Patty Scoville

What story did the crime scene tell you?

She was struck from behind and she was raped and murdered right there.

The best physical evidence would be the DNA recovered from the crime scene.

We didn't know who it belonged to, but when a sample eventually came in, we felt good that we could match it to a person.

Dr. Eric Buell, now head of Vermont's forensic DNA lab, was hoping to match that DNA to one of 20 suspects, men who knew Patty or were at the falls that day.

They investigated and investigated and investigated,

still came up empty.

It was something that we had hoped to be able to solve since we had such great evidence.

But in 1991, we didn't have a DNA database.

Vermont was one of the last states without a DNA database, so they couldn't compare crime scene DNA against known offenders.

We needed the DNA database in order to find Patty's killer.

The Scovilles realized that the key to finding justice for Patty was to channel their grief and energy, lobbying lawmakers for a DNA database.

I was so impressed when I met David and Ann for the first time.

They put their heart and soul into getting this passed.

They were the face of this.

Lawmakers wanted to force convicted felons to submit to the DNA testing.

I was always looking for ways to make sure that people who were guilty couldn't threaten folks again.

But even with the support of Governor Howard Dean, getting the legislation passed was a tough sell.

People really are very sensitive to their invasion of privacy, and there was some resistance in getting this passed.

Years began to pass.