There's new energy on an eight-year-old cold case in Anne
Arundel County after police detectives teamed up with a forensics lab to narrow
down a possible killer.
Even in the last month, parts are still moving into who
killed Michael Temple, Jr., the 24-year-old who was shot fighting back against
his masked attackers.
Now, a Virginia DNA lab is hoping their ‘snapshot' will help
uncover who pulled the trigger.
As often as he visits his son's gravesite, the days never
get easier.
"I come here and spend hours just sitting and talking and
try to keep it together," Michael Temple, Sr. said.
The bond between the father and son could light up a room.
For Michael, Sr., the visits are the only way he can
brighten up one of his darkest days – the day his son died.
"[I miss] being able to talk to him. Parent's shouldn't have
to do this, especially for a senseless robbery," Michael, Sr. said.
Anne Arundel County Sgt. R.J. Price, over the department's
cold case unit, says masked attackers stormed into a house in Odenton.
Michael, Jr. and his girlfriend had just walked in – her grandfather
was tied up in the basement.
"During the home invasion takeover, Mr. Temple fought back
with one of the suspects and during the fight, one of the suspects was injured
and ultimately shot Mr. Temple," Price said.
As he fought back, Michael, Jr. stabbed one of the
attackers.
They ran before he or anyone else could get a good look at
them.
Michael, Jr. was shot two times, once in the leg and once in
his spine – his injuries forcing him to spend the rest of his life in a
wheelchair.
For five years, Michael, Sr. and his wife, Cynthia, watched
their only son suffer.
"Trying to give care to a son who was drastically injured,
severely injured was very challenging in itself and then to watch your son
slowly die," Michael, Sr. said.
When Michael died, autopsy results showed his injuries
during the attack were the cause of his death, changing the case from an
assault to a murder.
But just as they were then, clues were scarce – but there
was that splotch of DNA.
"The suspects in this case were both wearing masks and so
witness identification based on that is not a possibility. With this DNA
evidence, it may point us in the right direction of someone that, maybe, lived
in the area that saw these people prior," Price said.
<figcaption>Michael Temple, Jr. was shot during a home invasion in 2010.Police then sent the DNA down to Reston, Virginia to a small
DNA technology company that's bringing new life to cold cases.
"We're predicting traits. We predict and say here's this
person's eye color, hair color, the amount of freckles on their face and then
the shape of thief ace. Does the person have a wider jaw or a pointier nose –
things like that," Dr. Ellen McRae Greytak, of Parabon NanoLabs, said.
She's one of the brains behind "Snapshot," a computer-based
3D algorithm that helps to create life-like composites based off DNA.
"We're working with little, tiny quantities of DNA that
could be as old as – it could be decades old," Greytak said.
In this case, a few years – after sending that blood sample
off to a third-party lab, the specialists at Parabon used their program ‘Snapshot'
to come up with a rendering of what they think the man who killed Michael, Jr.
"The vast majority of people in the world are not going to
match that. So if you gave the police department, that composite, there will be
a lot of people that they can eliminate from their suspect list," Greytak said.
<figcaption>Picture from crime scene in Odenton (Anne Arundel County Police)It's the closest Anne Arundel County Police have been to
solving their near decade old cold case.
A moment Michael, Sr. wishes his wife could see. Cynthia
died after years of grief; a broken heart says Michael, Sr.
So for as hard as it is for him to come here, this is where his
family is – as he waits for justice and tries to heal from what was taken from
his all those years ago.
"Snitching is a word invented by cowards. What I'm asking
for is help and justice, which is for the strong to stand up for what's right
and any help that we can get would be greatly appreciated," Michael, Sr. said.
<figcaption>This is the composite using the Snapshot program from Parabon NanoLabs of Michael Temple's killer