ATTLEBORO -- DNA tests performed on a child buried in a state park in Maine have confirmed they are the remains of Samuel Robidoux, the nearly 1-year-old boy who was allegedly starved to death by his parents who are members of a local Christian sect, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
The results, which were expected, came after DNA obtained from court-ordered saliva and hair samples from sect leader Jacques Robidoux and his wife Karen were analyzed by a laboratory with DNA tests performed on the remains, said Assistant District Attorney Walter Shea.
DNA is regarded as the genetic `` fingerprint'' of a person.
Jacques Robidoux is charged with first-degree murder and his wife with second-degree murder in what authorities say was a bizarre plan to withhold solid food from the boy to fulfill a religious `` prophesy'' by Jacques Robidoux's sister Michelle Mingo.
Mingo was charged with being an accessory to commit assault and battery on a child.
The defendants, all of whom have pleaded innocent, are expected to be brought from separate jails to New Bedford Superior Court today for a status hearing. They will then be brought to the Bristol County Jail to perform agreed-upon handwriting samples, lawyers from both sides said.
The purpose of the handwriting samples, which were requested by the prosecution, is to determine who wrote journals kept by the sect and seized by authorities. Prosecutors contend the journals include a passage on the demise of the boy complete with Old Testament references.
Taunton lawyer Francis O'Boy, who represents Jacques Robidoux, said he had not been told about the DNA results, but agreed that they were expected.
Samuel Sutter, the Westport lawyer who represents Karen Robidoux, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The remains of Samuel Robidoux were recovered last October when one of the sect members, David Corneau, cooperated with authorities and led them to the burial site in Baxter State Park in northern Maine.
Until Corneau cooperated in a deal that gave him and his wife Rebecca immunity, authorities were unable after several searches of portions of the immense park to recover the remains.
Shea also said he expects the report of the Maine State Medical Examiner `` by the end of the week.'' The medical examiner, who was assisted by a forensic pathologist, is expected to determine a cause of death which might be difficult because of the lack of significant remains, both sides said.
O'Boy has been granted funds by the court to hire his own experts to examine the remains, which he said might depend on the results of the medical examiner's report.
The defendants, who are members of an insular family-based sect which rejects many conventions of mainstream society, are being held in separate jails unable to post bail since their indictments last November.
However, Jacques Robidoux has been in jail since November 1999 and Mingo since last summer for refusing to cooperate with the courts.
A trial in the case is not expected until at least the fall.