  Here we present an Italian criminal case that shows how statistical methods
can be used to extract information from a series of mixed DNA profiles. The
case involves several different individuals and a set of different DNA traces.
The case possibly involves persons of interest of a small, inbred population of
Romani origin. First, a brief description of the case is provided. Secondly, we
introduce some heuristic tools that can be used to evaluate the data and
briefly outline the statistical model used for analysing DNA mixtures. Finally,
we illustrate some of the findings on the case and discuss further directions
of research. The results show how the use of different population database
allele frequencies for analysing the DNA mixtures can lead to very different
results, some seemingly inculpatory and some seemingly exculpatory. We also
illustrate the results obtained from combining the evidence from different
samples.
