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Berlin Diamond Heist Mystery

54:55 recording · EN · 2 speakers

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Brief overview

Identical twin DNA can stall justice, in a Berlin jewelry heist and in an Ohio murder.

  1. Identical twins can break a DNA caseShared nuclear DNA meant the Berlin glove pointed at two brothers and convicted neither.
  2. Telling twins apart costs a fortuneFull genome sequencing to find about eight typos runs into six or seven figures at a handful of labs.
  3. The same wall stands in OhioHunter and Levi Cart both matched the DNA in Denise's bed, so investigators had to separate them by story, not by lab.
Executive Summary AI
  • Three masked men slid through a skylight into a fancy Berlin department store and took $6.5 million in fine jewelry and watches, leaving behind one glove holding a single bead of sweat whose DNA matched two 27-year-old brothers, identical twins H and A, both with records for theft and fraud.1:28
  • Because prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt which twin or whether both took part, both were released within the week, with the court stating it could deduce at least one brother was involved but not which one, leaving the heist unsolved.3:26
  • A normal crime DNA test scans about 20 fixed markers, while telling identical twins apart means sequencing the whole 3 billion base genome at ultra high depth to find roughly eight typos, something only a handful of labs can do at a cost of hundreds of thousands up to seven figures, and it is easily thrown out in court.4:16
  • In Ohio, 64-year-old Denise was found by her brother Daryl in her bed, ripped pajamas, an angel figurine on the blanket over her face, cleaning chemicals and Pepto-Bismol poured on her, and the DNA under her nails traced to 13-year-old identical twins Hunter and Levi Cart from across the street.5:31
  • Cheek swabs came back a match for both twins, so investigators maneuvered the family to the station without detaining them, questioned the boys in separate rooms while Becca demanded a lawyer and had her phone taken, heard Levi's long account of being scratched at 2:30 a.m. by the cat Marshmallow, heard Hunter volunteer his brother's trauma and research into sociopaths, and then learned Levi has c21:06
Key Quote
“They take $6.5 million worth of fine jewelry and watches.”
— Host1:28
Key Quote
“from the evidence we have, we can deduce that at least one of the brothers took part in the crime, but it has not been possible to determine which one.”
— Host3:37
Key Quote
“I want to get us our lawyer.”
— Host26:28