Y-chromosome DNA helps Pawtucket Police nab murder suspect

Pawtucket Major Crimes Detective David Silva was one of the first to respond when Jeffrey Lebrun was murdered. Nearly six years later, his accused killer Juan Gibson is behind bars –  thanks in part to new evidence.

“It was new DNA evidence specifically on the Y-chromosome,” Det. Silva says.

A swab taken from Lebrun’s fingernail matched with Gibson’s male lineage.

“Someone in his male lineage is a suspect in the case.”

Investigators ruled out Gibson’s male relatives and charged him with murder.

Turns out it was DNA that linked Gibson to another crime just two months earlier – a home invasion at the same house where Lebrun was murdered.

“Mr. Lebrun fought back. Pretty hard. He ended up taking a knife off one of the suspects and a backpack. There was a lot of evidence left behind because of how hard he fought,” he added.

That evidence led to Gibson. He was never convicted, but did time for violating his probation.

“Once we had a suspect in Juan Gibson from the first home invasion, we resubmitted evidence and that’s how the Y-chromosome came into play.”

Detective Silva says without the Y-chromosome technology, it’d be hard to pin Gibson for the murder.

“We don’t come up with a theory and have evidence support that. We let the evidence take us down the road, and this has taken us to Juan Gibson.”

This case is far from over – Gibson has a bail hearing in May. Police say there may be other suspects in both the home invasion and murder.

©WLNE-TV 2019