DNA Leads to Indictments in Murders

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) â€” A man was accused Wednesday of three sex killings going back to 1987 after investigators used new DNA technology to link the crimes. <br><br>The indictment against Patrick Baxter,

Wednesday, November 15th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) â€” A man was accused Wednesday of three sex killings going back to 1987 after investigators used new DNA technology to link the crimes.

The indictment against Patrick Baxter, 31, was unsealed in Westchester County Court. His attorney entered a plea of innocent.

Baxter is accused of killing a 14-year-old girl in 1987, a 19-year-old woman in 1988 and a 25-year-old woman in 1990.

DNA evidence from semen was recovered at each crime scene in Westchester County, but the cases had not been linked because the DNA sample from the 1987 scene was too small to be tested until recently.

The county forensics lab determined this year that the same person was involved in the 1987 and 1990 killings, and the district attorney's office obtained a court order for a DNA test of Baxter, who had been a suspect.

Baxter was already serving a prison term for reckless endangerment and possession of stolen property.

Police officials said in June that the DNA linked Baxter to the killings, but he was not charged at that time.

A positive match was later made to the 1988 killing, leading to the triple indictment.