NEW OXFORD, Pa. — An Adams County man already in prison in Huntingdon County is facing additional charges after investigators matched his DNA with blood left behind at the scene of a 2009 burglary, according to State Police.
Daniel L. Knouse, 50, of New Oxford, is charged with burglary, theft, criminal trespass and criminal mischief in connection to a burglary that occurred in Reading Township, Adams County in June 2009, according to a criminal complaint filed by investigators.
According to police, the burglary occurred sometime between June 12 and June 13, 2009, at a home on the 3300 block of Hunterstown Hampton Road. The investigation determined someone had thrown a log through the back window of the home to gain entry, then stole a laptop, a watch and three pairs of earrings worth approximately $2,400.
Investigators discovered that while entering the home, the burglar cut an unknown part of his body on a piece of glass in the window frame, causing him to spill blood near the point of entry. The burglar then used a towel from the victim's bathroom to treat the injury and left it outside the broken window as he fled.
Police collected the bloody towel and a piece of the bloodstained glass, submitting both items to the Harrisburg Regional Laboratory for DNA preparation and later to the Greensburg DNA Laboratory for analysis.
In 2010, DNA results came back from the Greensburg lab. The DNA was consistent with a male, but police were unable to match it to a suspect. The DNA profile was uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to be compared to later DNA profiles, according to police.
On July 2023, a CODIS database search identified Knouse as a potential match, police said. Investigators obtained a search warrant for Knouse, who was incarcerated at SCI-Smithfield in Huntingdon County, to provide a swab for DNA extraction. The warrant was executed in September 2023, according to police.
When test results came back in March, police said, it was determined that Knouse's DNA was a match for the sample taken from the crime scene in 2009.
The additional charges against Knouse were filed on Thursday.
