Shirley Duguay & Animal DNA

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Pets don’t just make good companions – they also can play a vital role in convicting killers. This episode highlights two such cases with a cat named Snowball and a dog named Chief who were the first to provide evidence in criminal cases in Canada and the United States.  

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Location

This episode takes place on Prince Edward Island, a maritime providence off Canada’s east coast in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Surprisingly it is the smallest of the provinces but the most densely populated. The island was named after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Strathearn, the 4th son of King George III who would also be the future father of Queen Victoria.

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Prince Edward Island is also known as the Garden of the Gulf. As of 2019, there were 158,717 citizens living on Prince Edward Island. The backbone of the island’s economy is farming along with tourism and renewable energy. Farmers produce 25% of Canada’s potatoes.

Discovery

On October 7, 1994, a woman notified authorities that there was an abandoned vehicle in a field near her house. When police arrived, they noticed that the license plate was missing. It was when they looked inside the car that they became truly alarmed. There was blood spatter everywhere, both small and what looked like medium-impact spatter. To investigators, this indicated that whoever’s blood this was had been hit by an object such as a fist.

When investigators ran the vehicle’s vehicle identification number, they found that it belonged to the thirty-two-year-old mother of five, Shirley Duguay. When investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived at the Duguay residence they discovered that family members had last seen Shirley on October 3rd. They were surprised that no one had reported her missing in the four days since she was last seen.

That would be explained by Shirley’s father, Melvin, who had been watching her children, the oldest being 15 years old and the youngest a pair of twins aged 8. He told investigators that Shirley had, in the past, taken off for days at a time without telling anyone and just would reappear.

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RCMP

Constable Roger Savoie with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police theorized that the blood in the car belonged to Shirley. Nearby the car a pillow was found soaked in blood. According to her family, Shirley would sit on the pillow to give her more height while driving. Shirley only stood 4 ft. 9 inches and weighed less than a hundred pounds. When you look at pictures of Shirley one would describe her as frail looking.

To cement the theory that the blood did belong to Shirley investigators took a blood sample from her father, Melvin. When comparing the samples technicians were able to match 50% of the genetic markers in the blood found in the car to Melvin Duguay. The blood in the car and on the blood-soaked pillow belonged to Shirley but where was she?

Searching

The RCMP along with students from the Atlantic Police Academy began a search of Prince Edward Island, the largest at the time. They would end up searching hundreds of square miles and waterways with little luck and had to call it off when winter settled in. They even consulted psychics. These psychics gave vague directions where to find Shirley; buried near water in a shallow grave under pine trees. This information didn’t really help them nail down a search area.

What did help was the discovery of a shovel found a half mile from the abandoned vehicle that had two long black hairs attached? When technicians compared the hairs from hairs collected from Shirley’s hairbrush they were microscopically similar.  

Another big discovery was a plastic bag that contained a pair of white sneakers, and a blood-stained brown leather jacket. Now, an episode of Forensic Files placed this discovery approximately 15 miles from Shirley’s car after weeks of searching. However, other information from news articles reported that it was three days into the search that this plastic bag with its contents was found 6 miles from Shirley’s home.

Prime Suspect

Investigators talked with Melvin Duguay about his thoughts on who would have likely harmed his daughter. Melvin immediately stated her estranged husband, Doug Beamish. Shirley and Beamish had an on-again-off-again relationship for over fifteen years that at times was violent with Beamish physically abusing Shirley. The couple shared the youngest three children.

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Beamish had a history of police involvement due to his violent behavior that had been reported in both Toronto and Prince Edward Island. In 1991, Beamish had been served a “peace bond.” A peace bond is often used in cases of domestic violence and stalking where the perpetrator agrees to certain conditions such as no contact with the victim, forbidden to carry firearms. This sounds similar to a protection from abuse order issued here in the United States. It was after the issuance of the peace bond that Shirley returned to Prince Edward Island.

Investigators next talked to Doug Beamish who was residing at his parent’s home at the time of Shirley’s disappearance. Beamish denied any involvement in what was happening with Shirley. He was then asked what shoe size he wore, and he answered size 9. The same size as the pair of sneakers found in the white plastic bag.

Forensic Podiatrist

Dr. Keith Bettles, a forensic podiatrist, was contacted to determine if the shoes found belonged to Beamish. Investigators issued a warrant for Beamish’s feet impressions. Beamish had to stand in plastic styrofoam molds while plaster of paris was poured inside. Once the plaster hardens the molds could be used to compare wear patterns in a pair of shoes. According to Dr. Bettles, everyone wears shoes differently as the soles of our feet transfer impressions onto the soles of our shoes. 

In Beamish’s case, he was found to have hyper-flexed toes meaning they turned up at the end and his feet pronated inwards. Dr. Bettles was convinced that the shoes that had been found in the discarded plastic bag belonged to Beamish. However, Beamish denied that the sneakers and jacket belonged to him.

White Hairs

Next, investigators turned their attention to the twenty brittle white hairs found inside the leather jacket. Technicians determined that the hairs didn’t appear to be human when compared under a microscope. The mandalas or the core that runs through the center of hair can determine if it’s human or animal. A thick mandala means an animal, a thin mandala means a human. The hairs found inside the jacket had thick mandalas meaning they came from an animal.

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Constable Savoie had remembered that when he had interviewed Beamish at his parent’s house, he saw a white cat. The cat in question was named Snowball, the family pet. Could this be the same cat that the white hairs in the jacket belonged to? Constable Savoie looked at the pants he wore that day to interview and remembered that the cat had rubbed up against his leg. White hairs were collected from those pants, and they looked identical to the ones found on the jacket, but were they?

Roadblock

Investigators ran into a roadblock when they discovered that forensic testing on cat hair had never been done before, anywhere. Constable Savoie was on a mission and made numerous calls to labs around the world trying to find one that would do DNA testing on cat hairs. He got lucky when he reached Dr. Steven O’Brien, a chief geneticist at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick Maryland. Dr. O’Brien had spent the last several decades studying hereditary illnesses in cats.

Dr. O’Brien and his team needed a blood sample from Snowball. Easier said than done as once the warrant was issued and read Snowball took off. Once caught he was taken to the Summerside Animal Hospital where Dr. Jane Bond drew a sample. So as not to break the chain of custody, two Canadian officers personally delivered the blood and cat hairs to Dr. O’Brien.  

First Time

So the process to extract the DNA involved taking one hair that had a root still attached and cutting it into pieces. Next, those pieces were put into a buffer solution that dissolves everything but DNA. A DNA profile is then extracted. In Snowball’s case, the DNA from his sample had a clear match of genotypes of genetic markers that matched the white hairs found inside the leather jacket.

Next, Dr. O’Brien needed to make sure that Snowball’s DNA profile was unique to him and not the thousands of other cats on Prince Edward Island. Basically, they needed to determine the frequency of Snowball’s DNA profile. Blood samples were collected from twenty different cats on the island and sent to Dr. O’Brien’s lab. His determination was that there was a 1 in 70 million chance that the hair found on the jacket didn’t come from Snowball.

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Found

Seven months after Shirley’s disappearance a fisherman walking along a river found a pile of brush that looked out of place along the riverbank in the area of North Enmore approximately ten miles from where Shirley’s abandoned vehicle was found. When he started to move the brush away, he saw a human body. Investigators were contacted and they finally uncovered a shallow grave with the partially decomposed body of Shirley Duguay on May 6, 1995.  

Shirley had been strangled to death and was found with her hands tied behind her back. She had suffered a broken nose and her jaw was broken in three different places. She also had one of her front teeth knocked out which was found embedded in her lung. She received a horrible beating. 

Beamish was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of his estranged wife.

Trial

In April 1997, Doug Beamish went to trial. What made this no ordinary trial was this would be the first time that animal DNA would be entered into evidence in a murder trial. Witnesses would testify that on the night of Shirley’s disappearance they had heard the couple arguing. Beamish’s history of violence against women was also entered into evidence.

A former common-law spouse of Beamish testified as to the vicious beatings she would endure at their home in Toronto in the mid-1980s. She recounted that after a night of drinking, Beamish demanded sex which she refused. Beamish became angry and hit her in the face, grabbing her hair and dragging her into the bedroom where he raped her. During the rape, Beamish held a butcher knife to her throat and threaten to kill her. Afterward, he told her to not bother to call for help as he had already cut the phone lines. Once she was able to get up she confirmed that he had cut the lines.

Nelson Beamish, brother to Doug Beamish testified as did Linda Beamish, who was both Shirley’s sister and sister-in-law. They testified that in the summer of 1992 while Beamish and Shirley were separated Linda delivered a letter to her sister. Nelson testified that Shirley allowed him to read it and he relayed the contents in court. The letter was from Doug stating that he didn’t know why Shirley left him and that he wanted her to return and try to work things out. He went on to say that if they could not be together there was no point in living and he was going to kill her their three kids and finally himself. The letter was signed in what looked like blood.

Snowball

Snowball’s DNA evidence was entered into testimony with Dr. O’Brien testifying to the comparisons to other cats on Prince Edward Island and how Snowball’s hairs found on the jacket were unique to him. Also, entered into testimony was a blood sample found in Shirley’s car that matched Beamish. Another piece to solidify the prosecutor’s case was a photo of Beamish taken the day before Shirley’s death showing him wearing a brown leather jacket.

Doug Beamish was sentenced to 18 years after being found guilty of second-degree murder, not first degree on August 1, 1997.

Parole

In 2013, Beamish was denied parole by the National Parole Board stating that Beamish appeared to lack the understanding as to why he acted out violently. They felt that this lack of understanding brought into question Beamish’s ability to not give into his violent tendencies. Beamish also appeared to have what they called a medium level of motivation with low reintegration potential. This seemed to be backed up by Beamish’s numerous charges for disobeying rules and the seventeen disciplinary convictions he received while incarcerated.  

Another Chance

In October 2022, Beamish had another hearing on his effort to be paroled. At this hearing, he finally took responsibility for Shirley’s murder something he had never admitted before. He claims that he has accepted responsibility for her murder after all these years due to suffering three heart attacks and kidney failure and would like to be paroled. He was granted a twelve-hour escort from prison, but not full parole.

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We talked about the ripple effect murder has on a family and this case is no different. Shirley’s father Melvin suffered numerous heart attacks after her death. One article stated he suffered thirteen of them. This same article also reported that one of Shirley’s sisters, who could have been Linda, turned to alcohol to deal with the pain of losing her and that that sister’s husband, could be Nelson, died by suicide.

Shirley’s daughter, Shelley, turned her grief into advocacy and became an advocate for abused women. Shelley shares her story of growing up in a home with domestic violence and witnessing its devastating effects.

So Canadian Snowball was really a game changer in terms of pet DNA being introduced into evidence at a murder trial and successfully securing a conviction and Snowball wouldn’t be the last.

Chief

On December 9, 1996, around 8:30 am witnesses in a south end Settle, Washington neighborhood would tell authorities of a home invasion/shooting. Authorities would learn that men described as Samoan types were seen wearing dark coats and carrying a gun kicking open a door to the residence of Jay Johnson and his girlfriend, Raquel Rivera. Soon after kicking in the door, shots rang out with the preparator moving into the residence while still firing. A woman’s screams could be heard.

Two men then exited the residence and got into a red Camaro and drove off. A teenage neighbor who lived across the street would tell authorities that the same red Camaro had been parked near the residence during the home invasion. 

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Inside the residence, three victims were found. The first was a one-year-old pit bull- Labrador mix named Chief who had been shot twice once in the shoulder and the other in the muzzle. The next victim was Raquel Rivera, age 20, who had been shot three times once in the chin, neck, and hand. The final victim was Jay Johnson, age 22, who had been shot twice in the legs and then twice in the abdomen. Rivera and Johnson died at the scene while Chief was taken to a local animal hospital where he later died from complications related to the gunshot wounds he had received. The coroner would later describe the shootings as being execution-style.

Return

While police were processing the scene that clearly looked as if the perpetrators were searching for something, they noticed a Camaro driving down the street the following afternoon. The two men, George Tuilefano and Charles Niko were immediately taken into custody. The teenage witness would identify Niko as the getaway driver. It would be the next morning when another arrest would be made. This time for the alleged shooter, Kenneth Leuluaialii who went by the nickname Sable Claus. He had been arrested at the Biltmore Hotel in Tacoma Washington.

Other associates of Sable Claus were arrested soon after including Tuafia Tauilliili, Malini Fosi, and Sheila Harris, fiance to Fosi. They all allegedly were involved with the Settle gang called the “Mad Pack Gang.” All agreed including Charles Niko who was facing the death penalty to testify against Sable Claus and Tuilefano at their trials as part of their plea arrangements.

Trials

Prosecutors at Sable Claus and Tuilefano’s trials presented the motive behind the murders and that was to rob a couple of money and drugs. Whether they got what they were looking for I couldn’t find as there was no mention of them having taken anything from the residence. They took three lives, and both men were on trial for first-degree murder. Both men were tried separately in King County Superior Court in what is believed to be the first criminal case in the United States to use dog DNA as evidence which was made possible due to Snowball.

Canine DNA evidence was presented in court in the form of blood found on a jacket worn by Sable Claus. This jacket was collected on the morning of his arrest at the Biltmore Hotel. Other clothing obtained from Tuilefano included pants and a jacket that had both human blood and canine blood along with several dog hairs that were similar to Chief.

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Dr. Joy Halvorson testified as to the procedure used to compare Chief’s blood sample to the blood found on the jacket and pants. Her outcome was that finding another dog with Chief’s DNA profile with the ten markers or loci used was 1 in 3 trillion.

Sentenced

Both defendants pleaded not guilty, however, that’s not what the jury believed. Kenneth Leuluailii aka Sable Claus was found guilty of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count of animal cruelty for the killing of Chief. George Tuilefano was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. 

 At Sable Claus’s sentencing, he looked as if he cared less about what was going on, often smirking to the camera in the courtroom and even sticking his tongue out at one point. When given the time to say something to the judge he declined. Although through his attorney a statement was read about appealing his conviction and that he “apologized for overturning a table and spitting on the judge during pretrial proceedings.” Apparently, prior to the jury being brought into the courtroom after his pretrial antics the judge had Sable Claus restrained in a Lecter Chair which is a special chair where his arms and legs are shackled while in a wheelchair. The judge commented that he had “never encountered a man who had so little concern for the lives of others.” Sable Claus was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Re-Sentenced

George Tuilefano was sentenced to 26 ½ years in prison on the two first-degree murder convictions. Both men appealed. In Sable Claus’s case the appeal court in October 2003, found that Chief’s DNA should not have been admitted into evidence as they viewed animal DNA cannot be presented as evidence the same way that human DNA can. Since their ruling, this belief has been discounted. But the court did not feel that Sable Claus was entitled to a new trial and upheld his original sentencing. In Tuilefano’s case be careful what you wish for as the appeals court felt that the 26 ½ year sentence he received was too light and that he should be resentenced to a longer prison term. This time to life in prison.

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