A former Colorado forensic scientist has been sentenced after authorities said she deliberately mishandled thousands of DNA evidence items tied to homicide and sexual assault investigations.
Yvonne “Missy” Woods, 66, who previously worked as a DNA analyst for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, received a 25-year prison sentence on Tuesday.
Woods had earlier admitted guilt to four criminal counts: cybercrime, perjury, forgery and attempting to influence a public servant.
Under a plea agreement reached in June, prosecutors had recommended a prison term of eight to 16 years, but the judge imposed a significantly longer sentence, CBS News reported.
Her defense team had pushed for the lowest possible sentence of eight years, saying Woods had acknowledged her wrongdoing and assisted investigators during the probe.
Judge Andrew Poland ordered Woods to serve 10 years for the cybercrime conviction, with three years of mandatory parole to follow. He also handed down six years for perjury, another six years for attempting to influence a public servant, and three years on the forgery count.
The case against Woods began to take shape in September 2023, when an internal Colorado Bureau of Investigation review raised alarms over key DNA data that appeared to be altered or missing, prompting a 14-month investigation.
Investigators ultimately determined that Woods’ misconduct affected at least 1,003 criminal cases across Colorado, with the problematic work stretching across nearly three decades, from 1994 through 2023.
Yvonne ‘Missy’ Woods, a former Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) DNA analyst, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Tuesday
She pleaded guilty to bungling thousands of pieces of DNA evidence over her 30-year career. (Pictured: Woods in 2009 during Diego Olmos Alcalde’s trial)
During her hearing, Woods spoke directly to the judge, stating: ‘Your Honor, I understand the seriousness of what I have done and I understand that my actions have not only impacted the integrity of the criminal justice system but also the people whose lives were touched by the cases in which I worked.
‘I take responsibility for the offenses to which I pled guilty, and I know that an apology cannot undo the harm or restore the trust that was lost,’ Woods added.
She was employed by the agency for nearly 30 years before she was placed on administrative leave and abruptly retired.
Woods intentionally left DNA samples out of reports and tests, and she sometimes did not test samples until the results gave her what she wanted them to, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the outlet.
The CBI requested that the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation conduct its own probe into the case because it involved one of its employees, the report stated.
That agency’s investigation alleged that Woods deleted ‘specific values’, or findings, in more than 30 sexual assault cases. She was also accused of submitting reports that stated that no male DNA was found, when that was not the case, the affidavit said.
Before the controversy, police and prosecutors heavily relied on the now-disgraced criminal scientist’s DNA work.
The case quickly rocked the state of Colorado and became one of the largest improprieties in the history of forensic DNA testing, experts previously said.
In 2024, Michael Dougherty, Boulder County’s District Attorney, said that his office has identified 56 closed cases and 13 open cases in which Woods was a witness or potential witness.
In total, the state agency discovered that at least 1,003 cases were impacted by Woods’ misconduct in cases spanning from 1994 to 2023. Woods is pictured in 2003 in a lab preparing blood samples for DNA analysis
One of her most notable cases was putting the notorious Alex Ewing ‘Hammer Killer’, a serial murderer who was linked to two cold cases in Denver, behind bars
One of her most notable cases was putting the notorious Alex Ewing ‘Hammer Killer’, a serial murderer who was linked to two cold cases in Denver, behind bars.
The ‘Hammer Killer’ was convicted of murdering a family of three in Aurora in 1984, as well as the murder of a 50-year-old woman that same year – all thanks to Woods’ work.
Woods took the stand in his 2021 trial and was used as a prosecution witness, giving three hours of testimony.
She had extracted Ewing’s DNA from sperm and said that it was found on material surrounding the dead bodies of the family.
As a result of her cold case work and words in court, the jury ruled that Ewing was the murderer, and he was sentenced to four life sentences for the killings.
Woods also testified in the trial of convicted child abuser Aaron Thompson.
Thompson was jailed for 114 years in 2009 – in part thanks to Woods’ DNA testing – over the death of one of his missing daughters, and for the abuse of seven other children living in their family home.
Her attorneys sought a minimum of eight years in prison, arguing that Woods took responsibility for her crimes and cooperated with investigators
Pictured: Aaron Thompson. Thompson was jailed for 114 years in 2009 – in part thanks to Woods’ DNA testing
In 2009, Woods was also involved in getting James Whitler convicted of murder in Fort Collins. Whitler killed process server Stephen Allen after being served with divorce papers. Woods was pictured in court during his trial.
Woods was also present in court and gave testimony in 2009 in the trial of convicted murderer Diego Olmos Alcalde.
She was in charge of matching a DNA profile, which eventually linked Alcalde to the brutal rape and murder of University of Colorado student Susannah Chase in 1997.
Woods’ mishandlings have gone on to extensively affect the people involved in the cases, including family members, and have cost the state millions of dollars.
Our News Outlet contacted Woods’ legal team and the CBI for comment.
