Police identify suspect in Dana Ireland murder investigation

The Hawai‘i Police Department announced the identification of a suspect via DNA evidence in the 1991 murder of Dana Ireland. Age 23 at the time of her death, Ireland was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in the Kapoho area of Hawai‘i Island on Dec. 24, 1991. She died the next day at the Hilo Medical Center.

“For 33 years, our Department has been resolute in investigating the Dana Ireland case,” said Hawai‘i Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz in a department news release.

As part of the Hawai‘i Police Department’s investigation, several pieces of evidence were recovered, some of which contained DNA evidence. Specifically, DNA was recovered from a swab taken from Ireland’s body, from a sheet used to transport Ireland to the hospital, and from a t-shirt found at the scene. While it was analyzed at the time, there was no match in any DNA database, and the person whose DNA was found at the scene became known as “Unknown Male No. 1.”

In 2008, the DNA evidence was sent to the Forensic Analytical Crime Lab in California, where it remains today, as part of a cooperative agreement with the Innocence Project. 

In the decades since Ireland was murdered, DNA technology has evolved significantly. Additional DNA evidence was collected from the t-shirt and found to match the other samples from the scene. In addition, experts are now able to take data from a DNA sample and build a family tree based on the known DNA from relatives. Earlier this year, an FBI agent from the Honolulu Field Office contacted police investigators with the names of some people who could potentially be identified as “Unknown Male No. 1.” 

One of the names provided was that of 57-year-old Albert Lauro Jr., who lived in the Kapoho area at the time of the murder. Based on that information, police investigators surveilled Lauro Jr., attempting to gather further evidence. In early July, they collected a utensil that he had been using after he discarded it. The DNA from the utensil was analyzed and found to be a match to “Unknown Male No. 1.”

Media outlets report that Lauro killed himself earlier this month after providing a DNA swab.

While the DNA at the scene and from the victim certainly established probable cause that “Unknown Male No. 1” had committed the offense of rape, the statute of limitations for that charge ran out several years prior. The only remaining crime still within the statute of limitations was murder. Based on what the investigators knew at the time, there was not enough information to establish probable cause to arrest Lauro Jr. for murder. 

Investigators obtained a court order to obtain a buccal swab from Lauro’s cheek as confirmation that the DNA taken directly from him matched the DNA collected at the crime scene 33 years earlier. On Friday, July 19, Lauro Jr. was asked to come to the station and talk with investigators. The encounter was consensual, and he was not in police custody at the time. After speaking with investigators, Lauro Jr. asked to leave and was allowed to do so after the court-ordered buccal swab was collected. The buccal swab was sent to Forensic Analytical Crime Lab in California along with a request to rush the analysis and return the results as soon as possible. Based on that analysis, the Hawai‘i Police Department can now confirm that the DNA collected at the crime scene matched Lauro Jr., a resident of Hawaiian Paradise Park. 

“The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals from unwarranted search and seizure,” explained Chief Moszkowicz. “In order to obtain a search warrant, investigators would have to have established probable cause for the crime of murder and explained specifically what evidence it was seeking.”

“We remain focused on Dana Ireland, a young woman who was brutally murdered. There is still a lot about this case that we do not know and our investigation into this case continues to push forward. Our search for the truth is not over,” added Chief Moszkowicz.

People with information relative to this investigation should contact Hawai‘i Police Department Area I Criminal Investigation Division Captain Rio Amon-Wilkins at 808-961-2251 or via email at Rio.Amon-Wilkins@hawaiicounty.gov.