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Delaware State Police
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Persistence and Technological Advances Pay Off in Two-Year-Old Homicide Released- Thursday, April 03, 2008 Talleyville- On Sunday, February 26th, 2006, Troopers were called to the Days Inn, located at 5209 Concord Pike, in reference to a murder in Room 241. Investigators found the deceased victim, later identified as, then 29-year-old, Jamace W. Green, of Chester. An autopsy would confirm Mr. Green died as a result of a gun shot wound. Evidence technicians combed through the crime scene where they located two crucial pieces of evidence- a beer bottle and a shell casing. Investigators would not know for quite some time how valuable this evidence would be, nevertheless, they continued to work diligently through this case. While conducting this investigation, detectives expanded their search for potential leads to crimes, i.e. shootings, which occurred outside of Delaware. A May 2006 shooting in Chester would prove to be just the connection detectives were looking for. In this Chester shooting, evidence technicians there recovered a shell casing that was entered into the national database of the Integrated Ballistics Identification System or IBIS. Recently in here in the ‘First State’ the Delaware State Police initiated its own Forensic Firearms Unit that too uses the IBIS system. Forensic firearms technicians here processed the shell casing from the Days Inn homicide, and upon entering it into the national IBIS database, were able to confirm a positive match to the Chester shooting. This meant detectives now knew the shell casings from the shooting in Delaware and Pennsylvania came from the same gun. Police officers in Chester provided DSP detectives with possible names of suspects responsible for their shooting. One of the names provided was Jamar Harper, 31, of Townsend Street in Chester. Again, using advances in technology, authorities were able to match DNA recovered from the beer bottle (as mentioned above and recovered at the Days Inn crime scene) to that of Mr. Harper. The hunt was on.... Investigators in Delaware notified surrounding agencies that Mr. Harper was a person of interest in the Days Inn homicide and that the Delaware State Police were seeking his whereabouts. On March 31st, Probation and Parole Officers from Pennsylvania called investigators here and advised them that Harper was in custody and was being detained at George W. Hill Detention Center. Troopers responded north and contacted Jamar Harper. He was successfully implicated in the killing of Jamace Green and warrants are currently on file here in Delaware charging Harper with Murder 1st and Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony. He will face these charges upon extradition. Colonel Thomas F. MacLeish says, “This case absolutely exemplifies how crucial it is for law enforcement to keep up with technological advances and underscores its importance in solving open and pending cases. The family of Mr. Green has held vigil since his murder, they never gave up hope- and neither did my detectives.” |
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| State of Delaware Home Page Last Modified: April 16, 2008. |