DNA match leads to summons after 10 month investigation into Crisfield coin burglary

A Crisfield man has been charged, after Police say they linked his DNA to a burglary at his neighbor’s home.

Maryland State Police – Princess Anne barrack say on September 9, 2014, Troopers responded to reports of a burglary on Hinman Lane. Once on scene, the Troopers apparently learned that the man’s father had recently passed away, and he was the power of attorney for his estate. The man reportedly found that someone had broken into his father’s home, and stole coins from a safe in the master bedroom closet.

Police say they found plaster lying on the hallway floor, which had come from the inside portion of the safe’s locking mechanism, and once inside the bedroom, noticed that the safe had been destroyed, and there were several empty boxes of collectible coins inside. Authorities estimate the missing coins at about $1,000. Police say they collected evidence at the scene, which was then sent to the Maryland State Police Crime Lab for DNA testing.

In April, Police say that DNA came back from the MSP Forensic Sciences Division with a hit, that matched a Maryland convicted offender, 51-year-old Donald Wharton. Police say Wharton’s backyard, and the victim’s backyard share a property line, so they then collected a DNA sample from Wharton.

On July 22, the DNA comparison, that compared Wharton’s DNA to the DNA collected at the scene, came back as a match. Police say “probability of randomly selecting an unrelated individual with this DNA profile at 15 of 15 loci tested is: 1 in 100 quadrillion in the us Caucasian population; 1 in 20 quintillion of the us African American population; 1 in 1.1 quintillion in the us Hispanic population.”

On Friday, Wharton was reportedly served a criminal summons for 1st degree burglary, and theft.