April 11, 2008

Bronx Man, Not Twin, Indicted on Burglary Charge

Career criminal charged after DNA evidence implicated twin brother

MINEOLA, NY – Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced today that a grand jury has indicted Casey Mack, 60, of The Bronx, on a felony burglary charge stemming from a November 2006 burglary in Old Brookville.

Rice said that on November 14, 2006 detectives from the Old Brookville Police Department were called to a home on Route 107 in Old Brookville after a broken window triggered a security alarm.  Detectives found two smears of blood near the broken window.  Several items were reported missing from the home, including jewelry worth more than $14,000.

Rice said detectives initially suspected Tracey Mack, 60, of Virginia, after a DNA profile of his stored in the state databank matched DNA evidence obtained from the blood smears in the home. However, detectives soon learned that Tracey Mack had an identical twin brother, Casey, living in the New York area and that both brothers would have to be investigated as possible donors of the DNA in the blood smear.  Rice said that while their fingerprints are unique, identical twins have indistinguishable DNA.

Both Mack brothers have a history of burglary convictions dating back to the 1960s.

Detectives moved quickly to establish the whereabouts of both brothers on the evening of November 14, 2006.  The investigation revealed that Tracy Mack, the brother whose genetic profile originally matched the crime scene evidence, was undergoing treatment at a Virginia veterans’ hospital at the time of the burglary.  It was learned that his brother, Casey, was in the New York area.

Casey Mack was arraigned Friday morning by Nassau County Judge Meryl Berkowitz on one count of Burglary in the Second Degree.  If convicted, Mr. Mack faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.  The judge set bail in the amount of $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash.  He is due back in court April 29.

Since the November 2006 burglary, Casey Mack has been arrested and charged by the Suffolk County police department in connection with a June 7, 2007 burglary in Dix Hills.  He and another man were allegedly caught with more than $20,000 in stolen jewelry.  His Suffolk County trial is scheduled to begin April 25.

Handling the case for the District Attorney’s Office is Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Feehan, of the DA’s Street Narcotics & Gangs Bureau.  Mr. Mack is being represented by Natasha Bellinger, Esq.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.