Evidence Kit
Tuesday 03 August 7:00PM HK/SIN/MAL 6:00PM Thai/WIB
Wednesday 04 August 1:00AM HK/SIN/MAL 12:00AM Thai/WIB
Wednesday 04 August 7:00AM HK/SIN/MAL 6:00AM Thai/WIB
Wednesday 04 August 1:00PM HK/SIN/MAL 12:00PM Thai/WIB


Every untested rape evidence kit symbolizes a victim awaiting justice. Every untouched homicide evidence box is a killer getting away with murder. In this country's crime labs, there are well over 100,000 such cases. EVIDENCE KIT profiles two crimes where rape kit or homicide evidence has been warehoused due to a backlog in state DNA testing facilities.

Case #1:
Chicago, Illinois
Sheri Mecklenburg is Corporation Counsel for the Chicago Police Department. In 2002, she became aware of a problem in the department. Sexual assault evidence kits were backlogged for DNA testing. At the time, over 1200 kits sat in storage. Mecklenburg learned that it wasn't a question of technology but a question of funding. She decided to do something about it and the Women's DNA initiative was born. Known as WDNA, the group is made up of concerned Chicago women who came together to find funding for backlogged rape kits. They succeeded and in 2003, the first batch of 50 kits was selected from the Chicago PD evidence locker and sent to a private lab for testing. One of those kits belonged to a 16 year-old victim named Robin Hill, who was sexually assaulted in 1998. Robin underwent a rape kit examination to collect evidence of her attacker. The case went cold for eight years until WDNA provided the funding to have Robin's kit tested. DNA from the kit matched a serial offender named Wayne Willis. He also matched three other unsolved Chicago rapes. On March 15, 2007 he is sentenced to 55 years in prison.

Much of the credit for getting Willis off the street lies with the women of WDNA. Since it's inception, WDNA has funded the testing of more than 200 previously backlogged rape evidence kits. That's up to 200 victims who now have a chance at justice.

Case #2:
Sacramento, California
Anne Marie Schubert holds a unique position in the field of law enforcement. Not only is she a Deputy District Attorney for Sacramento County, she also heads up the county's Cold Case Task Force and liaisons between the crime lab and homicide detectives. With a grant for DNA testing of unsolved cases, Schubert selects the cold homicide of John Arana, brutally stabbed to death in his home 16 years ago. EVIDENCE KIT is there as the team opens the case file and selects evidence for DNA testing.

The Sacramento County Crime lab is able to take their evidence out of storage and develop a suspect DNA profile. But will it match one of three suspects developed by the original detectives? Our cameras follow the trail as detectives rely on new technology to try and finally solve their case and bring justice to the victim's family.