Officials say a man who was identified as a possible new suspect in the 1991 killing and sexual assault of a Virginia woman who was visiting Hawaii killed himself last week after police took a DNA swab from him
HONOLULU — A man who was identified as a new possible suspect in the killing and sexual assault of a Virginia woman who was visiting Hawaii more than three decades ago killed himself recently after police took a DNA swab from him, officials said.
The Hawaii Police Department on Monday said they matched DNA taken from Dana Ireland’s body to that of 57-year-old Albert Lauro Jr. of Hawaiian Paradise Park on the Big Island. Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz said Lauro died by suicide and was found at home.
Authorities zeroed in on Lauro in recent months and got a DNA sample from him off of a discarded fork after they watched him eat lunch. He killed himself last week after police went to his home to test the sample against a swab taken from him in person.
Attempts by the AP to reach Lauro’s relatives were unsuccessful.
The DNA work represented a major development in a case that made headlines last year when Albert “Ian” Schweitzer, who had been incarcerated for more than 20 years for the killing, was released based on new evidence. Ireland’s body was found on Christmas Eve in 1991 on Hawaii’s Big Island.
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