HONOLULU (KHON2) — The new suspected killer of Dana Ireland was identified earlier in July with the help of expert genetic testing.
After that new information, Ken Lawson of the Hawaii Innocence Project said they reached out to the Attorney Generalʻs office with concerns about how the Hawaii County Police department would handle the situation. Court documents revealed that the AGʻs office told the Innocence Project that county agencies could handle it.
An update reached Lawson last week stating that the suspect had committed suicide days after a detective swabbed him for a DNA test.
The Hawaii County Police Department are expected to make a statement during a news conference Monday afternoon, which will stream live on KHON2.com.
As to Albert Ian Schweitzer and Shawn Schweitzer, who were both exonerated of Irelandʻs murder, the county deputy prosecutor said in court records that the fact that the recovered DNA does not belong to either of them does not mean that they are “actually innocent.”
A hearing for the motion to preserve evidence that may have been collected during the detectivesʻ time with the new suspect will be held on Tuesday morning.