Former meatpacker to become fudge packer

[Pell City Tiger]

... after dog shit used to solve rape case.

DNA — animal and human — leads to man's conviction
Evidence on his shirt linked him to rape victim's dog

DUMAS — A Texas Panhandle man was convicted of rape and sentenced to three life terms in prison after tests showed dog feces found on a man's shirt matched DNA from the victim's pet.

Prosecutors presented DNA evidence from the rape as well but said the dog DNA found on the shirt of Rufus Sito Nanez III bolstered the case. He was convicted of a 2007 attack on a 27-year-old Dumas woman.

Police sent the fecal matter on Nanez's shirt, fecal matter from the woman's yard and saliva from her dog to a veterinary genetics lab in California, which matched DNA. DNA does not exist in fecal matter, but cells from the walls of colons attach themselves to waste material, prosecutor David Green said.

Jurors on Wednesday found Nanez, a 34-year-old former meatpacker, guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual assault and a single count of burglary of a habitation with the intent to commit a felony.

Nanez, who said he was innocent, will serve the life terms concurrently.

Prosecutors said Nanez waited for the woman's husband to leave before breaking into her home and attacking her. The rape occurred in the backyard after the two fought.

Nanez's sentence stemmed from jurors learning he had a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for felony burglary of a habitation and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6162536.html