It is believed that justic
e delayed is justice denied. But as for Jennifer Schuett, though there was a delay of 19 long years, justice was at last meted out to her.
It happened 19 years ago. It was a dark night. Jennifer, the eight year old was fast asleep in her bed, when a man crept inn her room through the bedroom window. As she recollects, she woke up and found herself in a stranger’s arms, as he carried her through a parking lot.
He took her to an overgrown field and sexually assaulted her. When the little girl regained consciousness, her throat was slit from ear to ear, and her voice box ruptured. As she lay on an ant hill, undressed, bleeding profusely, she was noticed by some children playing in a nearby field, fourteen hours later.
Dennis Earl Bradford the assailant, who had raped her ,slit her throat and left her to die, thought that he had very easily got away with it. But destiny had something else in store for him.
On 7thOctober 2009 an affidavit was filed in Texas. The case was reopened after 19 years. The Dickinson Police Department, requested the FBI for a repeat DNA test, as modern advances in this field could probably help them in cracking the case. The extracted DNA profile exactly matched a DNA profile already present in the FBI’s database.
Besides the artists sketch made on Jennifer’s description exactly matched Dennis Bradford’s picture on his driving license. Bradford was arrested and charged with attempted capital murder.
Bradford is currently in police custody in Pulaski County , Arkansas, awaiting extradition.