bennett. but this profile was so weak, it would be inadmissible in court. it was a partial match, which told law enforcement and told me we were on the right track. we just needed to get a good dna sample from drew planten. since planten worked for the state, investigators got permission to search his workplace. mark bodet swabbed his computer keyboard, his radio and other items he handled. dna from those skin cells was compared to the biological evidence from stephanie bennett s rape kit. the dna that was obtained was an exact match to the profile from the dna that was obtained from the sperm sample from the vaginal swabs. investigators believe this dna evidence placed planten at the scene on the night of
i was disappointed that we weren t able to have a trial, that we weren t able to sit in the courtroom and hear a jury say you are guilty of first-degree murder of stephanie bennett. mr. planten was obviously a predator. we obtained information inside the apartment that led us to believe that he had looked into doing this, possibly, with other females. investigators are certain that the forensic evidence would have gained a conviction. but the real satisfaction is knowing that the evidence led to his capture. after we found out who planten was and did the search of his house, we did find some information on somebody he was probably currently watching for some time. it was very eerie to find that person and realize that you had maybe just saved her life by clearing this case. well, i know that forensic science played a huge role in this case. and, really, without the forensic science, without the
straw out of his drink and put it in his pocket and take it to the bathroom with him. he flushed all of his napkins. for dessert, planten ordered banana pudding, which he ate with a fork. he took two bites of banana pudding and took a napkin and wiped that fork for about five minutes and left the fork. of course, our investigators took that fork. they performed the analysis. i got a mixture of dna sampling, meaning there was one strong profile and one weak profile on there as well. apparently, the restaurant hadn t properly cleaned the fork. the strong profile was from an unidentified female. the weaker one, from a male, was compared to dna from stephanie s rape kit. the one weak profile on the fork was very similar to the profile that was found on the vaginal swabs from stephanie
for the department of agriculture. very reclusive individual. we went and interviewed people. he was very much to himself. very few friends. when police spoke with planten at his workplace, he claimed he never before heard the name stephanie bennett. wasn t many people within a 50-mile radius that was not familiar with the case. planten refused to go the police station so officers made an appointment to meet him at his apartment the next day. we told him we would see him at 5:00 and drew planten started shaking uncontrollably, like he was freezing cold. it was so bad, i looked back at him and said, are you okay? he said, i m fine. at that meeting, planten denied any involvement in stephanie s murder and refused to provide a dna sample. we always said maybe when that first person tells us no, that will be our man. but police had no evidence
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