Dog DNA helps convict man who used pet as weapon

LONDON, March 19, 2010 (AP) - A man who used his dog to attack a teenager whom he then stabbed to death is facing sentencing in a London court.

Chrisdian Johnson was convicted after police used analysis of DNA from his dog, Tyson, to prove the animal’s blood was at the crime scene and on Johnson’s clothes.

Prosecutors say Johnson set the Staffordshire terrier—bull mastiff cross on 16-year-old Seyi Ogunyemi in a London park and then stabbed the boy six times.

Prosecutor Brian Altman told jurors that Tyson and another dog “were deployed as weapons” in the April attack.

The case used a new technique for analyzing canine DNA with greater accuracy.

Johnson was convicted on Thursday of Ogunyemi’s murder and the attempted murder of another teen. He will be sentenced on Friday.