the sad thing about it, later on that day her body was found at mchugh creek. whoa, whoa, whoa. what are you trying to say? well, like i said, i m just down and your name has come up, like hundreds of names. why would my name come up? that s what i m trying to figure out. reporter: what did you think? i thought we had our man. reporter: troopers looked up his new hampshire girlfriends. one said he casually mentioned that he could kill someone and get away with it. she thought he was blowing smoke. then he also told her i can t go back to alaska because of something i ve done. reporter: she never asked him about that, but she told the troopers they might want to talk to her sister. and the sister told us, yeah, you know, he told me that he can t go back to alaska because he killed somebody. coming up bonnie s family learns investigators have made an arrest. i am immediately so fearful. can we get a conviction on just the dna? reveals which disinfectant
reporter: his co-counsel jenna gruenstein was an anchorage school girl when bonnie was murdered. i remember very vividly how much this impacted the community. everyone s sense of security when you know that somebody was kind of literally snatched off the street. reporter: here in anchorage they were under intense pressure. the courtroom was packed, standing-room only. then on the second day of the trial arc new problem. the defense attorney told the jury in his opening statement that the initial investigation at mchugh creek was inadequate and, in fact, the crime scene video was missing and had been for years. confirming karen s worst fears about the troopers. it just made us sick. reporter: which made the news that came the next day all the more shock. out of the blue, somebody at the alaska state trooper s office found the crime scene tape. good news? well, you think. but my concern was that it threatened the trial itself. we immediately took a recess. a five-day break
the sad thing about it, later on that day her body was found at mchugh creek. whoa, whoa, whoa. what are you trying to say? well, like i said, i m just down and your name has come up, like hundreds of names. why would my name come up? that s what i m trying to figure out. reporter: what did you think? i thought we had our man. reporter: troopers looked up his new hampshire girlfriends. one said he casually mentioned that he could kill someone and get away with it. she thought he was blowing smoke. then he also told her i can t go back to alaska because of something i ve done. reporter: she never asked him about that, but she told the troopers they might want to talk to her sister. and the sister told us, yeah, you know, he told me that he can t go back to alaska because he killed somebody. coming up bonnie s family learns investigators have made an arrest. i am immediately so fearful. can we get a conviction on just the dna?
no witness to the crime. we not only had to establish that kenneth dion was the killer, but we also had to disprove that it was an accident and prove that, you know, she had been murdered and she didn t fall off the cliff. reporter: his co-counsel jenna gruenstein was an 13-year-old anchorage schoolgirl when bonnie was murdered. i remember very vividly how much this impacted the community. everyone s sense of security when you know that somebody was kind of literally snatched off the street. reporter: here in anchorage they were under intense pressure. the courtroom was packed, standing-room only. then on the second day of the trial, a new problem. the defense attorney told the jury in his opening statement that the initial investigation at mchugh creek was inadequate and, in fact, the crime scene video was missing and had been for years. confirming karen s worst fears about the troopers. it just made us sick. reporter: which made the news that came the next day all the mor
heart. i knew it would be a task. reporter: because the dna from kenneth dion did not prove he raped and killed bonnie, only that sex took place between them. and beyond the dna, the prosecutor had little to connect dion to the murder. there was no weapon, no motive, no witness to the crime. we not only had to establish that kenneth dion was the killer, but we also had to disprove that it was an accident and prove that, you know, she had been murdered and she didn t fall off the cliff. reporter: his co-counsel jenna gruenstein was an anchorage school girl when bonnie was murdered. i remember very vividly how much this impacted the community. everyone s sense of security when you know that somebody was kind of literally snatched off the street. reporter: here in anchorage they were under intense pressure. the courtroom was packed, standing-room only. then on the second day of the trial arc new problem. the defense attorney told the jury in his opening statement that the initia