HILO, Hawaii (TCN) — A man newly considered the main suspect in the sexual assault and death of a 23-year-old woman in 1991 killed himself days after police took his DNA sample.
On July 29, the Hawaii Police Department publicly identified Albert Lauro Jr. as the man believed to have killed Dana Ireland. Police recovered DNA evidence from her body, a sheet used to take her to the hospital, and a shirt found at the scene. The person’s identity remained unknown, so that suspect was named Unknown Male #1.
According to KITV-TV, Ireland was in town from Virginia and was hit by a car on Dec. 24, 1991, while riding her bike on a fishing trail. She was found partially clothed in some bushes off the trail. She was transported to a hospital in Hilo, where she died on Dec. 25, 1991. Investigators determined Ireland had been kidnapped and raped.
Six years later, Albert “Ian” Schweitzer, Shawn Schweitzer, and Frank Pauline were arrested and indicted on charges of murder, kidnapping and sexual assault. The case was dismissed in 1998 after evidence showed Ian and Shawn Schweitzer were not connected to a crime, but the brothers were indicted again a year later.
All three men were convicted. KITV reports Shawn Schweitzer was sentenced to one year in jail with five years of probation for manslaughter and kidnapping, while Ian Schweitzer got life in prison for murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault. Pauline was killed in prison in 2015.
Schweitzer’s family began working with the Hawaii Innocence Project, and in 2023, Ian Schweitzer’s conviction was overturned.
Following that, Hawaii Police said they were still working to uncover the identity of Unknown Male #1.
This year, investigators working the case were able to use new genetic genealogy technology to identify Lauro as a suspect using a family tree. He lived in the same area where Ireland was killed. On July 19, Hawaii Police requested Lauro come to the station for an interview. He provided a buccal swab, then left the station. A lab confirmed that Lauro’s DNA matched the genetic material found in the evidence.
On July 29, Hawaii Police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz confirmed Lauro committed suicide on July 23. Moszkowicz said they did not arrest Lauro on July 19 because there was not probable cause to prove he “intentionally or knowingly caused her death.” Moszkowicz said there was proof Lauro had a sexual encounter with Ireland, but the statute of limitations was up for sexual assault and murder.
The case remains open.