DNA from the discarded cigarette was also a match. It is linked to Bey’s crime scene. Investigators then followed the DNA trail to the three cold cases. And they also used ballistics analysis on the gun that Hayes still owned.
They collected a second sample from Hayes after his arrest, which was also a positive match.
An expert witness at Hayes’ trial claimed the chances the “recovered DNA wasn’t from Hayes was 1 in 3 septillions” Larizza argued.
“If we hadn’t put this individual in jail, he would’ve done this again and we would have had another victim,” Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. But Wallace also said that there could very well be more victims from Hayes’ past.
On Monday, a jury will take up the penalty phase in the three cold case murders. It would take a unanimous agreement to impose a death sentence. Otherwise, a judge will send Hayes to mandatory life in prison without parole.
