"HENK CHALLENGED HIS CONVICTION AFTER KOFOED WAS CHARGED, SAYING KOFOED PLANTED THE EVIDENCE IN HIS CASE, TOO. A JUDGE RULED THAT HENK WAS CONVICTED ON THE STRENGTH OF HIS TWO CONFESSIONS -- ONE MADE IN COURT AND THE OTHER TO DETECTIVES -- NOT THE BLOOD KOFOED FOUND. HENK IS APPEALING."
REPORTER TIMBERLY ROSS: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS;
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BACKGROUND: (David) Kofoed's work came into question after his 2006 investigation into the slaying of a rural Cass County couple, Wayne and Sharmon Stock. Detectives zeroed in on the couple's nephew and his cousin, but found no physical evidence tying the two to the killings. They managed to get a confession from the nephew, but he retracted it the next day. A day later, Kofoed said he found a drop of one of the victims' blood in a car linked to the suspects that had already been combed over by another forensic investigator. The suspects were charged with murder and jailed for several months before being released because prosecutors determined the confession was unreliable and didn't fit the facts of the case. A man and woman from Wisconsin eventually pleaded guilty to murdering the couple and are serving life prison terms. The FBI began investigating Kofoed after the slain couple's nephew filed a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations. The agency's findings led authorities to charge Kofoed with evidence tampering in April. During his trial, Kofoed blamed the speck of blood found in the car on accidental contamination. But Cass County District Judge Randall Rehmeier said he didn't buy it, and that the evidence showed Kofoed intentionally planted the blood in the car...Kofoed has not been charged in any other investigation. He remains free on bond, but is due back in court in May for sentencing. He faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Kofoed has not responded to a request for comment made to his attorney, Steve Lefler, who said Kofoed may appeal...Before issuing his verdict, Rehmeier said there were similarities between that investigation and one in which a man, Ivan Henk, was convicted of murdering his young son, whose body was never found.
In both cases, there were confessions by the suspects and a lack of physical evidence to corroborate them until Kofoed found a speck of blood that had previously been overlooked, the judge said. (Associated Press);
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"OMAHA - The Nebraska Supreme Court should appoint an independent committee to investigate the work of a former Douglas County crime scene investigator convicted of evidence tampering, an attorney for a convicted murderer has suggested to the court," the April 14, 2010 Associated Press story by reporter Timberly Ross begins, under the heading, "Henk attorney wants investigation of ex-CSI chief Kofoed's work."
"Jerry Soucie floated the idea in motion filed Tuesday in an appeal for Ivan Henk, who confessed to killing his 4-year-old son in 2003 and dumping the body in a trash bin," the story continues.
"Soucie told the Associated Press it would be unprecedented for Nebraska's high court to order an investigation of David Kofoed's work but that the scrutiny is needed.
"Somebody someplace has to look at the whole office, or that whole division," he said Wednesday.
Last month, Kofoed was convicted of tampering with evidence in a 2006 Cass County case in which two men were wrongly charged in a double murder. Kofoed, who was fired March 31, is appealing both his conviction and his dismissal.
Kofoed found the only physical evidence that tied those two innocent men to the shotgun slayings of Wayne and Sharmon Stock of rural Murdock. A man and woman from Wisconsin eventually pleaded guilty to murdering the couple and are serving life prison terms.
Kofoed has not been charged in any other investigation.
However, the judge in Kofoed's case said there were similarities between that investigation and the Henk case. In both cases, there were confessions by the suspects and a lack of physical evidence to corroborate them until Kofoed found a speck of blood that had previously been overlooked, the judge said.
Henk is serving a life sentence for his son's slaying. The boy's body never has been found, but after Henk confessed, Kofoed reported finding traces of Brendan Gonzalez's blood inside the bin.
Henk challenged his conviction after Kofoed was charged, saying Kofoed planted the evidence in his case, too. A judge ruled that Henk was convicted on the strength of his two confessions -- one made in court and the other to detectives -- not the blood Kofoed found. Henk is appealing."
The story can be found at:
http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/article_702e622e-4820-11df-8b85-001cc4c002e0.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
