True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 2: The MYSTERIOUS Murder of College Freshman Bonnie Craig - True Crime Deep Dive

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

In True Crime with Kimbyr, Part 2 of Bonnie Craig’s case dives deeper into the evidence, revealing unsettling inconsistencies and new leads. As investigators piece together her final hours, hidden relationships and overlooked details begin to surface. What was missed the first time—and who could be hiding the truth? With a compassionate yet analytical lens, True Crime with Kimbyr explores the twists that make this case even more chilling. The deeper you go, the darker it gets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Sitting around the table, everyone talking all at once. So when the plates are empty and the sink is full, use palm olive ultra. Palmolive's most powerful formula removes up to 99.9% of grease, leaving your dishes sparkling clean. And the new convenient pump makes cleaning even easier. So you can spend less time tackling dishes and more time together. Shop now at palmolive.com. Once Karen is back from yet another burial, something crosses her mind. Could she have something to do with Bonnie's murder? Let me explain. As I mentioned, Karen had worked for the past three years as a reserve officer with the Anchorage Police Department. I had never heard of this before. And you can think of it as being a part-time employee that's on call, someone that they use as a backup for when they need

more staff. But reserve officers are subject to the very same standards of performance and department policies as sworn officers. And Karen was used to work undercover operations posing as someone buying drugs in order to bust drug dealers. This is a dangerous job. Karen had to wear a hood and a mask and conceal her identity, and then she would silently nod at the person who sold her the drugs that they could make a bust later. And according to Karen, she had purchased crack for the Anchorage Police Department five or six times. She began to realize that her undercover work might have jeopardized the life of a person that she loved so much, her daughter. Someone comes forward, someone close to her, and they have information regarding Bonnie's death. They're convinced that after

Karen was involved in a sting that resulted in the arrest of several members of a local drug lord's organization, that drug lord. had targeted Karen's family. This informant told Karen that Bonnie was probably killed as a message to the Anchorage Police Department to back off. Wow, this could definitely be a major lead. So, of course, Karen wants to let Sergeant Mars know right away. And according to her, Bonnie was murdered the day after people she identified as drug dealers were released from prison, making the story seem even more credible.

And despite the lengths that the investigators go through to conceal someone like Karen's identity during a drug. drug bust, that's not what happens. Once you're arrested, they can figure out who you were that busted them. Karen's name appeared all over the legal documents because by law, an offender has the right to face their accusers. Karen rushes to contact Sergeant Mars, and he's got news for her too. The DNA tests for both Bonnie's co-workers, they came back as negative as a match. That's even more reason for her to give him all this information that the informant had shared. However, Karen was not satisfied with the response she got. After she provides him with all the details, he just keeps asking her, where did you get this information? He seemed more interested in that information than in Bonnie's

murder. And she told him, I am not going to give up my source. She promised she wouldn't tell because I think it was someone within the department. So afterward, Karen said that this detective had almost accused her of obstructing her daughter's investigation because she refused to give that name. And in turn, Karen said he refused to investigate even further. But she truly believed her undercover work could be the reason for her daughter's death. They could have killed her by mistake.

Maybe they were trying to target Karen. She used to live at that address, and they looked similar. Karen started feeling responsible for Bonnie's murder. But apparently the detectives did look into it and nothing ever panned out. The most important thing is they just had to figure out whose DNA was found inside Bonnie's body. That would lead them to the killer, right?

Or close enough. But the CODIS database was a new invention. Its pilot program launched just four years before Bonnie was killed. It would not be fully operational until 1998, so unless they had a name, brought that person in, got a sample of their DNA to analyze,

they wouldn't find a match. Karen's surviving children, they went through a lot. Not only did they lose their sister, but it was almost as though they lost their mother as well. They did not get much attention. Sadly, Karen's life was consumed with trying to find Bonnie's killer.

It was hard for her to focus on anything else. Even if there were brief moments where she had a chance to clear her mind and pay attention to her children, she was always pulled away by something. By June 1995, she had a new cell phone, which meant even more access to news about Bonnie, and Sergeant Mars calls her to letter

know they have another lead. An instructor from the University of Alaska contacted the police. It was actually the English teacher from that seven o'clock class that Bonnie was on her way to when she died. This instructor tells detectives that one of Bonnie's classmates might be responsible for her death. Wow. That's pretty shocking to make such a claim, but the instructor told them that he had written some very strange things about September 28th, the day that Bonnie died. Karen wanted to know everything, written what, where, what was going on, but Mars didn't have much else to share.

She had to wait to hear more, but not for long because just a few days later, she gets a call from an unknown number. It's Bonnie's English teacher. And Karen agrees to meet with her. The instructor provides Karen with this suspicious student's journal. And after reading several, incredibly violent writings filled with anger and just terrible things. Karen's convinced that this is the

person who killed her daughter. Two times in the journal, the writer referred to September 28th as a difficult day. He wrote that it was going to be a tough day. It was going to put him to the test. Karen also learns that he didn't show up for that 7 a.m. English class that Bonnie was supposed to attend that day. However, the student did attend later on in the day and he saw the English instructor. He turned that assignment in late, and the instructor noticed something. His clothes smelled like they had just been washed, and that he had poured cologne all over himself. She asked him why he was turning in late, and he said he missed class because he just overslept. But after learning all this, Karen was even more convinced that this was the guy.

He was wearing cologne to cover up the smell of Bonnie's pepper spray. I mean, it does sound convincing. Karen also noticed that the writing had become more peaceful after September 28th. But all of this really is super suspicious. This is probably one of the biggest leads yet. Maybe he was driving to class. Bonnie knew him. So she wouldn't have been scared of him.

He could have asked her if she needed a ride. They were going to the same exact class. And then he never shows up. Karen calls her kids because she wants to give them the news. She does this every time something new comes up in the case. Then she brings this journal to a forensic psychologist who agrees that the detectives should look into it. Karen tries to give the journal to Mars, but he says, listen, we only go off DNA. And we're already waiting for those results.

If we get a match, then we'll look into the journal. And I guess it makes sense because it saves time and resources. But I'm sure it was frustrating for Karen. She begins to argue with Mars. This is a common thing for her. She said, well, if the DNA didn't come from the killer, maybe it came from someone else. Maybe he had an accomplice. And she's met with the same response that they just have to wait.

And I understand where she's coming from. There have been many cases in the past where there are two people, and one person is forcing intercourse, the other person is committing another crime. So I see where she was going with that line of thinking. She's unsatisfied with the detective's work. She starts to look into Bonnie's suspicious English classmate herself, and she found some very disturbing information. Her investigation revealed that he had been charged with battery and bailed out by a friend involved in another murder. This revelation made Karen think that maybe the friend who bailed out the student killed Bonnie. But weeks later, Mars lets her know the DNA was not a match and she's angry.

She didn't think the DNA mattered. She still thought this guy was involved. The investigation was back at square one. The detectives believed that Bonnie's routine would lead them to her killer. Around 5.20 a.m. on that day, a girl delivering papers in the area, Mandessa bird, she reported seeing Bonnie walking down the street in a jean jacket and a red shirt, which was accurate. Another witness comes forward, a man who said he saw an unknown vehicle idling in front of Bonnie's house that September morning. The tip line received an anonymous tip,

reporting that they saw Bonnie talking to two men in a car at the bus stop on the morning she was killed. However, digging deeper into Bonnie's routine did not reveal anything new about her murder. They went over it time and time again. And three years go by. It's the spring of 1998. Karen hasn't stopped checking in with Sergeant Mars. She's put in up posters, doing interviews, raising money for Bonnie's reward fund,

and investigating the case on her own time. By this time, Karen had actually decided to go back to work, part-time as a reserve police officer for the Anchorage PD. Finally, there's a real break in the case. The first in a few years, and it seems the most promising, because it has to do with what? DNA. Remember, that's all that Sergeant Mars said he cared about.

So he calls Karen, he says, listen, there's some news I want to share with you. He tells her, you know, we're not sure about everything just yet, but we have a potential DNA match. The thing is, they've had several false leads prior to this, so Karen doesn't want to get our hopes up. But this sounds like it could be connected. He was the bus driver on Bonnie's route. Hmm.

Interesting. This man worked as a bus driver for the city of Anchorage, and he's also been accused of other suspicious acts, like attempting to pick up a 14-year-old girl, the daughter of another bus driver. And several young women came forward to accuse him of harassing them while they were on his bus. Mars also lets Karen know that this man worked as a substitute teacher in Pennsylvania. But he was terminated because he made inappropriate remarks to female teenage students. Karen wants to know, do you have this man in custody? But he explains, they don't. They're still doing the preliminary investigation into his background.

But he's just keeping Karen apprised of the situation. The bus driver no longer lives in Alaska, so that's another issue. He's in Davis, California. And get this. He moved there just shortly after Bonnie was killed. Mars said he flew out there to interview him, hoping that he would willingly provide his DNA for comparison. When detectives track this guy down, he denied playing a role in Bonnie's murder. He said, someone's framing me.

He also claimed to have an alibi on the day Bonnie died. His stepmother, she said that he slept most of the day. And despite being cautious, he does agree to give a sample of his DNA without hesitation. He wanted to be cleared. He said, this is not me. However, after the DNA test came back, detectives got the answers that they were looking for. It was a potential. The situation, however, wasn't straightforward because we have different ways of examining DNA nowadays.

The DNA testing indicated a potential match. And even though DNA testing, it's the standard in forensic science, it still was in its infancy. This was the mid-1990s. It had a long way to go. And an attorney for the bus driver, he demanded that you retest this man's DNA using much more advanced technology. advanced technology. Again, Karen and her family had to wait, but it wasn't long before Karen sees a message on her answering machine. It was Mars telling her to call right away. She wants to know, is it a match? She was really hoping that this would be over, that they found the guy. But Mars explains,

they actually need to retest the DNA. So that was the call she was getting. He can't be cleared until they retest it on both sides want to know. Is it a match or is it not a match? I had so many many questions because I was thinking why would the test come back as a potential what does that even mean why would even come back if he ultimately wasn't a match it made me realize how grateful I am for the advances in technology because getting a family's hopes up like this putting so much time and effort into a person of interest on obsolete science seems like a waste of time not to mention accusing a person who ends up being innocent it just seems like Bonnie's case is never going to be solved but as I said

thankfully technology was advancing. They retest his DNA and he is not a match. More years pass and many things have happened. The things that you don't usually hear in these cases because you don't know what's going on in other people's lives that are connected to these victims. Bonnie's older brother Jason and his wife Tracy welcomed the baby into the world. His name was Austin. Karen becomes a grandma for the first time which is very exciting but there were also bad things as well. Karen was in a pretty bad car accident. It was a roll over accident with her friend Marcy and it could have been fatal. It happened the day of her daughter Samantha's surprise birthday party.

She was turning 15. Her friends were throwing her a surprise party and she got two surprises that day. One that definitely wasn't well received. When her friends yelled surprise and they jumped out, Samantha yelled out, my mom was just in an accident. She broke down crying and Karen felt so bad for ruining. that special day. I just kept thinking this poor family because then Karen's youngest son, Adam, needs cornea transplants. His eyesight was failing. He was put on a donor list and finally

he had surgery on his left eye when he was 18. But then when they go to do it to the right eye a year later, it was not successful and he's left blind in that eye. There was another thing that no one saw coming. His girlfriend from high school was pregnant, but she didn't tell anyone, not even Adam. She planned on giving the baby up for adoption. But when she gives birth to baby J. Lee, the state would not let her go forward with adoption without the father's consent. It was quite a surprise because Gary gets a phone call informing him that his son's girlfriend, Jennifer, just had a baby. So Adam flies out to Texas to meet his newborn daughter, and it was love at first sight. And then, surprise, two more bundles of joy in 2001.

Jason's wife, Tracy, had twins, Tanner and Logan. Plus, Jim proposed to Karen after they dated for eight years and she said yes and they end up getting married. Sadly, there was also the Twin Towers, the attack on the US on September 11, 2001. So many back and forth good and bad things. Three years after Jim and Karen tied the knot, they were already divorced. But Karen kept his last name and she was no longer going by Karen Campbell, she was going by Karen Foster.

they were still seeing each other. It was almost like they were better in more of a looser relationship and not so committed. In 2002, Karen finally gets an opportunity to have her theory about what she thinks happened to Bonnie heard on national TV. Unsolved Mysteries reaches out and they do an entire episode where Karen explained that just because the DNA of the student in Bonnie's class didn't match, it didn't mean he wasn't responsible for killing her. It was obvious to Karen that there was a second person involved from what she knew. She really believed the student had participated in Bonnie's killing. Although Karen did search for this possible accomplice and she was unable to locate one. But she told unsolved mysteries that she doesn't think she could ever rule this student out

as a suspect in Bonnie's death. Then another tragedy. In 2005, Karen's father calls with the news that her older brother, Andrew, is dead. Sadly, he had struggled with mental health issues for a long time, and he attempted to take his life before, but he was able to get to the hospital fast enough to have his stomach pumped. This time his wife Anna had filed for divorce, and it was too much for him to take. He left behind a daughter, Alana, and a son, Aaron. This wasn't the first time one of Karen's brothers died. One year after Bonnie was born, the end of October in 1977, Karen's brother, Kaj was involved in a horrific car accident. They left him in a coma. Karen spent every day with him until he took his last breath. How unbelievably tragic. I just keep thinking,

poor Karen. Death has been around her for most of her life, and I feel like she's cheated it a number of times, even once with her grandson in the woods. What was a nice afternoon turned into bears surrounding them, and she just knew right away to quickly and quietly get out of there, and she never told her son, Jason, what happened. This poor woman, I would be so paranoid, but it doesn't end there. The next year in 2006, Karen is informed her mother is not doing well. They call it failure to thrive. My grandmother just passed away due to the same thing. It's like they give up.

There's nothing to live for and it's heartbreaking. Everyone around them feels guilty, but there's usually nothing you can do. In Karen's mother's case, they believe it was because she lost her son. Not only one, but two and a granddaughter. Once she passes, they do conduct an autopsy. and it reveals she actually had cancer that spread throughout her entire body. Like I said, I feel so bad for Karen, but at least she did have something to celebrate. Samantha, who is now 24, was getting married to her high school sweetheart, Ryan.

And that's a lot of time to go by. It just flew by. And for the new year, Karen decides she's going to take a trip across the country with her friend, Belinda. It's January 5, 2007. It's been 12 years since Bonnie was killed. Karen opens up her laptop in the hotel in a little island in the Philippines, and she scans her emails, and that's when she sees it. An email from a sender she isn't familiar with, and the subject line simply reads, Bonnie. She said that her heart skipped a beat.

By this time, a new team had taken over Bonnie's case. It was now considered a cold case. First, the new investigators went over Bonnie's file to ensure the original detectives had not missed anything. And eventually, an investigator is informed of a potential lead. The investigator's name is Tim Hunyer. This email introduces himself as the investigator with the Alaska State Troopers Cold Case Unit. He tells Karen he's aware that she's out of the country right now, but he had something very important to share. Get in touch with him as soon as she can because there's been a development in Bonnie's case.

Of course, Karen runs to the front desk of the hotel. she calls a trooper immediately, but he doesn't answer. So she leaves a message explaining where she was, that she's going back to her room. Finally, she sees another email from him. It says they have information about a man that is in prison in New Hampshire. They're currently in the process of doing a background check on him, but he wants to tell her about what they found so far.

This sounds familiar. Remember the bus driver? That didn't amount to anything. So should Karen get her hopes up? While she runs back to the front desk, tries calling him again, he doesn't answer. Hours go by. Then a couple days. And finally, another email.

He says, Karen, I want you to know that there have been new developments regarding CODIS. Then he goes on to explain what CODIS is, and he lets her know that it is a national database for DNA profiles. It was developed by the FBI. And there are states that are now entering DNA of incarcerated individuals into the system. And during a search of CODIS, a match. was made between the DNA from Bonnie's case to someone in the New Hampshire legal system. They did a preliminary background check,

and it turns out, this man was in Alaska at the time that Bonnie was killed. Now they're going to talk to people that were close to him so they could gather more information. The trooper apologizes that he's giving this information over the internet, and the phone just isn't connecting, and as soon as she gets back in town, come in to talk to him in person.

Well, Karen has so many questions. This is big. She writes him back and she wants to know everything. Who is this guy? How old is he? Was he working at Sam's Club? Did he know Bonnie? Did he have classes with her?

Was it a friend of that kid in the class that wrote the journal entries? But when Karen gets the answers, it isn't anything she could have imagined. It's no one that they had suspected. The most important question Karen has is whether this DNA match was 100%. Yeah, that would be good to know.

Karen also wants to know more about this trooper because the detective in her is thinking, who is this guy? How much could he possibly know about her daughter's murder? Where was he the last 12 years? Was he even a trooper back then? Let me tell you all the information Karen wanted because it came in the next email from Hunyer. First things first, the guy's name is Kenneth Dion.

He was born in 1969, which means he's seven years older than Bonnie. He would have been 25 at the time of her murder. He was incarcerated for robbery, and he was serving between six and 15 years. Although this man was arrested in 2003, his DNA was not entered into the database until late 2006. That's why his name had never come up before

in connection to Bonnie's murder. And Hunyer was familiar with this case. He actually met with Karen early on. Back then, he was with the Criminal Investigations Bureau in Anchorage, but he transferred to the Alaska State Troopers in 1994. This man came out of retirement to work on. Bonnie's case and he was just assigned to it in March of 2006 by November he got that

match and now they were in the process of attempting to extradite this man to Alaska from New Hampshire however trooper Tim Hunyer had already interviewed Kenneth he tracked him down and he initially played it cool he was being casual and calm he was asking Kenneth about his life education and his time in Alaska he didn't want to tip him off he didn't want to accuse him of any related to Bonnie's murder right away. Once he was able to establish a rapport with a suspect, then the real interrogation would begin. Kenneth told him he was a fifth-degree black belt in martial arts and ranked 10th in a world fighting competition. Sure he did. He talked about his

relationships. Kenneth was married back in September of 1994 when Bonnie was murdered. And although Kenneth and his wife were now divorced, he said that he messed up big time, that she was the best thing that ever happened to him. Hunyer found it strange how Kenneth never even asked why the Alaskan law enforcement officers had flown across the country to New Hampshire to ask him a few questions. Throughout the interview, Kenneth was civil and answered the questions as though he was an old friend of Hunyers. And according to Kenneth, things spiraled out of control for him once he started doing drugs. His drug addiction led him to commit armed robbery,

and he did this to support his habit. And even though he cleaned up and he enlisted in the military for a short time, he was kicked out because he kept doing drugs. He was constantly in and out of prison. And then in 1996, he moved to New Hampshire, where he continued to get into more trouble and now he's there. During the interview, Hunyer asked Kenneth if he had followed any of the local news when he was living in Alaska and he said, oh yeah, I always did.

And that's when he said, do you know about a girl named Bonnie? Bonnie Craig, but the name did not ring a bell for Kenneth, or so he said. Earlier in the conversation, Kenneth told the investigator he was better at remembering faces, so Hanier shows him a photo of Bonnie. And again, he says, have you ever met this girl? Still, he stated that he had never met her. He didn't know who she was. When Hanier examined Kenneth's body language, though, he noticed something.

It changed from relaxed. He had this casual demeanor. that he displayed, but then it switched him seemingly agitated, kind of like rigid and scared, and backing up a little bit. Hunya wanted to kind of make light of Kenneth possibly knowing Bonnie, so he asked, well, maybe you guys had like a chance encounter and Kenneth started laughing. He's like with an 18-year-old, no, my wife would have killed me. He actually laughed obnoxiously, and that's when Hunier had had enough.

He finally got right to the point. He said, well, one thing about it is later, they found her body dead in McHugh Creek. When Kenneth realized what this investigator was implying, his smirk vanished. He was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you trying to say? He informed Kenneth that his name had come up during Bonnie's murder investigation. And Kenneth acted surprised. He's like, I don't understand why. Why was my name brought up? And Hanya was like, yeah, that's what I'm trying to figure out. He asked him, did you travel the state a lot? He says he's been to Denali if he's few times with his friends from the military, and maybe Valdez. He tells Hunier that he and his wife used to party a lot, go out there dancing, and because

of his cocaine addiction, he get in fights at bars a lot. He grew up fighting. That was his whole life. Remember top fighter when he was 17? And Hunya's like, what kind of weapons did you use? Kenneth says martial arts ones, things like a sigh. It's a prong-like weapon sort of looks like. like a fork. He also says he used nunchucks and a three-sectional staff. Soon Kenneth was catching on to what

Hunya was trying to do. And that's when he invoked his right to an attorney. And at this point in the investigation was when Hunyer contacted Karen. Now they were trying to locate people close to Kenneth. And finally, an ex-girlfriend was willing to speak with them. According to Kenneth's ex, he once told her that he could kill someone and get away with it. He said he couldn't go back to Alaska because he had done something there, killed someone. Fast forward to the middle of April 2007. An indictment is set. No extradition yet, but a pretrial hearing is going to move forward even if this man wasn't in the state.

It couldn't come fast enough. Bonnie's closest family members attend the courthouse. It's completely packed. And the charges against Kenneth are first-degree murder, second-degree murder with intent to cause serious injury, second-degree murder with extreme-degree murder with extraordinary. murder with extreme indifference to human life and first degree SA. They couldn't tack on kidnapping because the statute of limitation had already run. It's only 10 years. This hearing was not very exciting.

It was just a few minutes at most. The judge is doing it over the phone with Kenneth's legal representation at the time. He asked if he can afford a lawyer. He says no. You thought this was your run club era. Turns out it was more of a thinking about run club era. club era. The good news? Someone's marathon training is about to start. Sell your

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Taco Bell's jalapeno citrus salsa, get it with any item on the canteen of chicken menu while it's here. The participating U.S. Taco Bell locations for a limited time only while supplies last. Contact store for availability. They tell him one will be appointed to him the basic things, and then they set up. a pre-trial conference for Halloween, October 31st, 2007, and a trial date for December 17th. Karen and her family are like, wait, what? That's all we got? They were left wanting a lot more. And they get it. Soon after Kenneth's information was public, the media went crazy with it.

Additional facts come to the surface, like the fact that Kenneth was in jail just two months before Bonnie's murder. However, he was out on parole when she died. And back in jail only two months after she was killed for violating his parole. Wow. And while he's out like many criminals do, they commit a heinous crime, allegedly. And Kenneth's no stranger to crime. He's had 18 convictions, 10 misdemeanors, and eight felonies. This man had never gone a full 12 months without committing a damn crime. Well, except for a three-year stint from 1999 to 2002.

This is a bad dude. And after all this information, Karen becomes a lot of. for change. Had Kenneth's DNA been put in this database sooner, Bonnie's murder wouldn't have taken this long to solve. At the time, there were only six states that collected DNA upon felony arrests. So Karen, she presents legal arguments

to Sarah Palin at the time to change the law. And in 12 days, they were able to get a bill passed and signed into law June of 2007, as it should be. Now there are 28 states that have joined the list of collecting DNA samples from suspects who have simply been arrested. been arrested on a felony offense. After Kenneth Dionne was extradited,

he filed several pretrial motions, as many of them do, which stalled this case for years. Karen said that this was an unbelievably hard time for her and her family. Every time they had to go to a hearing or they go to the courthouse, it was like Bonnie was killed all over again. As soon as a wound would appear to scab over,

Kenneth would rip it open again. But finally, he did face a jury in an Alaskan courtroom in May of 2011. Think about all the time that has gone by. This courthouse was packed every day. They were standing room only. The assistant district attorneys were Paul Miovas and Jenna Gruenstein. And they knew that Bonnie's murder was most likely going to be a very challenging case to win.

The DNA from Kenneth did not 100% prove that he forced Bonnie to have intercourse with him or that he killed her. Their DNA evidence only proved that Kenneth had sexual contact with Bonnie before she died. Aside from this DNA evidence, the state didn't have much else to offer. They had no murder weapon, no motive, and no witnesses. When Kenneth enters the courtroom and he's having his handcuffs removed, onlookers get a clear view of his knuckles. And across one, is a tattoo that spells lost, and on the other one, the word soul, a lost soul. That's exactly what he was.

A lost soul who found an innocent young girl and did horrible things to her. The trial began with the prosecutors. opening statement. The first thing that comes up is a beautiful picture of Bonnie's face. She's smiling. And Miova says, ladies and gentlemen, this is Bonnie Craig. He went on to paint a picture of who Bonnie was, everything we already know about her, and probably much more, including things like how she would make her siblings breakfast and pack their lunches before heading out for her day, how she would leave notes for them and buy them pizza. And now she worked 30 hours a week, studied in study groups, would rush to the computer lab to email her

boyfriend before and after class, and how she had a psychology test that she failed to show up for on the day of her murder, but she studied for diligently the night before. Something else is mentioned. That drop of blood on the leaf above the cliff? Karen never knew about it during the investigation. She found this out 16 years after the murder when the prosecutors took over the case. Before she knew about this blood evidence, the DNA pointed her towards understanding that something happened that was against Bonnie's will. But the blood, that indicated it was more than a man

forcing himself on her. Kenneth's defense lawyer, Andrew Lambert, and Leanne Bauer were aggressive. Their opening statements were on the second day of trial, and according to the defense attorneys, everyone had been hearing for the past 17 years that Bonnie had been murdered, but it wasn't true. And that was so hard for Bonnie's family to listen to.

This defense attorney insisted that Bonnie fell, she just tumbled down this jagged, rocky cliff, striking her head, causing a school fracture that led to her death. That's how she died, not murder. I think I would have caused an outburst in the courtroom. I don't think I could have held my tongue. But this defense attorney explained that just because Kenneth's DNA was inside Bonnie

and on her panties and the outside of her pants, doesn't mean she was murdered. Yes, it's true. She had intercourse with Kenneth, but it was consensual. Oh my gosh, don't they all say that? He mentioned the girl on the paper route. Remember her? She identified Bonnie as someone that she saw at 5.20 in the morning.

But he talks about what wasn't seen. Kenneth, a redhead, someone that would stand out in a crowd. Surely someone would have seen him, right? And no one saw his car, a black Ford tempo. And other people said they saw someone matching Bonnie's description talking to two guys. guys with black hair, not red, and they weren't in a black tempo either. Then the defense attorney mentioned a retired surgeon who jogged that area regularly. He saw a girl matching Bonnie's description, alive and well, at 10 o'clock in the morning, jogging with two guys and another girl. He even

recounted what Bonnie was wearing. He said she was wearing a blue denim jacket, a white scar for something around her neck, and he couldn't remember or recall the color shirt, but he did say she had on white jeans or khakis and was wearing white tennis shoes. Indeed, this man got a lot of what he saw correct. Bonnie was wearing a blue denim jacket, white jeans, white Nike tennis shoes, and a matching white scarf. The red shirt was the only thing he didn't remember. Karen had actually met with this man a long time ago, and at the time, she thought that this was really vital information for solving Bonnie's case. But sitting in the courtroom listening to this as the defense attorney goes on, she changes her mind.

She thinks it may hurt Bonnie's case. Not to mention, the reason the surgeon recognized Bonnie was because he's familiar with anatomy. And there was a physical attribute on her eyes. Epiconthic skin on her upper eyelids. It's almost the deep set part of more almond-shaped eyes, as you can see here. This is very distinctive to him.

Karen has it too. And he recall seeing those eyes on that day and again in the newspaper after her death. That's why he came forward. The defense attorney went on to say that the investigation at McHugh Creek on September 28, 1994, was inadequate. For instance, he pointed out the fact that the state troopers had lost the crime scene video that they filmed the day Bonnie was found. Yes, that's right. They lost the video.

When Karen heard this, that this video had been missing for years, it confirmed what she had suspected all along. No one cared about her daughter. Later, she said she was sickened to hear how careless they were. The opening argument ends with the defense attorney mentioning the lack of blood. One drop. He said, shouldn't there be more for someone the prosecution is implying had been beaten with something like a tire iron, no weapon, one drop of blood, and only evidence of intercourse, which you can't even prove happen that day? All of this in the defense's argument means it was an accidental death. It was an intense day in court, but it only got more intense.

The first witness to be called to the stand for the prosecution was Bonnie's little sister, Samantha, who's all grown up and became a 911 dispatcher for the Alaska Police Department. Her job on the stand was to showcase all of Bonnie's amazing qualities. But on cross, you know what the defense did. Yeah, he goes into her personal life, ask her about her divorce, and her mom's divorce back then, and how there was such a complicated living arrangement. And the fact that Karen was actually on her second divorce

and with her boyfriend on a boat, leaving her kids behind with her 18-year-old daughter who ends up dead. They were definitely trying to paint this family in a bad light. The trial is not off to the best start. And the next day, the prosecution calls Bonnie's boyfriend. At the time, he's 34 years old and married, but his love for Bonnie was evident in his testimony.

They met when they were little, and they reunited in high school. And as he testified, he was grief-stricken. He says he's never suspected Bonnie of cheating. And the prosecutor explains to the jury that Bonnie was too busy to meet a random man secretly. She worked at Sam's Club. She was a student at the university.

So why would she take time out of her busy schedule to have an affair with a married father with a newborn and a drug problem? They lived in two different worlds. They would have never crossed paths. Bonnie would not have had random intercourse with Kenneth Dion. But on cross, the defense attorneys point out that Cameron didn't know about times that Bonnie exchanged numbers with other men. Or at times she played pool with boys until after midnight.

Yeah, you know, like normal stuff the teenagers do, but they painted it as though there was something going on behind Cameron's back. And then there was a letter from Cameron that he was. had written, but how he didn't want to force Bonnie to be in a long-distance relationship and ruin her college life. It was really making it look like they weren't that committed after all. But the prosecution turns things around by asking Cameron about a ring that Bonnie had given him. He wore it for years after her death. And when questioned about it, he broke down in tears. He said that he loved her forever. Well, the defense attorney needed to remind the jury how so many people have secret lives that no one knows about. And after Bonnie's best friend Lynn Witt testifies about how much

Bonnie love Cameron and how committed they were to one another, the defense still roots into her over this late night pool game that they played with these three men in the army, especially since one of the two besties ended up dating one of these men, Lynn. She went on to get into a relationship. So what about her BFF Bonnie? Lynn insisted Bonnie wasn't interested in any of these men. But the defense attorney ends with the fact that Lynn wasn't with Bonnie on the day she died. So she can't say who Bonnie was with, can she? She was like, no. He's like, you can't tell me whether Kenneth did anything to her, can you? She's like, no, I can't. The idea that Bonnie was involved with Kenneth doesn't make sense. Even Kenneth himself scoffed. Remember that? He laughed when

hundred merely joked about it, about there being a chance of an encounter with Bonnie. Remember he was doing that interview? Kenneth laughed and said, no, my wife would have killed me. Karen was furious that this defense attorney was trying to smear Bonnie's good name, accusing her of sleeping with this random man, a criminal at that. Bonnie had a stellar reputation. The chances that her daughter hooked up with this married man in her opinion were zero. Therefore, the prosecutors let Bonnie's character speak for itself.

She was mature. She studied. She was serious and faithful. Plus, why with some 25-year-old married man than none of her friends or family ever heard of on a school day? Suddenly, I don't know where the prosecutor runs over to Karen. And he's like, there's something major that just happened. And I'm thinking, oh my God, not again. But it's a good thing. They think. Someone at the state troopers office just found the video of the crime scene. The one that had been missing. for all those years, yeah. Somehow somebody from the department was reading the newspaper, and they were like, oh yeah, I think I've seen that tape. Wow. So at this point, to process the discovery of this new item, the court decided to take a five-day recess. Although this crime scene video being found should be good news for the state, since the defense had just received this newly discovered piece of evidence after the trial already started, it could lead to a mistrial. It could prove how the troopers mishandled the case. However,

Kenneth's defense attorney said the video did not warrant in mistrial, so the case moved forward. And Karen imagined it was probably because this guy was pretty cocky, and he thought that he could win the case and that the video would actually help. But would it? It was very difficult for the assistant district attorney to play the tape in front of Bonnie's grieving family

in the courtroom. The scene was devastating. Trooper Robert Beattie, the one who found the blood stain on the leaf, he testified, as the video was shown to the jury. When Karen watched the video, she broke down in tears. Bonnie's family had never seen her in that horrible position, floating dead in the creek bed. Even though Karen couldn't stop crying, she made herself watch that entire video. And as Karen watched, something amazing and transformative happened. It's something that made her feel better. Seeing this video, Karen knew the truth now.

Throughout the last 17 years into the investigation of her daughter's murder, the detectives and the troopers, they did take her death seriously. Karen realized that she had been wrong when she saw these investigators on their hands and knees, looking for evidence, hunting down the creek bed for the murder weapon, it changed everything for her. And the next time she did see Trooper Hunier,

she hugged him and she thanked everyone. In that brief moment in the courtroom, room, 17 years of anger and resentment and tension, it just went away. But still, the prosecution had a problem with their case, even with this video. And you'll see why. But on the stand, experts testified that Bonnie's pants were smeared with grass and her buttons were undone. A forensic scientist testified and noted that Bonnie had been forced in intercourse and physically harmed before being pushed to her death. He stated that that blood drop on the leaf that the trooper found was an obvious sign that something happened before the fall. And the medical examiner

that had met with Karen to go over the autopsy report, his name was Dr. Norman Thompson. He took the stand and he testified that Bonnie's murder wounds could not have resulted from a fall. 11 injuries, blunt force trauma to Bonnie's skull. There were no signs of facial injuries, even though she had fallen and landed face down. All the while, the defense attorney Lambert is taking a bunch of She's just chomping at the bit he wants to say something. Couldn't wait to cross-examine this doctor. The doctor goes on, he's showing pictures of her defensive wounds, and he also explains that the different wounds to her head

would have come from separate blows. They're also too deep to be caused by a fall, even at that height, and one of them has a very odd shape like a T. The prosecutor asks if these wounds could possibly been caused by nunchucks or other martial arts weapons like a sigh. that fork-like object, and the doctor says, yes, they could have. The defense, though, makes some really good points on cross-examination. It was all about emphasizing the lack of blood spatter, and it's a mystery to me, too.

I'm currently back in school doing death investigation again, and it kind of blows my mind that there wasn't more blood. To me, it's almost more likely that Kenneth picked her up from his car and threw her over the edge of the cliff after beating her almost two deaths in his vehicle. That could also explain why her belongings were not found there. But it's true, the lack of blood does add reasonable doubt. Not to me, because I think the altercation happened in his car. And this was because he was forcing himself on her.

She was resisting. And if you haven't seen Samantha Josephson's case, you may not realize just how severe someone can be wounded in such a small space. You'd be surprised. I'll leave that in the cards and at the end. On redirect, the doctor explains that the wounds are similar in depth. And it wouldn't be the same if they were from a fall,

because those wounds would be varied. There would be scratches, contusions, bumps, bruises, maybe some lacerations, but they wouldn't all be the same depth and not the similar. This was done in a more controlled manner. He ended with his opinion that it was not even possible that Bonnie merely accidentally fell off the cliff.

What do you think happened? Trooper Tim Hunyer later said that the strategy that he used during Kenneth's initial interview paid off during the trial. Because remember, Kenneth repeated He immediately said in that interview room, he had never seen Bonnie. He had no idea who she was. So how does he explain this change in his story? Seen lying then or now?

Because you gotta know someone in order to have consensual sex with them. There was a forensic scientist that went into detail about all these things about how long sperm can live. But the thing is, why would Bonnie be wearing panties and jeans that studs semen on them from days a week, like several days before? I don't know. Maybe it's possible, but the defense argues that Bonnie and Kenneth had sex, but just not on the day that she died. Since there's no way to ascertain how long the sperm could have been there, that could put doubts in the jurors' minds. Kenneth's ex-wife takes the stand as well. She tells the court how Kenneth would disappear for weeks at a time.

He wasn't even there when their daughter was born that same September that Bonnie was killed. She goes on to tell them. she had even visited McHugh Creek with Kenneth after their daughter was born. This could have been before or after Bonnie was killed. But the fact is, he was familiar with this place, and that's important. When leaving the courtroom that day, Karen actually called out to Tammy, his ex-wife. When she turned around, Karen gave her a hug and said, I'm sorry. This is the ex-wife of her daughter's alleged killer.

She told Tammy she was hoping that Kenneth would have taken a plea deal so that they could all be spared of having to be. rehash everything. Tammy just said thank you and she walked away. I can't even imagine. That was probably so intense. Kenneth Dionne never took the stand. The jury began deliberations on June 14th, 2011. And the next morning Karen and Bonnie's family were on their way to a family interview on TV with Channel 11, which was a local station. And when they got there in the parking lot, they saw the cameraman and the reporter and they were running to the van. They were leaving. And they're like, what's going on?

They yelled, they're back! And they were referring to the jury. They were back with the verdict. In Karen's mind, the early verdict meant it was going to be good news. And she was right. Karen was relieved when she heard that Kenneth was found guilty on all counts. She said that it was like a weight lifted off of her shoulders. And everything was a blur after that.

A lot of crying, cheering, happiness mixed with sorrow. But at least there was closure. Despite the jury's verdict, Kenneth and his defense team maintained that he did not kill Bonnie Craig. And at the October 2011 sentencing hearing, the prosecutor sought a 124-year sentence without parole, the maximum allowable. According to the state, Kenneth did not show remorse or acceptance for his role in Bonnie's murder. Instead, he was trying to be a tough guy, and he shouted out loud, I won't take responsibility for it. I didn't do it. So when the prosecutor told the judge that Kenneth had never accepted responsibility, he's like,

see, that answers that. There you go. See, he doesn't take any responsibility. He doesn't care. Kenneth Dion was sentenced to 124 years. He will, however, be eligible for parole at 80 years old. Even though Bonnie was mature for her age, responsible, aware of her surroundings, and armed with pepper spray, She was a strong girl, athletic, a former wrestling team member. But somehow, she was still overpowered by Kenneth. We will never know exactly what happened to her in that early morning in September on her way to class. But we do know that her death changed everyone's lives around her. As I mentioned, her sister Samantha went on to be a 911 dispatcher.

Her brother, Jason, got his degree in paramedics. And he said after what happened to his little sister, he spends a lot more time with his family and he always emphasized that that is the most meaningful thing in his life and he hopes his daughters can be like their aunt but that the heartache never fully fades away and karen still can't believe bonnie isn't here with her it still shocks her that anyone would want to harm her sweet and kind daughter Bonnie craig's memory was honored with the creation of a homicide reward fund this fund was set up to encourage alaskans to come forward with information about four cold cases of young women. And Karen says that the purpose of this fund can be expanded so that they could cover

other unsolved murders if it's approved by the board. All I have to say is a lot of things, but I will say this at least. This case haunts me. It really does as a mom. And knowing everything that this family had gone through, everything Karen had already been through in her life. We tend to forget the ripple effect of someone's murder. I want to think that's all of you for listening to Bonnie's story and to Karen's story. And don't forget, if you want to read her book, I read it on Kindle, it is a very good book. It goes into her feelings. Someone who's lost someone. It's almost like I'm sitting there with Karen. So I highly recommend reading it. It's only about 269 pages. You can read it in one sitting. All right, class settled down. Today's lesson is on the

Arco Rewards app. Try to stay with me. The fundamentals are simple. Earn at least five cents a gallon in rewards, then redeem them later for up to a dollar off every gallon. Now here's where it gets complicated. Oh, wait, it doesn't. It's as simple as downloading the Arco Rewards app to get started. Class dismissed! Savings of up to $1 per gallon redeemable with $20 rewards dollars in your loyalty account at participating locations, terms and conditions apply. I thank you all so very much once again for being here. I will see you in my next video. Bye.