Could DNA tests solve Reynolds case?
For years, word within law enforcement circles has been that the Alicia Showalter Reynolds murder case lacked strong forensic evidence. But a Free LanceStar review of Virginia State Police records and state crime lab reports, and interviews with DNA experts, suggest science could lead to her killer. The state crime lab found nuclear DNA evidence in the case in its initial review, shortly after the 25-year-old Reynolds remains were discovered on May 7, 1996. The lab produced a DNA profile from the most significant itemsperm in Reynolds pantiesin September 1996 using what were then state-of-the-art tools. Those results suggested the DNA was from Reynolds husband, who is not a suspect. But Mark Reynolds told police he and his wifeboth taxed by their pursuit of graduate degreeshad not had sex for at least two weeks. DNA experts said that evidence should be retested because of scientific advances in DNA analysis over the past decade. The 1996 testing protocol produced results so imprecise t
