
DNA solves 1995 Copenhagen child murder
Copenhagen Police have used a new DNA method to identify the perpetrator in the brutal 1995 murder of Roujan Ismaeel. The seven-year-old girl was raped and killed in Nørrebro, and almost 29 years later, police believe they have found the suspect, who died in 2012. This breakthrough was possible due to persistent work and advancements in DNA analysis, which linked the suspect through DNA found on the victim’s clothing, connected to DNA from a different old case. Police have chosen not to reveal the suspect’s identity or inform his family. At the time, the case caused public outrage and highlighted a sequence of unsolved female homicides in the early ’90s. The non-expiration of murder cases in Denmark and systematic DNA evidence collection since 1989-1990 are critical factors in revisiting such cold cases.