story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040821/ap_on_re_us/suv_arson&e=3&ncid=519U.S. National - AP
Hair May Link Student to SUV Vandalism
LOS ANGELES - A graduate student indicted in a series of firebombings and vandalizing of sport utility vehicles was linked to one targeted SUV dealership by DNA taken from a hair found at the scene, prosecutors say.
Billy Cottrell, 24, a physics student at the California Institute of Technology, was indicted in March in connection with the damage or destruction of about 125 vehicles in the San Gabriel Valley last August.
According to authorities, he used an alias to tell the Los Angeles Times he was involved in the SUV attacks and affiliated with the radical Earth Liberation Front.
Prosecutors have disclosed that forensics experts matched DNA from hair and saliva samples taken from Cottrell to a hair found on a headband at the dealership, the Pasadena Star News reported Friday.
Cottrell's lawyers countered that the discovery does not prove Cottrell was responsible for the vandalism.
"Mere presence (at the scene) is not sufficient to convict someone of something they've been charged with," defense attorney Michael Mayock said.
Cottrell faces one count of conspiracy to commit arson, seven counts of arson and one count of using a destructive device — a Molotov cocktail.
He is being held without bail pending a trial set for Oct. 26. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 35 years to life in prison.