DFS notifies 1140 defendants in Mary Jane Burton case update

The Virginia Department of Forensic Science held a virtual board meeting on July 9, 2025, focusing on updates regarding the Mary Jane Burton cases. The meeting began with Miss Jenkins providing a detailed report on the progress of notifying affected convicted defendants about concerns related to Miss Burton's work.

Miss Jenkins explained that the Department of Forensic Science (DFS) has initiated a notification process at the request of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and the board. A new legal assistant position has been approved by the General Assembly to assist with these notifications, although the hiring process is still underway. In the meantime, the department has begun sending out notifications with the help of Christina Arrington from the crime commission, who has been instrumental in identifying convicted offenders.

Currently, the DFS has verified the conviction status of approximately 1,140 offenders. They are working diligently to gather personally identifiable information (PII) from case files and public records to determine the status of these individuals. To date, 427 letters have been sent out, with 415 of those recipients confirmed as deceased. This means that over 70% of the convicted offenders have either been notified or are deceased.

Miss Jenkins noted that the department will continue to work on this project and will wait for assistance from the crime commission to verify the conviction status of the remaining offenders. She mentioned that only 26 letters have been returned due to incorrect addresses, indicating a relatively successful outreach effort. Additionally, she has received daily inquiries from individuals seeking clarification about the letters, and she encourages them to seek legal advice if necessary.

The meeting concluded with a commitment to provide further updates at the next scheduled meeting in October, where additional presentations are expected from the scribe commission staff.