Police investigating a double murder in France have been left at an impasse because the two main suspects are identical twins whose DNA cannot be distinguished.
The defendants, 33-year-old brothers Samuel Y and Jérémy Y, are among five people on trial over the 2020 killings of Tidiane, 17, and Sofiane, 25. The two victims were shot dead on September 14, 2020, inside a cellar in Saint-Ouen, a northern suburb of Paris.
Both twins are accused of planning the murders. DNA recovered from one of the firearms used in the attack definitively belongs to one of the brothers, but forensic experts say it is impossible to determine which twin handled the weapon because they share identical DNA.
One investigator involved in the case said: “Only their mother can tell them apart.”
Police believe the brothers deliberately exploited their identical appearance and genetics, allegedly swapping clothes, mobile phones and identity documents to obstruct the investigation. A senior police commander told Le Parisien that the twins had “used this twinship in their criminal career for a very long time.”
Experts testified that although identical twins can have tiny genetic differences caused by rare mutations, detecting these variations requires highly advanced testing that is not routinely available in criminal investigations.
The trial, which is taking place in France, is expected to conclude in late February. The case is not unprecedented; other criminal trials have faced similar challenges when DNA evidence could not distinguish between identical twins, complicating efforts to secure individual convictions.
