record. He had so many brushes with the police during the period of the murders.

If Ellis is indeed the murderer, and he killed several women over 21-year period, odds are there would have been another victim eventually.

From FOX 6 News:

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn, along with District Attorney John Chisholm announced they will be holding a joint news conference to update the public on the investigation into the search for a north side serial killer. There were seven deaths linked to the same DNA profile. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Police arrested a 49-year-old man in connection with the homicides. He is being questioned as a person of interest in the murders. So far, the investigation has helped clear a couple of other cold cases. The news conference is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, and will be carried LIVE on FOX 6 News at 6 and FOX6Now.com.

UPDATE: Police say man arrested in serial killed case linked to 9 deaths

Authorities on Monday charged a 49-year-old man suspected in the killings of as many as nine women over 21 years in Milwaukee, officials announced at an evening news conference.

Walter E. Ellis was charged Monday with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of Joyce Mims, 41, and Ouithreaun Stokes, 28, who were strangled a decade apart.

He was arrested around noon Saturday at a motel in Franklin Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn said.

"This search was about shoe leather and science," Flynn said Monday evening.

Ellis' DNA has been found on at least nine females killed between 1986 and 2007, according to the criminal complaint. That is two more than had been previously stated by authorities.

Police officials have said they think someone else killed one of those victims, Jessica Payne, a white 16-year-old runaway whose throat was slashed. The other victims, all prostitutes and African-American, were strangled.

The State Crime Laboratory processed DNA found on two dozen slain prostitutes to see if there is a match with Ellis and discovered two other hits - on Irene Smith, 25, killed in 1992, and Carron D. Kilpatrick, 32, killed 1994, authorities said Monday. Both women were strangled.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said Monday evening he anticipates more homicide charges to be filed against Ellis in the other slayings in the next day or so.

"We intend to bring justice to these victims and their families," said Chisholm.

Police declined Monday evening to release a photo of Ellis so it could be shown to possible witnesses for identification.

The killings occurred in an area roughly bounded by N. King Drive, N. 27th St., W. North Ave. and W. Capitol Drive. One victim was found in the Menomonee River, but authorities believe she was killed elsewhere.

Authorities announced in May they had discovered that a serial killer was murdering prostitutes in Milwaukee over two decades and typically was dumping their bodies in vacant houses.

Other victims linked to Ellis are Shelia Farrior, 37, strangled in 1995; Tanya L. Miller, 19, killed in 1986; Deborah L. Harris, 31, killed in 1986, and Florence McCormick, 28, strangled in 1995.

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Related posts:

Walter E. Ellis: Criminal Complaint

Walter Ellis: Charged with 5 More Murders