Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)
The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division presented the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) with the 2024 Biometric Identification Award at the CJIS Advisory Policy Board meeting in Savannah, Georgia, on December 12.
The FBI developed the award to recognize law enforcement for their efforts in solving major cases using the FBI’s biometric and criminal history repository—the Next Generation Identification (NGI) System.
The CJIS Division honored the SDPD for their efforts in solving a cold case that dates to New Year’s Eve 1975, when a male was found dead from an apparent homicide in San Diego. Due to technology limitations at that time, latent prints collected at the scene were not searched. In 2003, unknown DNA from the scene was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, commonly known as CODIS, but the submission provided negative results.
The case remained cold until 2019 when the SDPD reopened the case. SDPD searched the latent prints collected in 1975 against the NGI System and received possible candidates, one of whom was examined and positively identified. Dennis LePage was arrested for the murder in January 2020. During the arrest, detectives obtained palm prints from LePage to compare with a bloody palm print found on the victim’s body in 1975. The prints were verified, and additional DNA retrieved matched to DNA collected from the crime scene. In September 2021, LePage pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to five years to life in state prison.
“This case is one example of how important the NGI System is for our law enforcement partners,” said CJIS Division Acting Assistant Director Timothy A. Ferguson. “Despite the case being cold for decades, investigators turned to the NGI System to find justice for the victim. I commend the San Diego Police Department for their dedication and proudly award them for their efforts. The CJIS Division remains committed to growing our biometric services to further assist our partners in the pursuit of justice.”