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[Music]
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up next
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a beautiful young woman is found dead
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under a bridge
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did she jump from that bridge or did
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somebody push her
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and police learn she had a secret life
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she was dancing under the name roxanne
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and they were calling her foxy roxy
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police find a surveillance image of a
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truck near the bridge
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on the night she disappeared you can see
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an apparent body
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in the back of the pickup truck but who
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is driving the truck
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and what is the motive there was
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something more going on
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than just a woman leaping from a bridge
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for no apparent reason
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it was early on a saturday morning
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underneath a bridge
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in burlington township new jersey when
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an atv writer found the body of a young
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woman
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he assumed she'd taken her own life
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we just see a young girl she looks like
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she's about 20 to 30 years old about 100
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pounds
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she had no id on her the damage to her
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body was consistent with
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a drop of about 12 to 14 stories
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insect activity indicated she'd been
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dead
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several days but who was this woman
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police released a description to the
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media
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her manager from work called in an
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ex-boyfriend
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called in saying that they recognized
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the description of
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the jewelry that she was wearing from
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the victim's butterfly
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pendant she was identified as 21
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year old rachel siani
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i kept telling myself that it wasn't
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true
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and i told myself that all the way up
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until
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her funeral until i actually went up and
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looked
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at her nancy knew something about her
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cousin rachel cianni
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that few other people knew rachel was a
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college student by day
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and an exotic dancer by night she was
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only doing it just to
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pay her way through college and the way
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she described it to me was that she was
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dancing in an extremely skimpy bikini
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rachel worked at a place called davis
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international gentlemen's club
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across the bridge in pennsylvania just
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three miles
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from where her body was found her stage
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name was
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roxanne davis is your
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your typical gentleman's club where guys
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go in mostly guys
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and you know sit down and have some
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drinks and watch the girls
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rachel's friends and relatives could not
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believe she committed suicide
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they said she exhibited none of the
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typical signs of depression
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instead she was focused on a career
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she was studying psychology because she
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said she really wanted to focus on that
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and help people
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and rachel had a good relationship with
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her family despite some disagreements
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about her employment
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her father absolutely did not approve of
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it they obviously loved her very much
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as a daughter but i think that they
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had resolved themselves that rachel had
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to find her own way through life
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and figure out what was going to be best
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for rachel
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but was this a suicide evidence on the
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bridge revealed
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a disturbing clue there were some fibers
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that were consistent with the sweater
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that she had on but there was also some
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blood stains on the outside wall of the
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bridge
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if the blood on the bridge was rachel's
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then this might have been murder
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[Music]
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in a small town on the outskirts of
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philadelphia
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a young exotic dancer found dead beneath
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the bridge
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was front page news i mean if she worked
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at an ice cream stand it wouldn't have
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said
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ice cream girl you know murdered
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it was unsettling because everything was
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exotic dancer murdered or stripper
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thrown off bridge
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it was never her name or that she was a
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bucks county community college student
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since rachel was found at the bottom of
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the bridge
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without shoes wearing clean socks
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investigators suspected she had been
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carried to the bridge
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and thrown over the side
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they were very clean up on top of the
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bridge
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there were no shoes there was no car
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there was a lot of road debris
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and other dirt that would have become
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embedded in her socks if she was walking
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around up there
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fibers from her sweater wedged in the
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concrete of the bridge
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also made it clear she didn't jump her
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body
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scraped along the side of the bridge
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dna testing on blood found near those
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fibers confirmed
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it was rachel's blood and that she was
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bleeding
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before she hit the ground so the police
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had to work backwards
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they had to find out you know how did
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that blood and how did that fiber get on
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the pennsylvania turnpike bridge rail
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there were no marks on rachel's neck so
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investigators didn't believe a ligature
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or even
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the killer's hands were used to strangle
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her
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if it's a large surface like a forearm
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pressing against the neck or a large
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just
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flat of the hand pressing against the
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neck you don't get bruising
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significant internal bleeding told
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medical examiners
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rachel was still alive when she was
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thrown from the bridge the victim had
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blood spatters on the side of her face
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and it wasn't consistent with a fall
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from the bridge
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two broken fingernails made it clear she
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tried to defend herself
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the cause of death was blunt force
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trauma
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a skull fracture the fracture extends
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from one ear canal to the
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other here can help rachel's carr
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a battered old lincoln was in the
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parking lot of divas
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the gentleman's club where she worked
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there was
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food and money strewn about in the car
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which led us to believe that her demise
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was not a result
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of a robbery fellow dancers told police
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that a former cook
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26 year old jason woods had been
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bothering her
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he seemed to have somewhat of a fixation
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or obsession towards rachel
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where he actually told people that
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rachel was his girlfriend
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wasn't true but he told people that in
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fact
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jason had been fired just a month
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earlier
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and when police found out why they knew
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they had a solid suspect
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he was infatuated with her and he was
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subsequently
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terminated because of his infatuation
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with rachel cione
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when questioned by police jason denied
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any involvement in rachel's murder
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he was believable but we still couldn't
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rule him out
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we always have to keep that that
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individual in mind
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he can be a good actor then homicide
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investigators got a break
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on the last night rachel worked at divas
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she was in the parking lot talking with
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a friend after the club
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closed and the man obviously drunk
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started banging on the door of the club
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a local police officer witnessed the
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incident
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the policeman offered to help
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one of the owners or managers came out
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said that it was okay they knew jack he
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was a regular customer
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jack was john danafa a 35 year old
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businessman
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who had been in the club earlier that
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night
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according to diva's manager rachel
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offered to walk danafa to the motel
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located right next door to the club
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maybe she thought he'd had too much to
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drink and she wanted to take care of him
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help him perhaps get to his room
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her friend had actually asked rachel she
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was okay and rachel indicated to her
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no it's just jack i'm fine i'm okay
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motel records indicate danafa checked
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into room
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223. the hotel clerk remembered
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that rachel helped danafa up to his room
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but
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he didn't recall seeing her leave
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danafa contradicted that he claimed
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rachel left and that he went up to his
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room alone
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he said that he was with her and she
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just went her way and he went his way
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and that was it
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he said he had absolutely nothing to do
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with her demise
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whatsoever but to investigators
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something just didn't seem right i
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didn't like the guy
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the prime suspect in rachel cianni's
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murder was the last known person to see
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her alive
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jack danatha he was married with no
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children
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and owned a sign company employees say
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like clockwork dunapha visited divas
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every tuesday night
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rachel was his favorite dancer she had
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mentioned jack
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and she said that you know she wouldn't
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even have to work
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that night if she didn't want to because
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he would just give her money to sit
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there and talk to him
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and she said that you know he seemed
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like a just like a lonely
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guy and that he was basically paying for
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her friendship
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we had never discovered any evidence of
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any kind of
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sexual relationships we asked the girls
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that and we have no evidence at all that
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rachel ever engaged in any kind of
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activity like that with him or anyone
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else for that matter
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jack had a previous drunk driving arrest
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so it wasn't unusual for him to stay at
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the motel connected to the dance club
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he would rent a motel room himself and
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if he was too drunk to drive sometimes
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the divas management would comp him a
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room the weird thing about that was
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his wife was cool with it and she would
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actually drive him
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to divas and drop him off
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jack danafa had no criminal past and was
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well
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liked if you could pick your neighbors
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you'd pick jack dinoff because there
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wasn't anything you wouldn't do for you
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came from a good family
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was a workaholic ace pool player
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backslapping guy you know chairman of
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his high school alumni association
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great guy on the night of rachel's
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murder
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witnesses saw rachel accompany an
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inebriated danafa to the motel next door
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to the club
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jack danafa didn't deny that he simply
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said
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she left without going to his room
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we knew jack denofa was in there but we
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wanted to find out we want to place
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rachel
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in that room four days had passed
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since danafa stayed in the motel room
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and it had been cleaned repeatedly but
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analysts got a break
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on the outside windowsill they found
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white fibers and there was a tiny spot
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of blood
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in the shower stall andrew nardelli
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compared those
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fibers to fibers from rachel's sweater
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one of the main types of characteristics
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that we would look for
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first off would be color and a number of
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the fibers from
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the window were a different color than
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the types of fibers that were from the
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sweater though
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superficially similar the fibers did not
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match
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investigators now compared the blood
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sample from the shower stall
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to rachel's dna and got another setback
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with the swab from the shower stall
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there was no dna detected i ran the
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sample twice
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i tried to concentrate the sample
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however it was a small
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very weak blood swab so no dna
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was detected from that swab on dinafa's
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hotel registration
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he said he was driving a 1996 red dodge
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pickup truck
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that was parked in the hotel parking lot
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if he did
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cross the bridge that night surveillance
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cameras would show it
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they show clearly a 1996
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red dodge ram pickup truck with a
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motionless body
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in the open bed with clothes similar to
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rachel ciani's going through the
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toll booth at 13 minutes after three on
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march 29th
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25 minutes later the truck returned
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with nothing in the back what the tapes
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don't show
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clearly anyway is who's behind the wheel
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of that truck the license plate was
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impossible to read
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but police now had probable cause to
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search danafa's truck
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they discovered it had been thoroughly
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cleaned
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we thought we possibly lost any trace
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evidence of rachel being
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in that in that truck the first search
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didn't turn up any fibers fingerprints
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or
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blood from rachel but part of the truck
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might have withstood multiple washings
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a plastic bed liner in the same area
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where this surveillance image showed
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what looked like
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rachel's body what had happened was
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the black bed liner was not
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connected properly to the bed when the
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bed liner was removed
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analysts found what looked like blood
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dna showed it was rachel cianni's
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i couldn't wait to hear how he would
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ever try to explain that rachel siani's
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blood was in the back of his pickup
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truck
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when questioned by police danafa had an
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incredible explanation he said
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someone else must have driven his truck
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what am i missing here
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am i the dumbest prosecutor on earth
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that this guy really thinks he can win
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this thing
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this is the last known picture of rachel
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siani
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taken by a girlfriend just hours before
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her murder
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for some crazy reason she had a camera
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in the car i guess this girl young girls
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will do she pulled out the camera and
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snapped a picture of her
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right opposite her in the car
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surveillance photograph showed what
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appeared to be
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rachel's body injecting off his red
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pickup truck
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as he drove over the bridge into new
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jersey
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on the night of the murder according to
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friends
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rachel was dinoff's favorite dancer at
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divas gentlemen's club
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rachel knew him pretty well and she told
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people that she thought
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he was a loser a sucker is what she
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called him he would give her a hundred
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two hundred sometimes three hundred
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dollars
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just for sitting next to him at divas
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and so his money did not buy her heart
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but it did buy her trust and that would
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prove fatal to rachel
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she thought he was harmless on the night
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of rachel's murder
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dinafa stayed in room 223 of the motel
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next door to the club
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but investigators found no forensic
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evidence in the room
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so they tracked down the guest who
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stayed in the room
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directly below danafa's room that night
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there was a man staying in the room
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about 3 a.m
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he reported hearing uh a noise outside
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his room
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a thud or a thunk whatever it was it was
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odd
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but he did not get up to check it out
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their rooms faced
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the back of the hotel where there was
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little traffic late at night
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on the sidewalk below room 223
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investigators noticed a dark stain
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we thought that it could be oil we
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thought that it was odd that someone
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was changing oil or that their oil
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leaked up on the sidewalk
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because it was the sidewalk was very
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close to the building
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i took a white piece of paper and rubbed
00:16:30
the stain
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and when i looked at it it was red a
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presumptive test showed
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this was human blood a dna test showed
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it was rachel cialdi's something went
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south in that room that night so what
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happened
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to rachel cianni on the night of her
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murder
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prosecutors say that tuesday night was
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like any other
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the regulars were at the gentleman's
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club including
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jack danafa rachel cianni was
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the girl that jack dinosaur always
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wanted
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but couldn't get and you know if he
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couldn't
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win her affections with his uh
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pudgy good looks and oily charm he would
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ply her with money
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and gifts and buy it that way
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but it didn't work after the club
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closed for the night while rachel and
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her friend
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were talking outside jack returned
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obviously
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drunk and knocked wildly on the door
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rachel offered to walk jack to the motel
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next door where he usually stayed
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after a night out drinking
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the evidence shows she walked him to
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room
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[Music]
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223.
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prosecutors believe jack may have made
00:18:03
some type of advance
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towards her one that was rejected
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[Music]
00:18:11
enraged he choked rachel
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until she lost consciousness
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[Music]
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danafa may have thought she was dead and
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tried to get rid of her body
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by putting her on the awning below his
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window
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this way he could lower her into his
00:18:30
truck
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but investigators believe rachel slipped
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from his grasp
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and fell to the sidewalk leaving the
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bloodstain
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later found by police
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dinafa threw rachel's body in the truck
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and her blood seeped underneath the
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plastic lining of the truck bed
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he drove over the bridge into new jersey
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where he was photographed with what
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looked like rachel's body
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in the back
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with little traffic on the bridge that
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time of night
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he threw rachel's body over the side
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thinking
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her death would be ruled a suicide
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but her blood and the fibers from her
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sweater were found
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on the side of the bridge proof she was
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injured
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before she was thrown over proof
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that it wasn't suicide he was buying her
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drinks tipping her
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and obviously trying to get something
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out of her that she didn't want to give
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him
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whether it was money sex or drugs and
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when she didn't give it to him
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he got angry and he hurt her and the
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total
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lack of respect that he had for her he
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just
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dumps her body like she's like she's
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garbage
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you know we can only assume how it
00:19:58
actually started but at least we know
00:20:00
what happened after it started in
00:20:03
november
00:20:04
of 2002 jack dinoffa
00:20:07
was found guilty of first degree murder
00:20:10
and given a sentence
00:20:11
of 30 years to life in prison
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it was a bizarre murder two crime scenes
00:20:19
were extensively cleaned but a few
00:20:22
spots of blood survived and pointed
00:20:25
directly to jack dinaffa
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they didn't have much to work with in
00:20:31
their defense
00:20:32
they produced no experts because i'm
00:20:34
sure they couldn't find any that could
00:20:36
attack the validity of the dna
00:20:40
or any of the other evidence the
00:20:43
evidence
00:20:44
in the eyewitness accounts kept pointing
00:20:47
back the jack dinova but
00:20:48
it would have been criminal for us to
00:20:51
not look at him
00:20:52
jack didn't offer certainly wasn't the
00:20:53
big shot he pretended to be
00:20:55
he wanted to be a big shot in the worst
00:20:57
way you know he wanted to own dudes when
00:20:59
he walked in there
00:21:01
and he was just a small little man and
00:21:05
perhaps the most incompetent killer that
00:21:07
bucks county's ever seen
