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DNA Breakthrough Leads Maine to Arrest 1993 Murder Suspect

6/6/2026

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Summary

Story summary

DNA testing advances in 2021 prompted Maine detectives to reopen the 1993 homicide and identify a suspect.
Daniel Jolly (59) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire was arrested on a murder warrant for the 1993 killing of Maxine Bitomski after investigators linked him to her through his job supplying oxygen equipment.
Bitomski’s body was found on January 16, 1993, in her bathtub after family members saw a broken window and snow footprints outside her home.

History

Historical Context

The 1990s saw the United States adopt large-scale data systems, a shift that later enabled forensic DNA databases used by the FBI and Maine State Police to resolve cold cases such as the 1993 murder of Maxine Bitomski. By the mid-2000s the databases were matching a growing share of unsolved murders, leading several states to allocate multi-million-dollar funds for forensic upgrades.

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Story summary

DNA testing advances in 2021 prompted Maine detectives to reopen the 1993 homicide and identify a suspect.
Daniel Jolly (59) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire was arrested on a murder warrant for the 1993 killing of Maxine Bitomski after investigators linked him to her through his job supplying oxygen equipment.
Bitomski’s body was found on January 16, 1993, in her bathtub after family members saw a broken window and snow footprints outside her home.

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