The Story of Nancy Anderson and How Her Killer Was Captured

DNA phenotyping is a technique used to predict a person's physical appearance from their DNA. It involves analyzing specific genetic markers in a person's DNA to determine traits such as eye color, hair color, skin color, and facial features.

The analysis is based on the relationship between specific genetic markers and physical traits and can be used to create a composite image of a person's face. DNA phenotyping has been used in criminal investigations to create a likeness of an unknown suspect based on DNA found at a crime scene.

It is also used in forensic anthropology to identify human remains and reconstruct the appearance of ancient humans. However, it is important to note that while DNA phenotyping can provide some information about a person's physical appearance, it cannot predict other factors such as age, weight, or height with any degree of accuracy.

The case we are reading today is one of several that have been solved using the amazing technology of DNA phenotyping.

The Story of Nancy Anderson

Nancy Anderson moved from Michigan to Waikiki, Hawaii, in late 1971 to live her dream of living on the islands. She wanted to enjoy island life before going to college. She was only 19 years old at the time.

Nancy Anderson was getting a demonstration from two silverware salesmen in her apartment on January 7, 1972, when her roommate came home around 2:30 PM. Her roommate, Jody Spooner, who was 18 years old, joined them until the men were done. Neither woman bought any silverware, though.

Jody went to her room to sleep. Jody woke up from her nap around 5 p.m. She went to the kitchen and saw that the water was running in Nancy's bathroom, which she thought was strange because she thought Nancy had already gone to work.

When the police came, they saw that Nancy had multiple stable wounds on her neck, chest, stomach, back, and sides. She also had defensive wounds. This made it impossible for the police to think that she did them herself. The police collected a lot of evidence, like a few bloody towels and a lot of fingerprints.

Police talked to Jody, who said that she had heard something strange at 4:15, but hadn't given it much thought because there hadn't been any more noises after that. 

The two salesmen were immediate suspects. They were identified as Parker Graham and Jefferey Alward, and they volunteered fingerprints and took polygraphs, eliminating them as suspects.

During the autopsy, it was found that Nancy had been stabbed sixty times, giving her a total of sixty-three wounds, three of which were exit wounds. It is thought that the murder weapon was a knife that was 10 mm wide and 60 mm long.

The investigators tried as hard as they could to solve the horrific murder, but they were met with dead ends, and the case went cold.

For 50 years there was no positive lead on the case until Parabon Nanolabs came in.

How Nancy Anderson's Case was Solved

In the 1970s, Chirila worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Hawaii, which was near Anderson's apartment. He lived in Honolulu at the time.

The Honolulu Police got a tip in December 2021 that Chirila might have killed Anderson.

The police looked at the DNA on a bloody towel found in the apartment. The DNA sample was given to Parabon Nanolabs, a company that can predict people's physical traits based on their DNA.

The former deputy attorney general of Nevada, who ran for the state Supreme Court and later worked at the notorious Mustang Ranch brothel, was arrested in Reno as a possible suspect in Hawaii in 1972.

Police were able to get Chirila's DNA from his son, who lives in California. Chirila was arrested after a warrant was issued to get his DNA.

After his arrest, his DNA matched the DNA contained in the bloody towel.

DNA phenotyping has helped to solve a lot of unsolved cases in recent times.