Defense Attacks State’s Case In Opening Statement

Bonnie Craig's Sister Also Takes Stand

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By Grace Jang
Bio | Email | Follow: @GraceJangKTVA

Story Created: May 18, 2011 at 7:34 PM AKDT

Story Updated: May 18, 2011 at 8:52 PM AKDT

 

ANCHORAGE—When she was younger, Samantha Campbell said, she wanted to be just like her older sister, Bonnie Craig.
 
“She's my best friend, role model,” Campbell, now 29, told the jury. “I always wanted to grow up to be my sister.”
 
Campbell was 12 years old when Craig died. The two had different biological fathers; a revelation Campbell said crushed her when she was younger. But the two had a strong bond and were best friends.
 
“When my parents got divorced Bonnie and I ended up sharing a room at my mom's house,” Campbell said. “When we shared this room we became incredibly close. My sister and I would talk about everything even though I was quite a bit younger.”
 
But the defense says Craig had a secret life her younger sister didn't know about; a secret life in which Kenneth Dion’s attorney says Craig had sex with Dion, even though the 18-year-old woman had a serious boyfriend at the time.
 
“We're not going to dispute at all that Ken Dion's DNA is in Bonnie's vagina or underwear or on the back of her pants,” said defense attorney Andrew Lambert. “I'll tell you that right now. It's Ken's. It's there.”
    
Investigators have said Dion pushed Craig off a cliff into McHugh after striking her head with a tire iron or wooden object.
 
But the defense says neither weapon was used.
 
“In fact, they don't have a murder weapon because there isn't,” Lambert said. “It's a cliff. She accidentally fell down a cliff.”
    
The defense says there are no eyewitness accounts of Dion at McHugh Creek on that Wednesday morning, Sept. 28, 1994.
 
“This person says I did not see a redhead at McHugh Creek and I did not see a 1991 black Ford Tempo,” Lambert said, in reference to Dion’s hair and car.
    
With each new piece of evidence presented by both the state and defense, Craig’s bereft friends and family members are reminded of their loss.
 
They cried as Campbell read a note she had slipped into the lunch bag she had packed 17 years ago for Craig, whom she says was often too busy too eat; a note from a 12-year-old girl to the older sister she adored: “It says, ‘I hope you have a wonder dash full day. I heart you. Samantha.’”
 

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