FINDING FRANK’S KILLER

By Dorian Robin

Frank Sinatra’s body was found on the 14th of May, 1998.

He had been shot twice, once in the collar, and the chest.

After looking for evidence, the New York Police found a used Marlboro cigarette (several feet from the body, where the gunman most likely stood), several sunflower-seed shells, scattered about randomly, and most importantly a torn of shred of paper with the words “national Shi” on it.

With these three important pieces of evidence, the New York Forensics Department went to work.

While several workers ran fingerprint tests on the scrap of paper, the words were analyzed and put through thousands of companies and stores in New York to find the correct match.

Unfortunately there were no visible prints on the paper, but several companies nearby to the crime scene contained the words “national Shi.”

Policemen were dispatched to each company to question the owners and employees.

While the piece of paper was investigated, DNA tests were run on the sunflower seed shells, and cigarette.

After isolating the DNA, and cutting it into pieces with restriction enzymes, the investigators used Polymerase Chain Reactions to multiply it. They then sequenced the DNA and observed the complementary DNA (after synthesizing it with DNA polymerase).

The DNA sequencing helped the scientists determine the nucleotide sequence of each chromosome. With this, they could use labeled probes to tag specific areas in the nucleotide sequence for RFLP Analysis, and also for matches with the department’s DNA file containing thousands of criminals.

The killer’s DNA Sequence

After days of work, the forensic scientists could not find a DNA match in their database, but they did find something quite interesting.

The RFLP analysis showed that the owner of the DNA had Wolff Parkinson White syndrome (WPW), an extremely rare disease involving the extra presence of an abnormal electrical pathway in the heart.

Since the disease is found at birth, Doctors take tally of all babies with the disease, and store the information in files.

The NYFD traced the file, and found a list of around fifty victims of WPW in all of New York, 30 of them no longer alive.

Shortly, each victim of the disease was brought in to the police, and questioned.

One person in particular was extremely questionable.

His name was Mark Jacobson, and he worked for New York International Shipping.

Mark’s DNA was taken, and then compared to the DNA found on the cigarette, and sunflower seed shells.

It was a perfect match. Mark was convicted for murder, and sent to

jail for life. He had committed the most heinous, unforgivable crime; simply to steal Frank’s wallet.