Published 2 days ago • loading... • Updated 2 days ago

He attacked 3 women. Forensic genealogy led officers to his door

On May 13, 2025, Donald Edmond Warner, 46, of North Branch, Minn., pleaded guilty in three cold-case sexual assaults from 2010, 2011 and 2017, closing long-unsolved cases.
Forensic genealogy investigators later generated a lead when biological evidence including a 2010 rectal swab produced a DNA profile that initially found no matches in state and national DNA databases.
Submitting evidence items like an earring and clothing to the Minnesota BCA lab, investigators created DNA profiles that, after a genealogy lead, linked Warner to the 2011 and 2017 attacks and a 2010 sperm sample in both state and national offender databases.
Warner received a 24-year prison sentence, bringing closure to three cases, and an additional year was added for his escape during work-release when he hid in an outdoor garbage can.
Investigators said the case underscores advances in forensic science, with court documents describing violent, similar assaults on women walking home, and the case is highlighted by the Chisago County Attorney's Office and local law enforcement.

Insights by Ground AI

17 Articles

Post Bulletin

+16 Reposted by 16 other sources

Center

He attacked 3 women. Forensic genealogy led officers to his door

CHISAGO COUNTY, Minn. — A man who attacked and sexually assaulted three women in Chisago County walked free for nearly a decade, until investigators came to his door. Donald Edmond Warner, 46, of North Branch, Minn., pleaded guilty on May 13, 2025 in three cases involving women who were attacked and sexually assaulted in 2010, 2011 and 2017. Court documents from the three cases reveal similarities: the victims were walking home in the early hour…

2 days ago·Cherokee County, United States

Read Full Article

Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/year