When a Canadian woman disappeared, the police suspected foul play. They had few productive leads but
suspected Douglas Beamish, the woman's ex-husband.
A white cat named Snowball
Without evidence, though, the police had no way to
helped to catch a killer.
exert pressure on Beamish to confess.
Months later, the woman's body was discovered in a shallow grave. Nearby was a bag
containing a blood-spattered jacket. The jacket was similar to one owned by Beamish, but police
couldn't devise a strong enough case to link him to the murder. Then they discovered 27 white
hairs clinging to the jacket.
Close examination revealed that the hairs were from a cat. The hair, along with lingering
suspicions about Beamish, helped investigators make an important connection. Beamish had
been living with his parents, who owned a white cat named Snowball. Police wanted to compare
Snowball's DNA with DNA from the hairs on the jacket. However, no Canadian labs did DNA
testingon cats.
A lab in Maryland agreed to test Snowball's blood and hair. The tests showed that the hair on
the jacketwas definitely Snowball's. With this evidence, ajury convicted Beamish of murder. For
the first time, animal DNA evidence had put a criminal behind bars.