Unconvinced by Kennedy’s account of the attack, investigators secured a search warrant for the home. During a four-day search that began on Mar. 4 and ended on Mar. 5, investigators conducted luminol tests inside Kennedy’s house. The tests revealed large pools of blood on the carpet near the victim’s bed. Investigators also found bloodstains on the underside of the victim’s mattress, suggesting it had been turned over to conceal the evidence. During a separate search of the garage, investigators found a jug of steam cleaner liquid, a water pail and two towels.
Unfortunately, the bloodstains were unable to provide investigators with enough DNA evidence to identify a source. Investigators were also unable to obtain a semen sample from the victim’s clothing or from swabs that were taken when she was admitted to the hospital.
Police soon learned that Kennedy had called B&B Carpet Cleaning early on the morning of Mar. 2 and told them he needed bloodstains removed from his carpet. However, when an employee showed up later that morning, he was unable to enter the home because the police and paramedics were on the scene.
When investigators spoke with Kennedy’s boss at A. Arpet Moving Co., they were told that he had left a message on the answering machine sometime before 6:00 a.m., on Mar. 2, stating that he would not be able to make it in to work. Sometime later, between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m., Kennedy called back and spoke with Alvin Arguello, the company’s chief dispatcher. During the conversation, Kennedy allegedly asked how to get blood out of a carpet, explaining that his stepdaughter had “just become a young lady.”
On May 7, 1998, a grand jury indicted Kennedy for the aggravated rape of a victim under the age of 12.
Kennedy’s case slowly made its way through the courts, and the trial finally began in Aug. 2003. The state presented evidence obtained by their crime scene investigators, testimony by the owner of the carpet cleaning company and the dispatcher at Kennedy’s employer; however, the most damaging testimony came from the victim, now 13, who had since come forward and said that Kennedy had pressured her into telling police that two boys had attacked her.
