State crime lab analyst Kathryn Troyer was running tests on Arizona's DNA database when she stumbled across two felons with remarkably similar genetic profiles.

The men matched at nine of the 13 locations on chromosomes, or loci, commonly used to distinguish people.

The FBI estimated the odds of unrelated people sharing those genetic markers to be as remote as 1 in 113 billion. But the mug shots of the two felons suggested that they were not related: One was black, the other white.

In the years after her 2001 discovery, Troyer found dozens of similar matches -- each seeming to defy impossible odds.

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"NACDL's Groundbreaking Eye-ID Training Program Now Available on DVD,"--Special discounts are available for Public Defender offices. Please contact Gerald Lippert at (202) 872-8600 for special pricing.

"Controversial Chicago Police Line Up Data to Remain Hidden, Plaintiffs to Appeal,"--NACDL Press Release, June 23, 2008

"Another Guantanamo Prisoner May Face Death Penalty," --NACDL Press Release, June 30, 2008

"Supreme Court Abolishes Death Penalty for Non-Capital State Crimes, Reaffirms Confrontation Rights,"-- NACDL Press Release, June 25, 2008

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