Defendant in Bonnie Craig murder trial wins delay

Lawyers for Kenneth Dion appeared in Anchorage Superior Court on Wednesday and said they need more time to prepare his defense.

"This investigation has been going on for 14 years and I've had the case for less than a year," said defense attorney Lee de Grazia outside the court. "It requires quite a bit of scientific analysis."

Alaska State Troopers say they charged Dion with killing college student Bonnie Craig after a routine scan of a DNA database of felons matched him to the crime.

On Wednesday, prosecutor Pat Gullufsen said three different samples of semen found on Craig and her clothing point to Dion.

Neither Gullufsen nor Judge Patrick McKay were pleased with the delay. Both had been planning for a September trial date for more than a year.

"We are not intentionally delaying this case," de Grazia emphasized after the proceeding. "However, Mr. Dion has a constitutional right to a competent attorney, a fair trial, as well as his due process rights."

McKay will set a new trial date next week. With crowded court calendars, the delay may be until next year, he said.

Dion was a former Fort Richardson soldier, in and out of jail around the time when Craig was killed. Now 39, he faces up to 99 years in prison if convicted.

Until his trial, he will remain at the Anchorage jail, his lawyer said. His bail is set at $500,000.

Craig, an 18-year-old University of Alaska student, was last seen on September 28, 1994, leaving her family's South Anchorage home, walking to a bus stop to go to school. Her body was found floating in McHugh Creek that night.

The slaying of the teen shocked Anchorage and sent a ripple of fear through the city. For 13 years, police couldn't find her killer.

Craig's mother, Karen Foster, was in court Wednesday, and upset by what happened. She wept when the judge said he would allow a delay.

"It's just so wrong that victims don't have a right. The victim's family just gets dragged through all this," Foster said, after the hearing.

The longer the trial delays, she said, the harder it is on her family.

Find Megan Holland online at adn.com/contact/mholland or call 257-4343.