BY LISA BACKUS
Herald Press staff

FARMINGTON — When Robert Cronkhite left a trail of blood while committing two petty crimes in 2005, he didn’t know he would become part of a small revolution that is changing the demographics of suspects caught by DNA evidence.

Police said Cronkhite broke into a Route 6 gas station to steal cigarettes by smashing a window in November 2005. He cut himself in the process of committing the crime, leaving blood on store items which police gathered and sent to the state forensic lab in Meriden for examination.

Three weeks ago, just about three years after the crime was committed, Farmington police served him with an arrest warrant for third-degree burglary after they were told the state Forensic Science Lab found a “hit” — a DNA match between the blood found at the scene and Cronkhite’s blood.

Cronkhite’s story is fairly similar to that of many burglars and larcenists — the criminals most often in contact with the public — who are increasingly being connected to crimes through DNA evidence, said Michael T. Bourke, Ph.D., a forensic science examiner with the state lab in Meriden.

“If I had to guess, at least half of our database comes from property crimes,” Bourke said. “It’s the largest category of cases that are submitted to the lab. It’s been our major growth industry over the past three or four years.”

The DNA unit of the state lab started with seven major crime cases in 1993. This year, Bourke estimates that they’ll work on 1,300 cases and bring the number of DNA hits in criminal cases to over 1,000.

The lab checks DNA information against the national Combined DNA Index System, which as of 2003 connects to all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Army and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Bourke estimates about 80 percent of hits for the lab come from within the state. Another 15 percent come from matches with others states, mostly from places commonly traveled by northeasterners including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida.

As techniques have improved and the database has been broadened, the number of matches has grown exponentially over a relatively short period of time, Bourke said.

“It took us nine years to go from one to 250 hits,” he explained. “It took about 22 months to go from 250 to 500, and I’m predicting it’ll be roughly 15 months to go from 501 to 1,000.”

Part of the success rate is due to a change in state law that requires all convicted felons to submit a DNA sample. Prior to 2003 only those convicted of certain sex crimes were required to give a DNA sample.

“What we’re seeing now is the positive rewards of expansion to include all felonies,” Bourke said. “Burglaries are hitting to other burglaries which winds up deterring other burglaries from happening because the suspects are being convicted.”

Bourke points out that only a handful of cases with a DNA match have gone to trial. “From a legal standpoint, how do you defend yourself if your blood is found in someone’s house who you don’t know and their TV is missing?” he said. “We’ve literally only had four or five go to trial in hundreds of database cases.”

Currently the backlog is about a year before the lab can examine DNA evidence connected to a property crime. Homicide, rape and assault cases where the perpetrator could be on the loose and potentially hit other victims are the first priority, said State Police Lt. David Rice, commander of the scientific services division, which oversees the unit.

But both agreed the number of DNA hits is steadily shifting to show that more and more petty criminals are being caught by DNA lab results.

“When we started, about 70 percent of our hits were from sexual assault cases, now it’s about 50 percent,” Bourke said.

Bourke points to recent national studies showing burglars will often eventually turn into rapists simply because their victims are home and asleep when they break in.

“It turns into a crime of opportunity — they end up in an apartment,” Bourke said. “If you can catch them early enough, for some of them, you can prevent sexual assaults.”

Most people would be surprised at the amount of evidence even a small-time criminal will leave at a scene, Bourke and Rice said. Both declined to comment on what types of evidence criminals leave behind, for fear that the criminals will clean up their act and not leave a trail.

“We had one guy we were able to connect to 12 burglaries in Connecticut and 10 more in Florida,” Bourke said. “Just imagine the number of burglaries he must have committed where he didn’t leave evidence.”

Four days after pulling off the Farmington caper, Cronkhite tried the same stunt in Glastonbury, police there said. But this time he injured himself so badly he had to show up at a local hospital for stitches.

Glastonbury police not only submitted the trail of blood left at the package store but were also able to seek a search warrant for his blood taken at the hospital. More than a year later, the lab’s results showed a match.

Farmington police were notified in April that Cronkhite was their suspect too, while he was serving jail time for the Glastonbury heist. He was released before Farmington could serve its warrant, but he wound up arrested after being picked up by Hartford police during a drug raid a few weeks ago.

“The reality of DNA is, you can run but you can’t hide forever,” Bourke said. “Police departments have learned not to contaminate the scene and how to collect evidence. All the police departments in the state are aware of our capabilities.”

Lisa Backus can be reached at lbackus@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601, ext. 223.