New DNA Test Cracks Three-Decade-Old Cold-Case Slaying, Authorities Say
Summary
A cold case from 1993 involving the murder of Randy Gail Sperino in Illinois was solved using a new DNA testing method called forensic genetic genealogy. Albert Lee Zigler, 70, was charged with first-degree murder after family DNA linked him to the crime.Key Facts
- Randy Gail Sperino was killed in 1993 and her body was found in a field in Granite City, Illinois.
- Albert Lee Zigler, who lived nearby and worked in airport maintenance, was charged with first-degree murder.
- Investigators collected DNA from the crime scene but had no match in criminal databases until they used genealogical DNA testing.
- A $10,000 lab test compared the suspect’s DNA to genetic data that people voluntarily submitted for family ancestry research.
- Zigler was identified not directly but through DNA samples submitted by his relatives.
- Sperino’s son attended the announcement and expressed relief and joy that the case was solved.
- Authorities credit advances in DNA technology along with persistence by investigators for solving the case decades later.
- Hundreds of people were interviewed, and evidence was reviewed multiple times before the break in the case came from genetic genealogy.
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