Cold Hit by State's DNA Database Results in Arrest of Man for 1992 Mission Viejo Rapes

SANTA ANA - Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced today that a "cold hit" made at the California Department of Justice (DOJ) DNA Laboratory in Berkeley last month has resulted in the arrest of a suspect in a series of 1992 sexual assaults and other crimes in Mission Viejo. A "cold hit" occurs when DNA information stored in DOJ's databank matches the DNA from crime scene evidence which leads local law enforcement to a suspect in a case with no previous suspects.

Daniel Metzler, 37, of Chalmette, Louisiana, was arrested last week and brought to California to face sexual assault and kidnap charges stemming from the 1992 attacks.

Metzler was identified as a suspect when DOJ's DNA databank, containing Metzler's DNA profile, matched the DNA profile developed from the evidence at the 1992 Mission Viejo crime scene.

Blood and saliva samples are taken from individuals convicted of sexual assaults and other violent crimes in California. The samples yield "DNA profiles" which are stored in the DOJ database and searched against DNA profiles from crime scene evidence. Metzler's DNA profile was on file at the DOJ Berkeley lab because of a 1983 rape conviction.

This is the fourth match, or "cold hit" made by the DOJ DNA Lab since 1994. These cold hits have identified suspects in stymied cases, allowing local law enforcement agencies to compile the additional evidence necessary to arrest and charge the individuals.