Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Jury Nears Deliberations in 2015 Scottsdale Murder Trial Built on Familial DNA

A years-long fight over a retained DUI blood sample ended with Arizona's high court allowing the DNA under an inevitable-discovery rule.

Overview

  • With only the state's rebuttal left, the jury is expected to begin deliberations soon.
  • Ian Mitcham is on trial for first-degree murder, sexual assault and burglary in the 2015 killing of Allison Feldman in her Scottsdale home.
  • Prosecutors say he assaulted Feldman, tried to clean the scene with bleach, and left DNA that matched his profile.
  • The defense calls the DNA a misdirection and points to pharmacist James Katsilometes as an alternative suspect who lived nearby and knew Feldman through work.
  • Investigators got a break in 2018 using familial DNA, a search for relatives in databases, which led from inmate Mark Mitcham to his brother Ian, and courts later let the DUI-derived DNA stand for trial after finding it would have been discovered lawfully.