Colorado launches criminal probe into its star forensic analyst Yvonne 'Missy' Woods who 'performed shoddy DNA testing and altered data that sent HUNDREDS of people to jail over her three-decade career'

Colorado has launched a criminal probe into its star forensic analyst Yvonne 'Missy' Woods after 'anomalies' were found in her DNA testing work.

Woods, 60, is under investigation for allegedly performing shoddy DNA testing and altering data. Her work and testimonies have sent hundreds of people to jail over her three-decade career - and now thousands of cases may have to be reopened. 

She has worked in her trade for 29 years, and was considered the state's 'gold standard' by colleagues for helping to put infamous murderers behind bars. 

The shocking discovery was made in November, when the Colorado Bureau of Investigation performed an internal review and found that some of her crucial data was altered or missing. Woods, 60, abruptly resigned.

Police and prosecutors had been relying on the skilled criminal scientist's DNA work. 

Yvonne 'Missy' Woods Woods, a 29-year-veteran and considered the state's 'gold standard' by colleagues for helping to put infamous murdered behind bars. She is pictured pointing to a DNA chart during Diego Olmos Alcalde's trial on Monday June 22, 2009

Woods is pictured in 2003 in a lab preparing blood samples for DNA analysis. The sample is evidence in a sexual assault investigation 

The new scandal surrounding Woods has rocked Colorado and is being considered one of the largest improprieties in the history of forensic DNA testing, experts say. 

Woods is cooperating with the investigation, her attorney Ryan Brackley told The Wall Street Journal.

He said: 'She continues to stand by the reliability and integrity of her work on matters that were filed in court, and particularly in cases in which she testified in court under oath.'

Now, prosecutors face the tedious task of finding out if there were any wrongful convictions or and whether those who were jailed need to be retried because of flawed DNA testing.

Investigators said to date, there have not been any DNA evidence that was inaccurate, but the state said it would need to review and retest approximately 3,000 DNA samples that Woods handled, costing the state a hefty $7.5 million.

Public defenders estimate thousands of cases could be affected due to the travesty and they are expecting massive legal challenges from those who have been charged or convicted by Wood's analysis. 

Michael Dougherty, Boulder County's District Attorney said that his office has identified 56 closed cases and 13 open cases in which Woods was a witness or potential witness.

One of her most notable cases was putting the notorious Alex Ewing 'Hammer Killer', a serial murderer that was linked to two cold cases in Denver, behind bars

Pictured: Robert Harlan. He was sentenced for the kidnap, rape and murder of Rhonda Maloney. Woods testified in his trial

Pictured: Diego Olmos Alcalde. He was sentenced in 2009 for the murder of Susannah Chase, thanks to the DNA testing from Woods

He said: 'The impact to the confidence and integrity of the justice system—and the work that is going to be required on these cases—is really significant.

'We will undoubtedly see defendants who've been convicted rightfully and justly trying to use this issue to their advantage.'

One of her most notable cases was putting the notorious Alex Ewing 'Hammer Killer', a serial murderer that was linked to two cold cases in Denver, behind bars.

The Hammer Killer was convicted of murdering a family-of-three in Aurora in 1984 and the murder of 50-year-old woman that same year thanks to Woods' work.

Yvonne Woods took the stand in his 2021 trial and was used as a prosecution witness - giving three hours of testimony. She had extracted Ewing's DNA from sperm and said that it was found on material surrounding the dead bodies of the family. 

As a result of her cold case work and words in court, the jury ruled that Ewing was the murderer and he was sentenced to four life sentences for the four killings.

Another case that Woods was involved in was of Garrett Coughlin, 30. His retrial is set for April for allegedly murdering three people in 2017. He was convicted in 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Woods is cooperating with the investigation, attorney Ryan Brackley said. She is pictured May 2009, during her testimony at the James Whitler murder trial in Fort Colllins, Colorado 

Pictured: Aaron Thompson. Thompson was jailed for 114 years in 2009 - in part thanks to Woods' DNA testing

Pictured: Garrett Coughlin. In June 2019, Yvonne Woods stood up in the courtroom and told the jury that she did not find any DNA evidence of Coughlin when she examined a gun found at the scene. She instead said that she found DNA traces belonging to another suspect

Yvonne Woods gives testimony at Kevin Elmarr's trial

In June 2019, Yvonne Woods stood up in the courtroom and told the jury that she did not find any DNA evidence of Coughlin when she examined a gun found at the scene. She instead said that she found DNA traces belonging to another suspect. 

The defense in Coughlin's case at the time championed Woods for her findings and relied on her evidence as cause for reasonable doubt. 

Her own scandal may have now blown that trust out of the water.  

Coughlin's defense attorney Mary Claire Mulligan filed an appeal asking for a new trial, alleging that two jurors lied on their questionnaires, Bloomfield Enterprise reported.

Standard criminal-lab protocol requires a peer to review the work of forensic analyst who is working on a case. 

Mulligan, who was dumbfounded that this had allegedly gone on for so long, said, in part: 'There is something wrong with forensic testing in Colorado.'

The issues that are expected to arise from Woods' alleged mishandling is expected to be 'extensive' - and will cost Colorado millions. 

Hammer Killer Ewing's attorney Suzan Trinh Almony has now said that Woods' scandal only helps their case. 

In November, attorney Mark Burton filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Wood's flawed analysis helped put his client, James Hunter, who was convicted in 2002 for sexual assault and burglary, and still remains in prison.

Woods was also involved in genetic testing and testified in court for the 1994 kidnapping, rape and murder of Rhonda Maloney by Robert Harlan.

Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told the Wall Street Journal that the work required in these cases will be 'significant' 

Harlan was sentenced to death, plus 144 years in prison. But his conviction was overturned nearly a decade later for improper jury conduct.  

Woods also testified in the trial of convicted child abuser Aaron Thompson.

Thompson was jailed for 114 years in 2009 - in part thanks to Woods' DNA testing - over the death of one of his missing daughters, and for the abuse of seven other children living in their family home. 

In 2009, Yvonne Woods was also involved in getting James Whitler convicted of murder in Fort Collins. Whitler killed process server Stephen Allen after being served with divorce papers. Woods was pictured in court during his trial. 

Woods was also present in court and gave testimony in 2009 in the trial of convicted murderer Diego Olmos Alcalde. 

She was in charge of matching a DNA profile, which eventually linked Alcalde to the brutal rape and murder of University of Colorado student Susannah Chase in 1997. 

The case was cold for more than a decade - until Woods found the match between Alcalde's seminal fluid DNA that was recovered from inside Chase's body. 

Alcalde was found guilty of degree murder, first-degree sexual assault and second-degree kidnapping and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Since he was put behind bars, Alcalde has filed multiple appeals. 

George Brauchler, a former district attorney in Denver, told WSJ of Woods: 'This is a huge, unprecedented mess. I want to know, what in the world did she do?'