I Know Who You Are - Barbara Rae-Venter

Sub-title: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever

Being involved in Investigative Genetic Genealogy this was a required read. The author was the genetic genealogist that identified the Golden State Killer. Unlike the thoughtfully written The Forever Witness, this book is written in the true crime style, appealing to those who like to read the gory details of a crime.  The author speaks from a personal perspective and shares her own process and opinions on IGG.  She advocates building and documenting thorough trees.  She confesses and justifies having used DNA databases before terms of service restricted the use of IGG specifically.  She explains her unique way of thinking and perseverance as significant factors in her success as well as her "angels" that provide unexplained fortuitous events.  Some may come away with the impression that she invented the technique and is its premier user as she doesn't mention the work of others in the field.  

Notes:

p. 39 She describes how she used a Kinship Report (RootsMagic has one) in descendant format to visualize all the relatives of a target individual.

p. 152 Doubling the shared DNA of a person and assigning the value to their parent and using in a WATO tree.

p.211 "The tree you build has to be perfect."

p. 230 [on ethics] "The truth is that, from the very beginning, I have never had any doubt that what I was doing was the right thing to do."

Published: 2023 Read: March 2023 Genre: True Crime