MSP Princess Anne State Police Press Release

On September 9, 2014 at 1434 hours, Troopers from the Maryland State Police Princess Anne Barrack and Criminal Enforcement Division responded to three thousand block of Hinman Lane, Crisfield, MD for a reported burglary.

Upon arrival they made contact with the victim who advised that his father had recently passed away and that he was the power of attorney for his father’s estate. The victim advised that someone had broken into his father’s home and removed coins from a safe which was kept inside the master bedroom closet. Troopers observed plaster lying on the hallway floor which came from the inside portion of the safes locking mechanism. Once inside the master bedroom Troopers observed the safe to be destroyed along with numerous empty boxes of collectible coins. The victim estimated the stolen coins to have a value of over $1,000 dollars. Evidence was collected from the scene and sent to the Maryland State Police Crime Lab for DNA testing.

On 4/9/15 a DNA hit came back from the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division. DNA collected the scene of the crime was entered into the National DNA Index System. That DNA matched to a Maryland convicted offender. The DNA came back to Donald Robert Wharton, W/M 51 YOA. Wharton’s back yard and the victim’s back yard share a property line. Wharton’s DNA was then collected for comparison.

On 7/22/15 the DNA comparison came back from the Maryland State Police Crime Lab. The DNA collected from Wharton was compared to the DNA collected from the scene of the crime. The DNA matched to Wharton’s DNA. The probability of randomly selecting an unrelated individual with this DNA profile at 15 of 15 loci tested is:

1 in 100 quadrillion in the us Caucasian population

1 in 20 quintillion of the us African American population

1 in 1.1 quintillion in the us Hispanic population

On 7/24/15 a criminal summons on Wharton for 1st Degree Burglary and theft.