From
The Delaware County Daily Times:
A DNA profile recovered from the grip of a handgun led to a Philadelphia man now facing charges in a 2001 homicide, a sudden twist that had the victim’s mother praising God, science and investigators.
Authorities had long identified Shawn Rubin Gallman as the man who had been visiting shooting victim Shawn Eric Hughes’ ex-girlfriend at her Parkview Court apartment just prior to the shooting the night of Oct. 1 more than eight years ago, according to the affidavit of probable cause for arrest.
Along with information from unnamed witnesses, investigators also had a Taurus .357-caliber six-shot revolver. The firearm was found near the scene where the injured Hughes crashed his car on Patricia Drive. Tests by a Pennsylvania State Police firearm and tool mark examiner indicated Taurus to be among several manufacturers whose products could have fired the single projectile later recovered from Hughes’ body.
On Tuesday, forensic scientist Katherine Cross from the
National Medical Services gave Detective Sgt. David Splain the pivotal, warrant-supporting piece to the cold case puzzle: Results of a comparison of DNA originally recovered from the handgun to a known DNA profile of Gallman.
According to the arrest affidavit, tests conducted by Cross determined that “99.72 percent of the African-American population” could be excluded as being a contributor to the DNA profile on the handgun.
“Shawn Gallman could not be excluded,” the affidavit states.
Arrested Thursday night, Gallman, also known as Shawn Reid and Shawn Burton, 41, of the 2000 block of Stenton Avenue, was already in custody at the Joseph Coleman Center in Philadelphia.
He was arraigned Friday on first- and third-degree murder and related offenses and remanded without bail to the county prison.