Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Queens jogger Karina Vetrano's suspected killer caught by DNA

Episode Date: February 7, 2017

Phil Vetrano, father of murdered Queens jogger Karina Vetrano, hoped a new DNA analysis strategy would find his daughter’s killer, but it turned out old fashion police work nabbed a suspect. Accused killer Chanel Lewis is just 20 and his previous crimes include urinating in public, not serious enough to put him into the DNA database. This episode revisits Nancy Grace’s talk with Karina’s dad. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. earlier for her evening run at five o'clock. Justice for my daughter. Retribution. That is everything I live for. It's all I do. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Police arrested Lewis this weekend claiming they have layers of evidence against him, including two videotaped confessions and three DNA matches from the victim's fingernails, back, and cell phone. His half-sister argues he is incapable of killing. He's a skinny guy who cannot kill such a strong girl because she's a strong person. He's a kind, gentle person, loving person. He will never take another person's life.

This is Alan Duke, Nancy's co-host and producer for this Crime Stories podcast. If you heard Nancy's interview last month with Phil Vetrano, father of murdered Queens jogger Karina Vetrano, you know her family has been hoping investigators could use a new and controversial type of DNA analysis to track down her killer. In fact, a New York Crime Commission hearing was set for this Friday to decide if it could be approved for use. Although DNA recovered at the crime scene did not match the DNA of any criminals in the national database, the familial DNA analysis could narrow that search by finding close relatives of the killer who might be in the database.

But that process is no longer needed in Karina's case because of good, old-fashioned, low-tech police work. A police officer recently remembered an odd encounter with a young man who was ticketed twice for breaking rules in that same park where Karina was strangled to death. Investigators approached the 20-year-old last week asking him for a DNA sample, and he consented. Chanel Lewis was taken into custody over the weekend after his DNA matched.

Police say they now have two confessions on video from him, although Lewis's family insists he's innocent. A legal aid group now representing Lewis called on the public not to rush to judgment and let fairness and due process take its course. Now, we'll play a 10-minute segment of Nancy's interview with her father, Phil, in just a moment. But first, let's thank our sponsor, SimpliSafe.com. SimpliSafe.com offers a high-tech security system without a contract for just $14.99 a month. The best way to learn about it is to watch their video at simplisafe.com slash nancy and you can also get a 10% discount if you do it there. It's easy to install,

no contracts, a pretty cool way to protect your home without breaking your budget. Again, visit simplisafe.com slash nancy for the info and the discount. It was August 2nd, broad daylight. She left the house around 5.30. You know, she said, Daddy, I'm going to go for a run. And she asked me if I wanted to come. And I said, I can't today, Corrine, because my back is hurt. And I asked her, are you going to go in there, meaning the trail in the weeds? And she said, yeah.

And I said, Kareem, do you think it's a good idea? She said, don't worry, Daddy, I'll be okay. And she went off. And she was only gone 20 minutes when this feeling came over me like like something was something was wrong so i i called her phone at uh 6 27 6 28 6 30 i was i was watching the news. I was eating dinner. And I just said, damn. I didn't say damn, but a word similar to damn. And my wife had just gotten home from the hospital. And she said, what's the matter?

And I said, Corrine is not answering her phone. And my wife didn't even know she went out for a run. So I went looking for her. And I walked the trail where we usually run. I stopped about 200 feet from where she was because I didn't think we ever went that far. And I turned around and I came out. I called a friend of mine in the PD. And I told him, Karina's missing.

She's not answering our phone. And within 15 minutes, we had patrol cars. Within a half hour, we had helicopters. We had bloodhounds. We had 300 people looking for her. They happened to unlock her phone. She had an Apple product, which was very difficult to unlock. But because Karina had asthma, they were able to unlock the phone,

and we found the location. And at 10.30, I went to where the phone was found. And I just, she called me, you know, she came to me and called me and led me to where she was. And I just walked into the weeds and found her. I can hardly even respond to you, Phil. When I'm hearing you retell this story about your daughter going missing, I know it's painful for me to hear it, so I can only imagine how it is for you to tell it. I remember at some point when I would tell the story of my fiancé's murder, at some point I would just go numb and recount the story. When you say she came to you, what did you hear a voice in your head?

What happened? No, it's the same way that I got the feeling when I was watching the news, when I knew something was wrong. Karina and myself, we weren't just, you know, father and daughter. She was like my best friend. And we did everything together. You find her cell phone, and then what happens? Well, the cops found the cell phone. So I went to where the police were. There were about 15 cops there at the time. There was bloodhounds.

There was a helicopter with heat sensor on it. And I said, where's the phone? And they pointed in a direction. He said about 50 feet in. And, you know, they didn't touch the phone. They left it to CSI. So I said, okay, you know, it's pitch black now. And I start walking deeper into the trail, you know, just walking. And then, uh, I told myself or somebody or something told me no. So I turned around and I walked in the other direction. I got to about 50 feet from where the phone was on the trail. And I just stopped, you know, there's a trail to the right, and there's a trail to the left. You can go any of the way, and the weeds are eight feet high.

And I just stopped. I turned to my right. I looked at the weeds, and I just walked in. And I made it about 30, 35 feet, and that's where she was. You know, she needed her father. She needed me to find her. There's no question. Why do you say she needed you to find her? Well, because if anyone was going to find her and if she had any power over the situation,

it would be me. She needed her daddy to bring her home. Of course she did. When you saw her, was there any doubt in your mind that she had passed away and there was no way to revive her? Well, at first sight, you know, she didn't look that bad. And, you know, being a trained paramedic, you know, FDNY, you know, my initial reaction is to check for pulse, you know. And as soon as I lifted her, I knew because the rigor started to set in already after you found her what happened did they take her did what happened after I found her all hell

broke loose you know I was immediately as soon as they heard me well you know, the police came in and they told me, sir, you have to put her down. You have to put her down. This is a crime scene. So I put her down and I said, okay, when are we going to get her out of there? And it was 10.30 at night. And they said, well, we have to wait for the medical examiner to come. The ambulance has to come. So, you know, half hour was going by, and I'm starting to lose my mind, and I'm screaming, where the hell are they?

Do you want me to go get them? And, you know, little did I know that, of course, it's a crime scene. And they were just telling me that because they wanted to pacify me. About another half hour goes by, and I'm saying, what's taking them so long? You've got to get her out of there. And then I started getting some calls saying that they're starting to hear some rumors. And, you know, of course, my wife's rumors about, you know, me finding her or us finding her and that she was no longer with us. And because my wife didn't know at this point.

Nobody knew at this point. Oh, no. Oh, no. Is that how your wife found out? No. No. So I got a call call saying phil you better get over here and you need to talk to your wife so i made my way back home and i broke the news to her so uh it turns out they didn't get her out of there till five six hours later because of, it's a crime scene. They had to bring CSI.

They had to do whatever they do at a crime scene. You know, people don't understand unless you've gone through it yourself. You're about out of your mind because it doesn't seem real. I remember when my fiancé was killed. They told me that he was gone. But then in my mind, I thought, well, wait a minute, maybe that was wrong. Maybe he's alive, and if I can get there fast enough, maybe I can help. Maybe this, maybe that.

I mean, your mind is doing all sorts of contortions to make it not real. That's what I remember. I stillions to make it not real. That's what I remember. I still don't believe it's real. I don't think I'll ever believe it's real. When I first realized what had happened to Karina and I heard about you, I immediately started covering it, covering it, covering it, covering it. And then as the days went,

I thought for sure with a crime scene like that that it would be a matter of days if not hours that the killer was going to be caught because I was convinced there was plenty of DNA at the scene there were going to be fingerprints and that was that yes it didn't it did not happen that way well there was plenty of evidence and i was told by chief detectives the very next day saying we're going to get this guy we're going to get him right away but little did anybody know that he this person this murderer was not in the database and his DNA was never on file. Oh, dear Lord in heaven. Yes. Oh, I just don't, I don't understand it, Phil,

because this is contrary to everything I know, and I know it to be true about criminal psychopathy. You don't just suddenly, one day, commit a murder. It doesn't happen like that typically, especially a murder like this. It's so hard for me to believe he has never been in trouble before. And the reason we're talking about this, everyone, for a moment, I felt like I'm just talking on the phone to Phil Vetrano. This is Karina Vetrano's father. We're talking about DNA in the DNA database, CODIS, like APHIS, which is the fingerprint database. Everybody's in there if you have ever had a federal job, a government job, if you've ever gotten booked on anything.

Now, sometimes people give fingerprints for all sorts of reasons. Pawn shops, you name it, that goes into APHIS. Now there's CODIS for DNA. And if you are convicted in many jurisdictions, your DNA goes into a data bank. Whoever murdered this beautiful girl, their DNA, which is found at the scene, is not matching up to a database. We have a complete profile, meaning that once the person is apprehended, it would be a 100% complete match. No question. Definitely the perpetrator. We now know two weeks after this interview that the DNA database did not have the suspected killer's DNA because he was so young, just 20 years old, and his previous crimes were apparently just minor ones, including urinating in public. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace will continue to follow this case as it goes through the courts.

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of those security companies charge with a contract. Protect your home the smart way. Visit simplisafe.com slash nancy to check out their product, their high-definition camera, and the rest of the system. Plus, you can get 10% off any order, but that's only if you do it through simplisafe.com slash nancy. Go now to simplisafe.com slash nancy. And a reminder that you can call Nancy and leave a voice message with a question or a comment about a case which she might be able to answer in a future episode. The number 909-49-CRIME. That's 909-492-7463. Also, please share Nancy's podcast with your Facebook friends and leave a review on iTunes. That really helps others find her new show. We post these every afternoon,

Monday through Friday, and Nancy will be rejoining us tomorrow. I'm Alan Duke for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Take care. This is an iHeart Podcast.