A man is charged with burglarizing a Moorhead home on Aug. 8 while an 86-year-old woman slept inside, after DNA left at the scene matched his identical twin, according to the criminal complaint.
Anthony Lamar Harper, 57, is charged in Clay County District Court with first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling, second-degree burglary of a dwelling, second-degree burglary with a tool and theft. The complaint was filed Nov. 4.
According to the complaint, the homeowner told police someone got into her home overnight while she was sleeping and took thousands of dollars’ worth of items, including an iPhone from the room where she was sleeping. A window was broken, and there were marks on several doors that looked like someone had tried to force them.
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Investigators found winter gloves, couch cushions, a screwdriver and pliers left behind, the complaint says. They also found a soda can that had been opened and drunk from. The can and other items were swabbed for DNA.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension found a usable DNA profile on the soda can, the screwdriver and a glove, according to the complaint. The profile matched a man who, police learned, was in a North Dakota jail when the burglary happened and could not have committed it.
That man has an identical twin: Harper, the complaint says. A BCA forensic scientist told police that current testing cannot tell identical twins’ DNA apart, according to the complaint.
