S1: E27– Someone Is Getting Away with Murder, Part 2

Summary

American Homicide

Episode: S1:E27 – Someone Is Getting Away with Murder, Part 2
Release Date: April 24, 2025
Host: Sloan Glass
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts and Glass Podcasts

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Introduction to the Case

In this gripping continuation of the Someone Is Getting Away with Murder series, host Sloan Glass delves deep into the harrowing 1994 murder of Bonnie Craig, an 18-year-old college freshman at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. Her tragic death, initially mistaken for a hiking accident, set off a 12-year-long quest for justice.

Bonnie's Final Day
Bonnie Craig was an exemplary student, known for her reliability and dedication.
— Amy Novotny, Bonnie's Friend [02:05]

On the morning of September 28, 1994, Bonnie attended her classes as usual. However, that afternoon, her lifeless body was discovered floating in McHugh Creek, located approximately 10 miles from her campus in a state park. The initial investigation misclassified her death as a hiking accident, a conclusion that failed to align with the concerns of Bonnie's family and friends.

The Investigation

As doubt surrounding Bonnie's death grew, evidence began to surface that suggested foul play.

Raising Questions
Bonnie's body was found over 10 miles from her home, a distance that raised numerous questions about her movements that day.
— Sloan Glass [03:13]

Further investigation revealed that Bonnie had been sexually assaulted, and critical DNA evidence was later recovered, yet no immediate arrests were made. The lack of actionable leads left Bonnie's mother, Karen Craig, and the community in anguish.

Persistent Efforts
Karen Craig was relentless in her pursuit of justice, organizing press conferences and distributing flyers demanding answers.
— Sloan Glass [05:08]

The Suspect: Kenneth Dion

In 2006, a breakthrough occurred when Kenneth Dion’s DNA matched the evidence found at the crime scene. At the time of Bonnie's murder, Dion was a 25-year-old former Alaska resident with a troubled past, including military service and a history of armed robbery.

Background Check
Kenneth Dion had a history of criminal behavior, including armed burglaries and drug addiction, making him a person of interest in Bonnie's case.
— Casey Grove, Journalist [06:09]

The Trial

The trial of Kenneth Dion was marked by intense courtroom drama, pivotal evidence, and emotional testimonies.

Prosecutors' Case
Prosecutors presented a strong case linking Dion to the murder through DNA evidence and his history of violence.
— Sloan Glass [14:18]

A crucial piece of evidence was a single drop of Bonnie's blood found on a leaf at the crime scene, which matched Dion's DNA. Additionally, an interrogation tape revealed Dion's familiarity with martial arts weapons, such as nunchucks, which prosecutors argued he used to inflict fatal injuries on Bonnie.

Defense's Argument
The defense suggested that Bonnie's injuries could have resulted from an accidental fall, challenging the notion of sexual assault and murder.
— Sloan Glass [16:07]

Despite the defense's efforts to sow doubt, including questioning the sufficiency of the blood evidence and proposing alternative scenarios, the jury remained largely swayed by the prosecution's narrative.

Missing Evidence: The Videotape Controversy

One of the most dramatic twists in the trial was the disappearance and subsequent reappearance of a vital videotape documenting the crime scene.

Initial Loss
Investigators initially failed to secure the videotape, raising suspicions about the integrity of the investigation.
— Casey Grove [22:19]

Reemergence and Impact
The videotape resurfaced two days into the trial, showing key evidence that prosecutors argued was critical to proving Dion's guilt.
— Sloan Glass [26:35]

The judge ultimately allowed the videotape into evidence after deliberation, solidifying the prosecution's case and leading to Dion's conviction.

Verdict and Sentencing

The jury found Kenneth Dion guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering Bonnie Craig. Despite Dion's persistent denials, his outbursts during sentencing reflected his inability to accept responsibility.

Sentencing Outcome
Kenneth Dion was sentenced to 124 years in prison, ensuring he would never pose a threat again.
— Karen Craig [30:30]

Aftermath and Legal Reforms

Bonnie Craig’s murder had far-reaching consequences beyond the courtroom, prompting significant changes in DNA legislation.

Advocacy for DNA Collection
Karen Craig spearheaded efforts to mandate DNA collection from individuals arrested for violent crimes, a measure that significantly aided in solving Bonnie's case.
— Karen Craig [32:07]

Legislative Success
Thanks to Karen's relentless advocacy, Alaska enacted a law requiring DNA samples from suspects in violent crimes, enhancing the state's ability to solve future cases.
— Sloan Glass [32:37]

Despite these advancements, challenges remain. A 2020 ProPublica article highlighted ongoing backlogs in DNA processing, underscoring the need for continued improvements in the system.

Personal Reflections and Closure

The emotional toll of Bonnie's murder extended to those who knew her, particularly her friend Amy Novotny.

Seeking Closure
Amy Novotny revisited McHugh Creek with her daughter, confronting the site of Bonnie's death and reflecting on how the tragedy shaped her own life.
— Amy Novotny [35:09]

Emotional Impact
Bonnie's death instilled a sense of overprotectiveness in Amy, altering her approach to parenting and heightening her awareness of the world's dangers.
— Amy Novotny [35:46]

Looking Ahead

As the episode concludes, Sloan Glass teases the next case in the series, involving the mysterious mountain man murders in rural Chulitna, Alaska.

Next Episode Teaser
Join us next time as we explore the enigmatic mountain man murders, where a hiker claims innocence amidst unsettling discoveries.
— Sloan Glass [35:39]

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Notable Quotes

• Karen Craig on the Investigation's Flaws: "If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed."
  [12:23]

• Amy Novotny on the Emotional Toll: "If it happened to her, it could happen to anybody. So, yeah, most definitely it's changed me or shaped me to be the parent that I am."
  [35:46]

• Karen Craig on Legal Reforms: "This guy had been in jail two months before he murdered Bonnie, out on bail when he murdered her, and then back in jail two months after. If they'd had collection of DNA on arrest, they would have known right from the get go."
  [32:59]

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Conclusion

Someone Is Getting Away with Murder, Part 2 masterfully intertwines investigative journalism with personal narratives, shedding light on the complexities of the Bonnie Craig case. Through comprehensive analysis and heartfelt testimonies, Sloan Glass not only narrates a tale of loss and justice but also highlights the enduring impact of one family's determination to seek the truth.

For those seeking justice in the face of adversity or interested in the intricate dance between law enforcement and the legal system, this episode offers a compelling exploration of American homicide investigations.

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Listen to American Homicide on iHeartRadio and subscribe for more true crime stories that unravel the mysteries behind America's most perplexing murders.

Transcript

[Jeremy Scott]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad, it's, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Scott]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Soledad O'Brien]

I'm Soledad O'Brien and on my new true crime podcast, Murder on the Towpath, I'm taking you back to 1964 to the cold case of artist Mary Pinchot Meyer.

[Sloan Glass]

She had been shot twice in the.

[Jeremy Scott]

Head and in the back.

[Soledad O'Brien]

It turns out Mary was connected to a very powerful man.

[John F. Kennedy]

I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor provoke aggression.

[Soledad O'Brien]

John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the Tow path with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Sloan Glass]

For 12 years, signs hung all over Anchorage asking who killed Bonnie Craig.

[Amy Novotny]

There are signs on all the buses. There were signs on big.

[Sloan Glass]

There was flyers with no arrest. The victim's mother lost hope.

[Karen Craig]

It wasn't investigated real well. They don't have a lot of evidence.

[Sloan Glass]

And then finally, the suspect turned up in a prison some 4,500 miles away. But did he kill Bonnie?

[Amy Novotny]

This man stands up and starts yelling at Bonnie's family that they're all liars and that he didn't do anything.

[Sloan Glass]

The only evidence was a drop of blood and some DNA. Would it be enough to get a conviction?

[Karen Craig]

It's always a crapshoot. All you need is one juror who could end up throwing the case.

[Sloan Glass]

Today we're in Anchorage, Alaska for the conclusion of Someone is getting away with murder. I'm Sloan Glass and this is American Homicide. Just a note that this episode contains some graphic content. Please take care while listening. Bonnie Craig was an 18 year old college freshman at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. On the morning of September 28, 1994, Bonnie headed to class. That afternoon, Bonnie was dead. Her body was found floating in a creek inside of a state park some 10 miles from campus.

[Amy Novotny]

Those moments, it's etched in my brain. And you don't forget something like that.

[Sloan Glass]

That's Bonnie's friend, Amy Novotny.

[Amy Novotny]

How could this happen to somebody like Bonnie? It didn't seem real. It didn't seem real at all.

[Sloan Glass]

After first calling Bonnie's death a hiking accident, Alaska State troopers later ruled it a Homicide.

[Amy Novotny]

I don't recall anybody ever thinking it was an accident. Just didn't make sense.

[Sloan Glass]

You can learn a lot about Bonnie Craig by looking at her college schedule. While most college freshmen were asleep at 7am Bonnie was already in class. Her friends and family said if you believed Bonnie willingly skipped school to go hiking, you didn't know Bonnie.

[Amy Novotny]

Bonnie was very reliable and she wouldn't have missed school.

[Sloan Glass]

The fact that her body turned up more than 10 miles from her home raised plenty of questions.

[Amy Novotny]

Bonnie didn't drive. That's quite a ways away from where she lived or, you know, from the university.

[Sloan Glass]

And if she walked, it would take.

[Amy Novotny]

Probably, you know, several hours to walk to McHugh Creek from her home.

[Sloan Glass]

Bonnie exclusively took the bus to campus. None of those buses went to McHugh Creek.

[Amy Novotny]

Just a lot of unanswered questions at that point. Something was definitely wrong.

[Sloan Glass]

Investigators later revealed that Bonnie not only was murdered, but also had been sexually assaulted. Even with that DNA evidence, 12 years went by without an arrest.

[Amy Novotny]

How come nobody's coming forward? Somebody knows something. Is this ever going to get figured out?

[Sloan Glass]

Every new promising lead fizzled out, leaving Bonnie's family and friends feeling uneasy.

[Amy Novotny]

It was scary, you know, scary. And that went on for a lot of years. You know, every year I think it got a little bit more difficult.

[Sloan Glass]

At the forefront of the investigation was Bonnie's fierce and strong willed mother, Karen. She gave frequent press conferences and was responsible for putting up all those signs throughout Anchorage that said, who killed Bonnie and someone is getting away with murder.

[Amy Novotny]

Karen was a very determined person. She was going to get to the bottom of it.

[Sloan Glass]

As Amy and Bonnie's other friends graduated college, got married and had children, they couldn't help but wonder, what if?

[Amy Novotny]

Definitely every year kind of just breaks your heart and you kind of think of all the amazing things that Bonnie would have amounted to, places that she would have gone, you know, the family that she could have started and just living life like the rest of us. Those things go through your mind every year.

[Sloan Glass]

Bonnie Craig was killed in 1994. It wasn't until 2006 when police had a man in custody in New Hampshire.

[Amy Novotny]

That was one of the best days. I think I cried tears of joy. They finally had who was responsible for taking such a wonderful person away from so many people.

[Sloan Glass]

The Suspect was a 37 year old former Alaska resident named Kenneth Dion.

[Amy Novotny]

Name makes me utterly sick to my stomach. Utterly sick.

[Sloan Glass]

So who is Kenneth Deon? At the time of his arrest, he was serving time in a New Hampshire prison for armed robbery. Back in 1994, Kenneth was 25 years old and living in Anchorage.

[Casey Grove]

Like a lot of people that end up in Alaska, Kenneth Deon was stationed here in the military.

[Sloan Glass]

Journalist Casey Grove covered the story at.

[Casey Grove]

Some point, divorced his wife, or she divorced him, and he apparently was into crime.

[Sloan Glass]

Kenneth was discharged from the military and later served some time for a string of robberies. Just two months before Bonnie's murder, Kenneth was released from prison in Alaska and placed on probation. He then violated his parole and was sent back to prison. After his release in 1996, he left Alaska for New Hampshire, where he got into more trouble.

[Casey Grove]

He had been addicted to OxyContin, committed a string of armed burglaries. He was serving time for that. And they collected his DNA under this mandatory program.

[Sloan Glass]

In 2006, an Alaska lab worker did a weekly check of the CODIS system. That's when Kenneth Dion's DNA matched the DNA found in Bonnie.

[Casey Grove]

New Hampshire was one of, like a handful of states at the time that had mandatory DNA collection for violent crime. They would not have caught him if not for that law in New Hampshire.

[Sloan Glass]

Alaska investigators immediately flew out to New Hampshire and questioned Kenneth.

[Casey Grove]

You know, the investigators didn't just come out and say, hey, we think you killed this girl.

[Sloan Glass]

What these two Alaska state troopers did do was put on a clinic on how to interrogate a suspect.

[Casey Grove]

They first asked him, you know, when he was in Alaska and why he was in Alaska, and he talks about the military, and he kind of mentioned that he was into martial arts. And somehow that came up. He was like a black belt in karate. I think I had nunchucks, you know, three sectional staffs. I had all kinds of things because I'm a fifth degree black belt. So you can hear he's got this kind of like New Englander accent that.

[Sloan Glass]

I wasn't expecting along with his thick accent. He, Kenneth had red hair and stood around 5ft 10 inches tall. He told the troopers he grew up fighting his whole life. And then the topic turned to Bonnie.

[John F. Kennedy]

This is a pretty, pretty high profile case. So did you read the news or listen to the news? Read the newspaper back then.

[Casey Grove]

Oh, yeah, all the time.

[John F. Kennedy]

Okay, you may. You've probably heard about the situation then about a young girl named Bonnie Craig. Bonnie Craig, 18 year old college student. I can't recall. I can't remember.

[Casey Grove]

She's this, you know, this teenage girl. Do you know her? And he said, no.

[John F. Kennedy]

Did you ever meet someone called Bonnie.

[Soledad O'Brien]

Or anything like that?

[Casey Grove]

I have no idea. And then finally, you know, they, they show him this picture of Bonnie Craig and ask him if he knows her.

[John F. Kennedy]

She was an 18 year old college student, lived in South Anchorage. She left her home around, you know, 5:10, 5:20 in the morning to go catch a bus off Lake Otis.

[Casey Grove]

I think when the investigators sort of first presented this photo of Bonnie Craig to Kenneth Deon, it was, have you ever met this girl? He said no, he'd never seen her before. And then they left it sitting there, maybe as advice to see what his reaction was over time.

[John F. Kennedy]

Do you ever recall maybe, you know, meeting her through someone else, one of your friends or anything?

[Casey Grove]

18 years old?

[Gilbert King]

Hell no.

[Casey Grove]

My wife would have killed me. And he said, no, you know, if I had known her or been hanging out with her, my wife would have killed me. You know, because he was married at the time. I think it's worth pointing out too that anybody who had been around at that time would have seen this picture or a picture of Bonnie Craig. Even people that don't follow the news very closely would have seen these posters and would have seen these photos on the side of a bus, you know, so for him to have said he had never seen her before just seemed implausible.

[Sloan Glass]

That's when the troopers flipped the script.

[John F. Kennedy]

And the sad thing about it, later on that day, her body was found at McHugh Creek.

[Casey Grove]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you trying to say? He says something along the lines of, what are you guys trying to say here? Like, why are you here talking to me about her?

[John F. Kennedy]

Your name has come up, you know, like, like hundreds of names.

[Casey Grove]

Why would my name come up?

[John F. Kennedy]

That's what I'm trying to figure out. You know, you say you didn't have no association with her. You know, that's good. You know, I'm trying to. I'm just trying to get clear so I can get home.

[Casey Grove]

And of course, it's hard to get around the fact that his DNA was found inside of her and she was dead. There was just some good police work that had to be done to really nail this guy down.

[Sloan Glass]

And they did it. Alaska state troopers charged Ken Kenneth Dion was sexually assaulting and murdering Bonnie Craig. Another five years would pass before Kenneth Deon stood trial. By then, a key piece of evidence would go missing and would impact the integrity of the investigation.

[Jeremy Scott]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Scofield in Bone Valley Season one.

[John F. Kennedy]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Jeremy Scott]

Long silent voices from his past came.

[Soledad O'Brien]

Forward and he was just staring at me.

[Jeremy Scott]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King. I'M the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

[Jeremy Scott]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Scott]

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy.

[Gilbert King]

Jeremy, I want to tell you something.

[Jeremy Scott]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Soledad O'Brien]

I'm Soledad O'Brien, and on my podcast Murder on the Towpath, I'm taking you back to the 1960s. Mary Pinchot Meyer was a painter who lived lived in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. every day she took a daily walk along a tow path near the E and O Canal. So when she was killed in a wealthy neighborhood, she had been shot twice.

[Sloan Glass]

In the head and in the back behind the heart.

[Soledad O'Brien]

The police arrived in a heartbeat. Within 40 minutes, a man named Raymond Crump Jr. Was arrested. He was found nearby, soaking wet, and he was black. Only one woman dared defend him, civil rights lawyer Dovey Roundtree. Join me as we unravel this story with a crazy twist, because what most people didn't know is that Mary was connected to a very powerful man.

[John F. Kennedy]

I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor provoke aggression.

[Soledad O'Brien]

John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the towpath with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Sloan Glass]

Bonnie Craig was 18 years old when she was mysteriously found dead in a creek several miles from her home and College in 2011. Some 17 years later, her accused killer, Kenneth Dion, was on trial for murder.

[Casey Grove]

I would have been 12 years old when this happened. And, you know, I think I was maybe 30 or something like by the time this went on trial.

[Sloan Glass]

Journalist Casey Grove wrote about the case.

[Casey Grove]

I've thought about that a lot. I mean, the amount of time that went by from when she was killed to when Kenneth Dion went on trial was almost as long as she had been alive.

[Sloan Glass]

That time difference became obvious when prosecutors showed pictures of Bonnie during the trial.

[Casey Grove]

Like, just the way that she was dressed, tapered Jeans, you know, back in the 90s. And her hair was kind of in a holdover from the 80s, kind of like that feathered, somewhat bigger hair than people wear nowadays. It was kind of a throwback to that time, too, where people didn't have a phone in their pocket to take pictures of everything. So, like, a lot of the photos were sort of like school photos or, you know, family photos from gatherings and things like that.

[Sloan Glass]

On the other side of the courtroom sat Kenneth Deon, whose red hair wasn't the only feature that stood out.

[Casey Grove]

He actually had knuckle tattoos that said lost soul lost on one hand and soul on the other hand on his knuckles, tattooed. I've covered cases where they actually use makeup to cover the tattoos up so that the person looks better, maybe to the jury.

[Sloan Glass]

Prosecutors explained to the jury that this lost soul was responsible for killing and sexually assaulting Bonnie Craig.

[Casey Grove]

There's a direct line there between him and her, and it's impossible to get around that. But I think the theory of what actually happened when Bonnie was murdered was kind of muddy, or at least took a lot of filling in of the blanks.

[Sloan Glass]

There were no eyewitnesses to the crime. So the defense adopted the original theory from the Alaska state troopers that Bonnie fell in a hiking accident, but with a twist.

[Casey Grove]

These two people had consensual sex, and then, you know, one of them just sort of fell off a cliff and died accidentally.

[Sloan Glass]

The defense reiterated to the jurors what the police first told Bonnie's mother.

[Casey Grove]

The defense attorney, he asked, well, so could somebody fall off a cliff and strike their genitals, in this case, on a sharp rock? And would that produce the kind of injuries that you're saying are evidence of sexual assault? This is in front of Bonnie's mom and sister and her other family, and just about everybody just kind of, like, rolled their eyes, you know, like, how. How could you even say that?

[Sloan Glass]

And you know what? I feel the same way. What the defense is proposing happened to Bonnie is unbelievable. After the defense floated alternative theories, prosecutors pointed the finger directly at the defendant.

[Casey Grove]

Bonnie was locked into the bus stop. And the prosecution theory was that Kenneth Deon saw her and somehow got her into his vehicle. He, you know, sexually assaulted her at some point, possibly at McHugh Creek, struck her at the top of this cliff, and that was based on a single drop of blood on a leaf that the crime scene investigators found that was Bonnie's blood, and then pushed her into the creek, down. I mean, down this cliff, this pretty steep, big cliff down into the Creek and that he then scrambled down there to finish her off was what the prosecutor said.

[Sloan Glass]

Bonnie took at least a dozen blows to the head, and prosecutors believe Kenneth Dion used a weapon for the fatal blow.

[Casey Grove]

They believed that Kenneth Dion had killed Bonnie Craig by hitting her in the back of the head with, like, nunchucks.

[Sloan Glass]

Prosecutors leaned heavily into that interrogation tape of Kenneth Deon, where he admitted to being into martial arts.

[Casey Grove]

They knew that he had these martial arts weapons like nunchucks and those kind of things.

[Sloan Glass]

But the defense said if Bonnie was murdered, there would have been blood everywhere on the side of the cliff, not just the one drop they found on a leaf. And as for Kenneth's DNA, the defense.

[Casey Grove]

Attorney, he insinuated that Bonnie might have been promiscuous and might have had consensual sex with Kenneth Dionne.

[Sloan Glass]

The defense argued Kenneth and Bonnie had sex in the week leading up to her death. But remember, Bonnie had a long distance boyfriend at the time.

[Casey Grove]

Bonnie's boyfriend at the time was brought back, you know, 17 years later for.

[Sloan Glass]

This trial and testified Bonnie's boyfriend Cameron was 34 years old at the time of the trial. He testified how Bonnie was his first girlfriend and said the two had plans to marry.

[Casey Grove]

Everything that the boyfriend said about her and about their relationship was not in agreement with the idea that she could have been sleeping with other guys. They talked on the phone all the time. They had, like, promise rings that they were wearing. They thought that they were gonna get married and have a happy little life with each other and go off and do great things.

[Sloan Glass]

Cameron told the room that he and Bonnie spent their last night together before he went away to school. It happened in July of 1994 on the rocks near McHugh Creek, the same place her body was later found.

[Casey Grove]

It was very sad to see her boyfriend on the stand talking about what had been such a beautiful thing in their lives, their love for each other.

[Sloan Glass]

Testifying about his last night with Bonnie became too much for Cameron.

[Casey Grove]

They paused his testimony at one point, just kind of overcome with the grief. And he went out in the hallway in the courthouse and just kind of walked up and down the hallway and kind of gathered himself.

[Sloan Glass]

After that emotional testimony, prosecutors played the interrogation tape of Kenneth Deonna.

[John F. Kennedy]

You've probably heard about the situation about a young girl named Bonnie Craig. I can't recall. I can't remember.

[Casey Grove]

They're very clearly trying to pin him down on, oh, you don't know her. Okay. How'd your DNA get inside of her? You know, never seen her face before. Well, later, when you try to claim that you had consensual sex with her, that's not gonna make any sense.

[Sloan Glass]

Kenneth Dion never took the stand in his own defense. He simply jotted down notes and made frequent eye contact with Bonnie's mother, Karen.

[Karen Craig]

He looked at us very angry a couple times, and it was seeing the face of evil.

[Sloan Glass]

Other witnesses from Kenneth's past also testified about his dark side.

[Karen Craig]

We had more than one woman on the stand sand he had abused her. And I mean, even his wife, ex wife at that time, had to testify about him and his abuse and his drug abuse.

[Sloan Glass]

Things were looking good for the prosecution until something happened to a key piece of evidence. Back on the afternoon of Bonnie's death in 1994, investigators used a camcorder to record footage at the crime scene. But suddenly that tape was missing.

[Casey Grove]

You know, ultimately, it just. It was an important piece of the whole story. But the video from the murder scene never showed up.

[Sloan Glass]

Journalist Casey Grove.

[Casey Grove]

I don't remember ever hearing a good explanation for why the video was lost. The. The most detail about that was just it had been checked out of the evidence for the case and not returned.

[Sloan Glass]

The defense attacked investigators for losing a key piece of evidence. But then on the second day of the trial, prosecutors approached the judge. They explained that the missing tape had mysteriously resurfaced.

[Casey Grove]

That was.

[Sloan Glass]

Suddenly, the trial came to a screeching halt.

[Casey Grove]

The fact that this video surfaced right after the trial started, basically, I mean, the defense, of course, fought that, vigorously fought that being admitted as evidence.

[Sloan Glass]

The judge stopped the trial for both sides to argue whether to admit the video.

[Karen Craig]

I was filled with fear that he could walk.

[Sloan Glass]

Not knowing what that meant for the trial threw Bonnie's mother Karen into a panic.

[Karen Craig]

It wasn't investigated real well. They don't have a lot of evidence. All you need is one juror who could end up throwing the case.

[Sloan Glass]

Suddenly, the slam dunk case against Kenneth Dion took a turn.

[Karen Craig]

Oh, my gosh. Are we going to be able to get a conviction?

[Jeremy Scott]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.

[John F. Kennedy]

I just knew him as a kid.

[Jeremy Scott]

Long, silent voices from his past came.

[Soledad O'Brien]

Forward, and he was just staring at me.

[Jeremy Scott]

And they had secrets of their own to share.

[Gilbert King]

Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

If the cops and everything would have done their job properly. My dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

[Jeremy Scott]

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Scott]

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy.

[Gilbert King]

Jeremy, I want to tell you something.

[Jeremy Scott]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Soledad O'Brien]

I'm Soledad O'Brien, and on my podcast, Murder on the Towpath, I'm taking you back to the 1960s. Mary Pinchot Meyer was a painter who lived in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. every day, she took a daily walk along a towpath near the E and O Canal. So when she was killed in a wealthy neighborhood, she had been shot twice.

[Sloan Glass]

In the head and in the back behind the heart.

[Soledad O'Brien]

The police arrived in a heartbeat. Within 40 minutes, a man named Raymond Crump Jr. Was arrested. He was found nearby, soaking wet, and he was black. Only one woman dared defend him, civil rights lawyer Dubby Roundtree. Join me as we unravel this story with a crazy twist, because what most people didn't know is that Mary was connected to a very powerful man.

[John F. Kennedy]

I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor nor provoke aggression.

[Soledad O'Brien]

John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the towpath with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Sloan Glass]

Kenneth Dion is on trial for the 1994 murder of Bonnie Craig. But there's a problem. A videotape of the crime scene that Alaska state troopers took was missing.

[Casey Grove]

17 years had gone by since the murder, and then this, like, thing with this video comes up.

[Sloan Glass]

Journalist Casey Grove covered the trial.

[Casey Grove]

It's supposed to be, you know, like, the first day of testimony. And they paused the trial for a week.

[Sloan Glass]

The videotape disappeared and then reappeared two days into the trial. And after much debate, the judge allowed prosecutors to admit it into evidence.

[Casey Grove]

It's shot on, like, a VHS cassette tape with grainy, like, home video footage kind of look to it.

[Sloan Glass]

As the dated footage flickered on the television screen, the jurors leaned in to get their first look at the crime scene.

[Casey Grove]

This video, like, really put you at that scene at that time. You know, the leaves were all yellow and things were kind of changing towards fall. The moss or the lichen is kind of starting to Turn red. It's very colorful.

[Sloan Glass]

The beauty of Alaska's changing seasons was broken by what showed up next on the videotape.

[Casey Grove]

These investigators wearing, like hip waders are wading out to the body and they flip it over and you can see her face, and it's just very like, pale white. For Karen, Bonnie's mom, it was tough because she had never seen that.

[Sloan Glass]

As you can imagine, seeing this footage of her daughter's body floating lifeless in McHugh Creek was tough to see. For Karen, it showed a part of the investigation she had not been privy to.

[Karen Craig]

For the first time, I'm finding out what they did when they arrived there. One of the Alaska State Troopers, he had crawled on his knees down paths looking for any kind of evidence. He found just one leaf with a drop of blood that they later determined was Bonnie's blood.

[Sloan Glass]

That video showed that one leaf that troopers found that contained Bonnie's blood.

[Karen Craig]

That was crucial to find that leaf with that one drop of blood because that proved that Bonnie was injured before she went over into the water below.

[Sloan Glass]

Karen hoped that video would help disprove the defense's theory that Bonnie fell to her death.

[Karen Craig]

The defense immediately said, well, you know, she had all these head injuries. There would have been blood everywhere. The prosecutor, in rebuttals, said that there was no blood anywhere because Bonnie went over the cliff and Kenneth Dion ran down the side of that cliff and got Bonnie and hit her with the numb chucks while she was in the water again and again and again until she was lifeless.

[Sloan Glass]

In other words, the only blood would have been in the creek.

[Karen Craig]

It had all washed away except for that one drop of blood that they found, and it was Bonnie's.

[Sloan Glass]

The jury agreed with the prosecutor's argument. They found Kenneth Dion guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering Bonnie Craig.

[Karen Craig]

We cried. We all cried, hugged each other. It was a bittersweet victory to know he's not getting away with murder anymore.

[Sloan Glass]

Kenneth Dion never took the stand, but he broke his silence at the sentencing hearing.

[Karen Craig]

He had a couple of outbursts. He would lose it, you know.

[Sloan Glass]

Twice at his sentencing hearing, Kenneth Dion shouted towards the prosecutor. He said he would never admit to killing Bonnie because he didn't do it. But his outbursts didn't spare him. The judge sentenced Kenneth Dion to 124 years. He won't be eligible for parole until 2050. When he's 81 years old, he's going.

[Karen Craig]

To be spending 124 years in jail. He's never going to get the opportunity to kill Another child.

[Sloan Glass]

Throughout the investigation, Karen was critical of Alaska state troopers. She was further incensed when she learned what happened in New Hampshire. In 2003, Kenneth Deon was incarcerated in New Hampshire, but his DNA wasn't collected until 2005, and it wasn't until 2006 when his DNA was entered into the CODA system.

[Karen Craig]

I am furious about the fact that they hadn't bothered to input his DNA into codis, our criminal national database.

[Sloan Glass]

Think about that. Bonnie's murder could have been solved years earlier if Kenneth Dion's DNA was collected on time.

[Karen Craig]

That's when I went after the media again and called all of the legislators and the representatives and let them know that we need to change the law.

[Sloan Glass]

In 2002, New Hampshire became one of only a handful of states with a law allowing DNA to be collected from state prisoners convicted of violent crimes. Karen wanted Alaska lawmakers to pass a similar law.

[Karen Craig]

We pushed for it, and within 60 days, it was signed by the governor. In law, Alaska was number seven to start collecting DNA on all felony arrests.

[Sloan Glass]

Thanks to Karen's lobbying, Alaska law now requires DNA samples from suspects arrested for a violent crime, like robbery, domestic violence, or sexual assault. The swabs then get sent to the state crime lab where the DNA can be matched against evidence from cold cases and kept on file to aid in future cases.

[Karen Craig]

This guy had been in jail two months before he murdered Bonnie, out on bail when he murdered her, and then back in jail two months after. If they'd had collection of DNA on arrest, they would have known right from the get go. We wouldn't have had to wait months, years. It could have been solved in weeks. Instead, it was a 17 year saga trying to get him convicted.

[Sloan Glass]

As of 2024, Alaska is now one of at least 31 states that requires DNA samples to be collected upon arrest or when criminal charges are filed against a person. But the program isn't without its critics.

[Karen Craig]

The people scream and say, oh, you know, we're innocent till proven guilty. Well, it's not that it's proven you guilty just to have your DNA. There's. All it does is identify the person. You still have to prove the case when they take the mud shots, when they take the fingerprints, get that DNA, collect DNA on arrest. It's crucial to justice.

[Sloan Glass]

It's a simple concept in theory, but the program isn't without its flaws. A 2020 ProPublica article reported that Alaska continues to be one of many states with a long backlog of uncollected and or unprocessed DNA despite the program's warts. Karen considers the law a critical tool for investigators and the families of victims.

[Karen Craig]

And in Bonnie's case, we turn tragedy into triumph by getting these laws changed and knowing that because of Bonnie's murder, they will be spared being a victim because of the DNA laws that have changed.

[Sloan Glass]

Nearly a decade after Bonnie's murderer was convicted, her close friend Amy still couldn't find closure. She had to confront a place that was meaningful to the two of them.

[Amy Novotny]

McHugh Creek last summer was the first time I actually went there.

[Sloan Glass]

Amy returned to the place where Bonnie's body was discovered, and she didn't go alone.

[Amy Novotny]

My youngest daughter had went there with me. She hugged me and, you know, I just needed to just let me sit here and just think. I definitely shed some tears. A little emotional just being there.

[Sloan Glass]

Amy had come to the realization that Bonnie's death affected the way she parents her own children.

[Amy Novotny]

So it made me a little overprotective as a parent, not wanting to leave my kids, needing to know everywhere they're going just because there's really. There's a lot of monsters in this world and it scares. It scares you. Like I said, never would have thought something like that would have happened to Bonnie. If it happened to her, it could happen to anybody. So, yeah, most definitely it's changed me or shaped me to be the parent that I am.

[Sloan Glass]

That afternoon at the creek, Amy said she sensed something.

[Amy Novotny]

Sunbeams were shining down. You actually kind of feel her presence there almost.

[Sloan Glass]

Next time on American Homicide. A hiker sets up camp and a dead body is found. But the hiker claims he had nothing to do with the murder. We'll head to rural Chulitna, Alaska, for the case of the mountain man murders. I'm Sloan Glass and that's next time on American Homicide. You can contact the American Homicide team by emailing [e-mail] that's AmericanHomicidePodmail.com American Homicide is hosted and written by me, Sloan Glass and and is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Todd Ganz. The series is also written and produced by Todd Ganz with additional writing by Ben Fetterman and Andrea Gunning. Our associate producer is Kristin Melchuri. Our I heart team is Ally Perry and Jessica Kremchak. Audio editing, mixing and mastering by Nico Aruka. American Homicide's theme song was composed by Oliver Baines of Noiser Music Library, provided by mymusic Follow American Homicide on Apple Podcasts and please rate and review American Homicide. Your five star review goes a long way towards helping others find this show. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jeremy Scott]

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley Season one.

[Gilbert King]

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

[Jeremy Scott]

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

[Gilbert King]

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

[Jeremy Scott]

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Soledad O'Brien]

I'm Soledad O'Brien and on my new true crime podcast, Murder on the Towpath, I'm taking you back to 1964 to the cold case of artist Mary Pinchot Meyer.

[Sloan Glass]

She had been shot twice in the.

[Jeremy Scott]

Head and in the back.

[Soledad O'Brien]

It turns out Mary was connected to a very powerful man.

[John F. Kennedy]

I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor provoke aggression.

[Soledad O'Brien]

John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the towpath with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio Al app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.