0:00

In preparing this episode, which does deal with contemporary issues of deaf individuals within the legal system.

0:05

I thought about a podcast that I had begun years ago that was designed to explore the history of the deaf community in America.

0:16

I had several episodes planned that I didn't finish, but I did have four fully researched and ready to go episodes.

0:26

I dusted them off.

0:28

I Polish them up and I decided to release them.

0:32

I considered putting them in their own feed and just directing people to go listen over there.

0:38

However, in talking with some listeners on social media, the consensus seemed to be to go ahead and put them in a separate feed if I wanted, but if I could also put them in the crime lines feed so they could find them easily, that would be great.

0:51

I decided to just go ahead and put them in the crime lines feed, because this is where my audience is.

0:56

So those will be out soon.

0:58

I will release one a day for the four days.

1:01

It will take to release all four of them.

1:03

So they're there if you're interested, but for today, I do have a true crime case for you.

1:07

So onto the show, I went to send a very happy birthday message to some Patriots.

1:14

I am freezing right now.

1:16

I hope it's not quite so cold for your birthday celebrations.

1:18

If it is just heat yourself up with the candles on your birthday cake.

1:23

I want to say happy birthday to Tiffany Tuesday, Jonathan, Katie, Jane McKayla, Donna and Carly.

1:30

I hope you all have just a wonderful birthday celebration and enjoy every minute of it.

1:36

Happy birthday.

1:37

When

1:37

Darlene

1:37

Vander

1:37

Giesen

1:37

went

1:37

missing

1:37

after

1:37

work

1:37

in

1:37

2006,

1:37

the

1:37

death

1:37

community

1:37

of

1:37

Sioux

1:37

falls

1:37

rallied

1:37

around

1:37

her

1:58

family. But when the investigation pointed to someone within their circle, the conversation began over how the legal system deals with deaf suspects.

2:07

I'm Charlie, and welcome to crime lines.

2:09

Welcome

2:09

to

2:09

crime

2:21

lines. This episode was suggested by two listeners.

2:23

One is Nate and the other is Haley with Hayley suggesting this case specifically because she knows my background in sign language.

2:32

So thank you for sending this one over for those who don't know, I trained to become a sign language interpreter.

2:39

That is my educational background.

2:42

I was never certified or licensed.

2:44

I want to be clear on that, but in my education, I did have to take classes, obviously in sign language and interpreting, but also classes and workshops in deaf culture, education, ethics, and interpreting, and a number of other specific topics like deaf blind interpreting.

3:02

So when Haley heard about this case, she thought about me and some insights I may be able to bring to this story because this case does involve issues of accessibility to the courts.

3:16

For someone who is deaf, particularly in this case, we're talking about someone who was pre lingually deaf, and we will get into that when we get there, we first have to get to the trial before we can even discuss this.

3:31

The main sources for this episode are court documents and the Argus leader newspaper, which covered this case day today, all of the sources are linked in the show notes.

3:40

Let's back up and talk about Darlene Vander Giesen.

3:44

She was born in Osborne, Kansas and July, 1963, but her family moved to rock valley Iowa.

3:51

When she was still little rock valley is just about an hour outside of Sioux falls, South Dakota, Darlene and her younger sister were both born deaf to hearing parents.

4:03

Darlene went to rock valley schools as well as hope Haven, which is an educational service for disabled individuals.

4:11

Darlene attended the Iowa school for the deaf in council Bluffs for high school.

4:17

This is two and a half hours away from her home, and it is a residential school for a lot of students going to a deaf boarding school is the first time they experience communicating 24 7 with everyone around them.

4:32

So just think about all the people you chat with during your day.

4:37

Even just a quick exchange as you pass in the grocery store, telling somebody that their baby is cute and then moving on at a deaf school, where sign is the primary language.

4:49

This is the first time many can do something like that.

4:53

Something that in the hearing world we just take for granted.

4:57

After high school, Darlene went to a community college in council Bluffs for vocational training.

5:03

She ended up moving to Sioux falls, South Dakota in 1992.

5:07

It

5:07

was

5:07

not

5:07

only

5:07

closer

5:07

to

5:07

her

5:07

family,

5:07

including

5:07

her

5:07

sister,

5:07

but

5:07

there

5:07

is

5:07

a

5:07

close

5:07

knit

5:07

deaf

5:07

community

5:16

there. Darlene quickly found work in a warehouse of a trophy manufacturer where she was a well loved employee.

5:23

For 13 years.

5:25

She made a lot of friends through the local deaf club.

5:29

She liked to play softball.

5:31

She played cards and she loved to go camping.

5:34

And

5:34

it

5:34

was

5:34

through

5:34

the

5:34

deaf

5:34

community

5:34

that

5:34

Darlene

5:34

met

5:34

a

5:34

couple

5:34

named

5:34

Daphne,

5:40

right? And Sally Collins.

5:41

It is a bit of a story to explain how Daphne Wright ended up in South Dakota.

5:48

Daphne was living in Maryland, which is where she grew up.

5:52

When she met a woman named Jackie Chesmore in an internet chat room in the late 1990s, they had a budding online romance.

6:02

When Jackie flew to Maryland, where Daphne lived for them to meet in person, they hit it off so much that after Jackie returned to Sioux falls, Daphne made plans to move there, to be with her Daphne moved in with Jackie in October, 2000, the two broke up about a year and a half later, but they stayed friends and stayed roommates sharing Jackie's house in August, 2002, Daphne started dating Sally Collins and the two first moved to Madison, Wisconsin for a little while, but then they returned to Sioux falls in 2004 when they did Sally and Daphne together, moved in with Jackie.

6:48

So Daphne and Jackie were still good friends at this point.

6:52

The problem was that Jackie and Sally weren't really friends at all.

6:58

They didn't get along well because of this tension, as well as Sally starting to lose interest in the relationship with Daphne.

7:07

Sally moved out after about a year when Sally moved out, it was September, 2005 and she moved into an apartment complex known as the deaf apartments, because a lot of deaf people lived there again back to the idea of being at the boarding school and being able to finally communicate with people 24 7, living close together in an apartment complex like this with people who use sign language fluently, it replicated that to some degree.

7:38

Although Sally had taken a big step away from her relationship with 40 three-year-old Daphne, right by moving out, they were still sort of seeing each other one day.

7:51

Sally was playing cards with people at the deaf apartments and she met 42 year old Darlene Vander Giesen there.

7:58

Darlene then met Daphne through Sally, Sally and Darlene formed a friendship.

8:05

And Daphne was feeling pushed out in late January, 2006.

8:11

Daphne went over to Sally's apartment and walked in to find Darlene there unexpectedly Daphne's jealousy over what she thought was a growing relationship between Sally and Darlene boiled over in that moment, Daphne started going at Darlene about her trying to ruin her relationship.

8:32

And Sally told Daphne to go.

8:35

Daphne said she wasn't going to leave.

8:38

So Sally then asked Darlene if she would go, she was just trying to diffuse the situation at this point.

8:46

Darlene agreed.

8:47

And when she left, Daphne made an obscene gesture towards her.

8:52

The argument continued between Sally and Daphne afterwards, like I said, Daphne had this impression that Sally was moving towards having some sort of romantic relationship with Darlene, but that was not even remotely true.

9:11

Darlene was straight.

9:13

And she was seeing a man at the time.

9:15

She and Sally were just friends.

9:18

They were always going to be just friends, but that is not how Daphne saw it.

9:23

After the argument between Sally and Daphne was just going in circles.

9:27

Sally asked Daphne again to leave.

9:31

Daphne refused.

9:33

So Sally decided she would go Daphne initially blocked Sally at the door, but she was eventually able to get out of the apartment.

9:43

And she went to someone else's place and called the police.

9:46

She told them that Daphne was at her apartment and wouldn't leave.

9:51

So the police showed up and told Daphne she had to go as Daphne left.

9:57

She told Sally, she would be very sorry.

10:00

Word about this little argument got around, which isn't surprising to me when we're talking about the deaf community in school, we're taught that deaf people are more direct because of how highly they value sharing information.

10:17

They will ask questions that hearing Americans may think are too personal, but they are totally acceptable within deaf culture.

10:26

And if we're entering their world, we need to be a little more flexible with our culturally instilled conversational boundaries.

10:35

For instance, you all know I have several children.

10:39

I have never once been asked by a hearing person.

10:42

If my children all have the same father, never hearing Americans would find that in an inappropriate question.

10:50

But I have been asked that exact thing multiple times by deaf people and all during the get to know you chit-chat after I first meet them, they weren't being rude and they weren't being nosy.

11:03

They were just asking me a question to get to know me better, this love of sharing information and having information.

11:13

All the information you can get comes from being cut off from so much information in the world around you.

11:21

You start prioritizing the gaining of information and also being able to share it.

11:27

So, yeah, I was not surprised that word of this argument between the friends spread and did not necessarily in a gossipy way, just in a reporting what is going on around them way.

11:39

But Darlene told people that she and Daphne had talked afterwards and they had smooth things over Darlene was ready to move on from the argument.

11:50

And then five days Darlene disappeared.

11:55

It was Wednesday, February 1st, 2006.

11:59

Darlene went to work as usual and left at precisely 5:07 PM around 6:00 PM.

12:07

She stopped at a tax prep office.

12:09

The following day, Darlene didn't show up to work.

12:13

Then the next day, February 3rd, she also didn't show up to work.

12:17

It was unusual to miss one day, let alone two.

12:21

So her boss called her parents as they were listed as her emergency contacts.

12:26

Her parents hadn't heard from her in that time either.

12:30

So they immediately got into the car and drove to Sioux falls to see what was going on.

12:36

They had a key to Daphne's apartment.

12:39

So they let themselves in everything in the apartment looked fine and nothing was out of place.

12:46

Darlene's keys and wallet were gone.

12:49

And so was her vehicle. So it looked like she had just stepped out, but her cell phone was left behind.

12:55

And that was something she wouldn't have spent much time without texting was an, is a major source of communication for deaf people.

13:07

I got my first cell phone with a full keyboard after I made friends in the deaf community because, oh my goodness, the texting with pushing the three buttons, maybe that's fine here and there.

13:23

But when you're having full conversations through text, it is a no-go.

13:26

So that's when I got that was when I had deaf friends around this time period.

13:32

This was before most of my hearing friends were texting to the level we do today.

13:38

So this idea that Darlene left her cell phone behind really would have shown that she wasn't planning to be gone for a long wherever.

13:47

She went. Her parents also noticed that the duffle bag Darlene would pack when she'd go out of town was still there.

13:57

And all of her clothes and hygiene items appeared to be around.

14:00

So it definitely didn't look like when Darlene loved her apartment, she planned to be gone for very long, realizing something was very wrong here.

14:12

Her parents called the police to report Darlene missing and within hours, the first major lead came in an employee at a local pizza hut restaurant called the police to report that there was a truck that had been abandoned in their parking lot.

14:32

For the last two days, the truck turned out to be Darlene Vander, Gisele.

14:37

The police spoke with the employees at the pizza hut and showed them a photograph of Darlene.

14:43

No one remembered her coming into the store, but the truck had been there since sometime before nine on Wednesday, February 1st, that was the last day Darlene had been seen, like at the apartment, there was nothing about the vehicle that seemed alarming.

15:03

It had plenty of gas.

15:05

It was in perfect working order.

15:07

It's not like it broke down there.

15:09

There was no damage to it.

15:11

And nothing obvious like blood, it looked like Darlene had just walked away.

15:17

Figuratively speaking, actually walking around Sioux falls during the winter.

15:22

Wasn't something most people did if they could help it.

15:25

So it was much more likely she had gotten into a, another vehicle in the parking lot.

15:30

And the real question was who was driving that other vehicle?

15:34

Unfortunately, there were no witnesses who saw Darlene climb into another car and no cameras outside of the pizza hut to capture it.

15:44

The family did express two possible concerns to the police from the start.

15:50

The first one was that Darlene had begun internet dating the family, worried that Darlene wasn't being as careful as she could have been or should have been when meeting up with people, she was a kind and open-hearted person.

16:08

She wasn't exactly naive, but she also wasn't naturally suspicious or super cautious about this sort of thing.

16:16

At

16:16

the

16:16

time

16:16

she

16:16

went

16:16

missing

16:16

Durley

16:16

and

16:16

had

16:16

been

16:16

seeing

16:16

a

16:16

man

16:16

named

16:22

Jeff. The police went to his apartment to ask him some questions, but he wasn't there.

16:27

And no one had seen him in a few days.

16:30

Darlene had also been gone for a few days.

16:33

So this timing seemed odd.

16:35

It took an additional four days for Jeff to show back up.

16:40

He had been out of town, visiting a friend and had no idea.

16:44

Darlene was even missing the police.

16:48

Of course still checked his alibi and they even searched his car.

16:51

They found a small amount of blood in his trunk, which seemed like a promising lead, but it was soon determined to be animal blood likely transferred during a hunting trip.

17:03

The second lead the family gave to the police were some emails.

17:07

Darlene had gotten from a woman named Wendy Smith.

17:11

Darlene's sister said the emails came about two weeks before she disappeared.

17:16

And they were insulting in nature.

17:20

They called Darlene fat and said things like how much Wendy hates her.

17:26

The thing is, Darlene didn't know anyone named Wendy or Wendy Smith.

17:31

So the emails seemed very strange.

17:34

The police took Darlene's computer in for a search, not just for the Wendy Smith emails, but also any contacts with men online.

17:44

There was nothing really suspicious about any of the dating sites or the communications there, but they were able to find the Wendy Smith emails, the insults were described as childish with immature name calling and telling Darlene to stay away from the Def apartments.

18:01

The investigators also found in email from Daphne, right?

18:06

That was sent to Darlene days after the Wendy Smith emails were saying that she was disappointed that Darlene kept visiting Sally when Daphne wasn't there and told her essentially it was enough, stop it.

18:22

There was some unusual syntax in the Wendy Smith emails that matched some unusual syntax in the Daphne, right email, some deaf people, particularly those like Daphne who were born deaf or became deaf prior to exposure to spoken English, learn English as a second language.

18:46

And that's how these emails sounded grammatically.

18:50

For example, writing disappoint meant, instead of disappointed in American sign language, you would sign these two words the same.

19:02

So it wouldn't be uncommon for someone who wasn't fluent in English to mix up, which suffix to put on the word modifying words with prefixes and suffixes.

19:15

Isn't really a thing in American sign.

19:18

Language words are modified through movement or facial expression.

19:24

Since the language is visual and concept based if two words express the same concept, regardless if they end in an I N G E D M E N T or whatever they will use the same basic hand shape though, sometimes the movement will change.

19:41

Another issue is conjugating verbs in English.

19:46

We do that by changing the sound.

19:48

And sometimes the spelling of the word say says, said, saying help helps help helping in sign language.

19:56

This is done through the movement of the sign or through establishing tents at the beginning of the sentence.

20:03

So if I'm telling you, I will help you on Monday, I will sign Monday and then I will sign help.

20:10

Moving the sign from me to you to signs will convey for English words because the movement of the sign is establishing for us, the subject and the object.

20:23

I am getting more detailed than necessary, which is on brand for me.

20:28

But the point is that when someone who isn't fluent in English tries to transliterate ASL into written English, they will have errors that are pretty easy to spot.

20:40

When you know, ASL and ASL grammar, you understand why error was made.

20:48

And that was the case with the Wendy Smith emails.

20:51

They were very likely written by someone whose first language was American sign language in comparing the Wendy Smith emails with the Daphne right email, they had the same types of errors making it seem more likely that Daphne was the deaf person who sent the emails since Darlene had conflict with Daphne in the past.

21:13

And now there's anonymous. Wendy Smith is coming in.

21:16

This seemed worth following up on, Are you ready for a hot button topic?

21:28

We talked about it in the Olin Pete Koons case, and that is qualified immunity.

21:35

Why is it so hard to Sue the police and other government officials when they violate the constitution?

21:42

Why are the courthouse doors closed off to victims of government misconduct?

21:49

This is a topic I feel very passionately about.

21:52

It's something I've learned about through podcasting.

21:56

So I'm really excited to tell you that there is a podcast out there that is exploring this.

22:01

It is called bound by oath.

22:04

The bound by oath podcast is going to look at legal doctrines, like qualified immunity that make it difficult or even impossible to hold government officials accountable bound by oath as brought to you by the Institute for justice, which is a nonprofit law firm that litigated police brutality, free speech and other civil rights cases bound by oath is a legal history podcast with scholars, journalists, and litigators.

22:34

And it features real stories of real people who are fighting for accountability over things like lying on the witness.

22:43

Stand, putting innocent people in prison, using excessive force and much, much more listen to bound by oath on any podcast app.

22:52

And I will leave it in the show notes.

22:55

If you've been listening to my show for a while, you know, I do like unsolved cases, but something else, I like a hobby in my free time is fictional murder mysteries from Agatha Christie to Anthony Horowitz.

23:08

I read it all. And that is a big part of why I love June's journey.

23:14

The game I get to take my love of mysteries and play a fun game on my phone.

23:20

This game puts my powers of observation to the test.

23:24

As I have to search for hidden clues to solve mystery after mystery, there are thousands of vivid scenes set in the glamorous roaring twenties, but this also has a storyline full of danger and romance.

23:41

They're adding new chapters every week.

23:42

So you and I are never going to run out of cases to crack the game has quickly become part of my evening routine.

23:50

As I'm winding down and getting my brain ready to settle, it keeps me engaged.

23:57

It makes me think, but it's also relaxing and very focused.

24:03

There is a detective in all of us find your inner detective download June's journey free today on the apple app store or Google play, The

24:20

police sent a subpoena to Yahoo to get the IP of the sender of the Wendy Smith emails.

24:28

It traced back to the downtown Sioux falls home that Daphne shared with her friend, Jackie, they were able to specifically say that these were sent from Jackie's computer, but definitely also had access to that computer the day after tracing the emails to Jackie's computer on February 7th, both Jackie and Daphne were asked to come in for an interview with the police, which they agreed to do.

24:55

So Daphnia was told through a sign language interpreter that this was in regards to a missing persons investigation, but that she was free to leave at any time, Daphne was asked about the emails and she denied sending them.

25:12

They were then like, yeah, no, we know you sent them because we have evidence.

25:16

You sent them. And Daphne said, maybe it was a hacker.

25:21

She got pushed back on this. And the detective even read one of the emails to her at that point, Daphne said, okay, she did send it.

25:30

And she was the person who used the Wendy Smith account.

25:34

She admitted, she thought that Sally and Darlene were having some sort of romantic relationship and she wanted Darlene to stay away from Sally.

25:42

However, Daphne insisted that she and Darlene had made up after that altercation as Sally's apartment.

25:50

And that is something Darlene had told people had happened.

25:56

Then Daphne was asked about the last time she saw or talked to Darlene and specifically had she seen her on February 1st, Daphne said she hadn't seen her talk to Darlene since January 29th later on Daphne said, actually, she was supposed to meet Darlene on the first at the pizza hut, but Daphne didn't have gas to get there.

26:21

So she never showed up.

26:24

Then later, the story changed again.

26:27

And now this time Daphne did make it to the pizza hut, but they only talked in the parking lot for a few minutes before Daphne left.

26:36

They had plans to have dinner together, but definitely didn't have enough money to eat.

26:41

So she was basically just up long enough to cancel their plans.

26:47

Daphne was asked directly if Darlene had ever been in her vehicle, which was a Suzuki SUV.

26:53

And Daphne said no.

26:56

When Daphne was asked why she was changing her story, and specifically the story about when she last saw Darlene Daphne said she was scared that she was being blamed for Darlene's disappearance.

27:09

And she was just lying to avoid getting wrapped up in something she had nothing to do with this was a two hour long interview and Daphne lied repeatedly.

27:23

She lied about the emails, then admitted it.

27:25

She lied about not seeing Darlene then admitted it, but she still denied knowing what happened to Darlene and they could not get her to budge on that story.

27:35

The questioning stopped when Daphne asked for a lawyer, in the meantime, the police were able to get a search warrant of Daphne's home person and vehicle based on the email, she had sand and her inconsistent statements.

27:52

When the investigators entered Daphne's house to search, they were immediately hit by a number of smells.

28:00

The strongest of which were paint and cleaning chemicals.

28:06

The smell grew stronger as they approached the basement door.

28:10

When they headed down the stairs, they found blue paint all over, but not quite everywhere.

28:19

So there was blue paint on a section of the floor, but not the whole floor.

28:24

It wasn't spilled. It was purposely put down in specific spots.

28:29

The same with the walls and the stairs. There were large areas that were painted, but not the whole wall or all of the steps.

28:37

The paint was still tacky. So they knew these areas were recently painted off.

28:43

The main area of the basement was a small room that back in the day was used to store coal for the houses old heating system.

28:51

But thanks to modern technology, it was empty in that room, on the walls.

28:58

They found even more blue paint.

29:00

When they peeled it back, they found small amounts of blood tissue and a bone fragments and chips.

29:09

You can only imagine what they were thinking at that point.

29:13

They had stumbled into some type of crime scene.

29:19

Another thing they noticed down there was that there was a smell of gasoline.

29:24

They collected the evidence in the basement very carefully, as well as some evidence they found upstairs on the main floor in the trash can, they found a half empty bottle of chainsaw oil.

29:39

They also found a receipt for a chainsaw from ACE hardware.

29:45

The chain saw itself was nowhere to be found, but that receipt and the chainsaw lubricants connected with something else.

29:54

The investigators had noticed in the basement.

29:56

There were several long gouges in the floor that ran parallel with each other.

30:03

They were jagged enough that someone even commented while they were down there, that they look like they were made from a chainsaw.

30:11

So now they have circumstantial evidence that a chainsaw was in that house.

30:15

Even though, like I said, no chainsaw was found, the chainsaw receipt did have a store name and location on it.

30:22

So they went out there and showed the clerk a photo lineup.

30:26

He pointed out Daphne saying that she bought a chain saw and even specifying that he remembers she was death.

30:33

He had helped her find the chainsaw that she then paid cash for the investigators.

30:39

Next pulled Daphne's a bank records and they found that on February 1st, the day Darlene went missing, Daphne had $21 in her account.

30:50

The next day her account was overdrafted by $13 on a February 3rd as Darlene's parents were coming to Sioux falls to look for her Daphne's social security check hit her account.

31:07

Daphne was then at the ATM at 9:00 AM.

31:10

Withdrawing money at 10:00 AM.

31:13

The chainsaw was bought as was a large pack of trash bags.

31:18

About 20 minutes later, the chainsaw oil was bought in the afternoon in a search of Daphne's vehicle, which she shared with her roommate.

31:29

Jackie reddish stains were found on the rear bumper.

31:34

It was collected and sent to the lab with all of the evidence from the basement.

31:40

They got Darlene's DNA from her toothbrush and her hairbrush for comparison.

31:45

At this point, they knew this was a homicide investigation.

31:50

Even if it wasn't Arlene's blood tissue and bone in the basement, it was someone's, but they were pretty sure it was probably Darlene's Daphne stayed in a hotel room while her home was being searched.

32:06

And the police then searched that hotel room.

32:09

After Daphne checked out in the trash, they found a note that was written on the hotel notepad.

32:16

So this covered several of those little pages.

32:21

Daphne wrote that she was nervous.

32:23

Not because she did anything wrong, but because a man had been stocking and raping her for months, she wrote that it was this man who must've kidnapped Darlene from the pizza hut, because he thought Daphne told Darlene about what he had been doing to maybe that man was even framing Daphne, because he wanted Daphne out of Sioux falls.

32:47

This story doesn't make much sense.

32:50

And there isn't really a point in dissecting it because it also seems like it was a practice story because it really isn't going to come up again.

33:01

But something interesting in this note is that Daphne wrote that she was painting the basement because she planned to start sleeping down there.

33:11

And there are two reasons.

33:13

This is an interesting statement.

33:16

One was that Daphne was admitting, she was the one who painted the basement.

33:21

Whoever painted the basement only happened to paint areas where there was blood and tissue evidence.

33:30

The other incriminating thing is that the basement being painted had not been in the media.

33:37

At that point, the police had not done a search of the house at the time they interviewed Daphne.

33:42

So they hadn't asked her about it.

33:46

The only people who knew the painted basement was relevant to what appeared to be a cover-up of a suspected murder, where the police and the killer.

33:57

So pretty early on the police are developing a theory.

34:00

That is actually the one that will carry on through to court.

34:05

They believed Daphne had somehow talked Darlene into getting into her car at the pizza hut.

34:12

There was some indication that Daphne may have asked Darlene to go shopping with her Daphnia, drove Darlene to her house.

34:21

And somehow Darlene ended up in the basement dead, whether she was killed down there or dragged down there, they don't know, but Darlene's body was then left in the basement for two days until Daphne had enough money for a chainsaw Darlene's body was then dismembered and dumped somewhere.

34:44

That's where the evidence trail ended at this point, suspecting that Daphne dismembered, Darlene, and put her body in the trash bags she bought, they searched nearby dumpsters though.

34:57

They didn't find any evidence. The dumpster had been emptied between the suspected dismemberment and the search in spite of not being sure they would find anything.

35:09

The investigators decided to undertake a massive search of the landfill in Sioux falls.

35:16

It began February 9th and lasted five days through zero degree windchill with snow and sleet falling a day after the search at the landfill began on February 10th, 2006, the DNA results came back from the lab.

35:34

It was Darlene's biological in the basement and on the bumper of the SUV, even without a body, they felt they had enough to move forward with this significant amount of circumstantial and forensic evidence.

35:51

40 three-year-old Daphne Wright was arrested and charged with murder.

35:56

She was charged with murder in the first degree murder in the second degree and aggravated kidnapping.

36:03

But this case was not destined to be a no body case for long.

36:09

The search of the landfill continued.

36:10

And five days after searching, Darlene's partial remains were found.

36:16

They found her lower legs and her pelvis, this lower torso area was wrapped in a bed sheet that had a familiar pattern on it.

36:26

The investigators had already seen the matching pillow cases back at Daphne's house, and that's not all they found.

36:35

They found a bloody carpet nearby as well as a blood-stained sweatshirt.

36:41

This sweatshirt had sign language graphics on it.

36:45

Now the blood matched Darlene testing, the insight of the sweatshirt discovered DNA, not from blood, but from skin cells.

36:55

And this DNA matched Daphne right?

37:00

Of all the evidence they had, this sweatshirt was the one piece that had both of their DNA on it.

37:07

And that was really important here because everything else they had could apply to Daphne's roommate, Jackie Jackie had access to the basement.

37:16

Jackie had access to the vehicle.

37:19

Jackie had access to all the same bedsheets.

37:22

She basically had access to all the areas where Darlene's DNA was found, but this sweatshirt that had Darlene's blood on it appeared to have been worn by Daphne three weeks after Darlene went missing, her family did hold a Memorial service, even though all of her remains had not yet been recovered and nothing would be released to them for a funeral until the investigation was over a month later, the family no longer had to worry about not getting all of Darlene's body back to lay her to rest because the rest of her remains were found.

38:03

It was March 28th when a highway worker in Southwestern, Minnesota passed by what looked like trash bags that someone had dumped down a steep ditch.

38:16

He had passed them earlier when he was clearing snow and assumed someone would come haul them away.

38:21

But when they were still there, he decided he would go do it.

38:25

When he got down to where the trash bags were, he realized he had actually found the upper torso and head of a woman wrapped in and bedsheets.

38:37

He called the police and this was quickly determined to be the rest of Darlene Vander Gleason's body.

38:45

A forensic examiner was called to the scene and she said she could see black charring on the face and neck of the body.

38:53

She also noticed the bra had charring on it.

38:56

And there was a smell of gasoline coupled with the evidence from the basement.

39:01

It seemed to the authorities that Daphne tried to first burn the body in the basement.

39:08

And when that didn't work, she switched to dismemberment around Darlene's head was a plastic bag that was securely fastened with a cord around her neck and autopsy was conducted and found that Darlene had also suffered a seven inch long skull fracture.

39:29

The cause of death was either blunt force trauma to the head suffocation from the bag over the head or a combination of the two.

39:40

So the state going into trial had a pretty strong case against Daphne, and we are going to go over the trial highlights later, there were some major pre-trial issues with this case though.

39:52

And the first was the death penalty.

39:55

The state was pursuing it because they believed this was a premeditated murder.

40:00

And that Daphne kidnapped Darlene, which was one aggravating factor they could argue.

40:06

Kidnapping does not require physical force.

40:09

According to the law, the state's theory was that Darlene went with Daphne voluntarily.

40:15

However, it was a ruse.

40:18

The word in all the court documents is Invega gold.

40:21

And that's our word of the day Invega old.

40:24

It means to persuade someone to do something by means of deception Daphne's defense tried to get the death penalty taken off the table.

40:34

They filed a motion arguing that it violated Daphne's eighth amendment, right against cruel and unusual punishment.

40:41

They argued that Daphne was pre lingually, deaf, meaning she was deaf before developing language.

40:47

They said that it left her at a disadvantage in a court setting in understanding what was going on.

40:54

It was interesting to see that disability advocates took the side against Daphne's defense here.

41:04

They worried about what it was saying.

41:06

When a woman liked Daphne who had a non-verbal IQ of over one 14, meaning Daphne was intelligent, said that her disability alone should give her some special treatment in the court system.

41:20

They said that this was reinforcing stereotypes of deaf individuals being less intelligent or less aware than hearing people.

41:30

But that wasn't exactly what the defense was.

41:34

They were saying that this was a language issue, not an intelligence one.

41:38

It could be argued that because Daphne was born to hearing parents who didn't learn sign while she was a child, she had a delayed introduction to any language.

41:50

And that put her at a disadvantage while interpreting services can overcome that for other non English speaking defendants, the language deficiency was just too great here to Bridgette, but the judge rules against this and believed that this disadvantage could be overcome in the court.

42:11

So then the court moved on to try to figure out how they were going to overcome this.

42:17

You might be thinking, hire an interpreter, but it really isn't that easy in legal situations where things are moving quickly.

42:26

And the words and concepts are ones that don't come up in day-to-day conversation.

42:31

Daphne would have little to no context for some of the signs being thrown at her to figure this out.

42:39

They did have a psychologist evaluate Daphne and then make a recommendation.

42:44

He ran IQ tests, education level tests evaluated her reading comprehension skills, as well as her fluency in American sign language.

42:57

He determined that Daphne was intelligent, but she had the reading ability of a third grader as well as language issues in general.

43:05

He recommended that instead of having a simultaneous interpreter, they use a consecutive interpreter.

43:13

So simultaneous interpreting is what you usually see.

43:18

The interpreter signs as the person is talking, they're a step or two behind keeping up with them.

43:24

Consecutive interpreting means that the person speaking finishes speaking, and then the interpreter signs what they said.

43:33

There are a lot of benefits to consecutive interpreting, particularly when the goal is to make sure the deaf person understands absolutely everything because their life is literally on the line.

43:46

This is because the interpreter would have time to take in the full message and then formulate how to convey the testimony best rather than just signing the words and throwing up finger, spelled legal terms at her, as they're trying to keep up one reason it can be hard to keep up with simultaneous interpreting is that it can take longer to sign concepts than it does to speak them.

44:11

Even if they sentence has fewer actual signs for it.

44:15

ASL is a spatial language and there is setting up the space in front of you.

44:20

And it's really hard to describe.

44:22

You should see my hands as I'm doing it.

44:24

Obviously you can't see them, but take my word for it.

44:28

Take the word of the research that has shown that signing takes longer than speech, which is why you'll often see interpreters, hands flying as they're keeping up.

44:38

So consecutive interpreting does seem like the best option and it really was, but there is a major downside to this, especially in the court's view, the time it would mean the trial would take more than twice as long to do it this way, the court denied the defense's request for consecutive interpreting.

44:58

So Daphne's defense then filed a motion for reconsideration on that and then filed another motion asking for a certified deaf interpreter to be employed.

45:09

And a CDI is what, it sounds like a deaf or hard of hearing person who is a certified interpreter.

45:14

The way this works in practice is that there is a hearing interpreter who interprets the speech into sign to the deaf interpreter.

45:22

The deaf interpreter then signs it to the deaf client.

45:26

This is also called relay interpreting.

45:28

Sometimes there are a few advantages to this.

45:31

The main one is that the deaf interpreter almost always has more experience with deaf people than the hearing interpreters do.

45:39

They can more easily and naturally adapt to different language abilities.

45:44

And when we have someone where comprehension of complicated concepts might be harder, CDI can bridge that in a way a hearing interpreter would struggle to CDIs are incredibly important, particularly in situations with the limited language client in most situations, staff knew would not be considered a limited language client.

46:07

She could sign and understand ASL without issue, but when they would try to discuss the legal side of things with her, they found that she struggled to understand and keep up in a courtroom.

46:20

I think it's safe to say Daphne would have been limited in her understanding, but then the judge denied the CDI and relay interpreting as well.

46:30

So here's what the court did instead.

46:32

They took a multi-step approach to this first, they provided five level five certified ASL interpreters level five is the highest certification because of how taxing sign language interpreting is.

46:45

They had the three of them taking turns, interpreting what was happening in the courtroom.

46:51

The other two sat at the defense table to facilitate communication between Daphne and her attorneys.

46:58

The second thing they did was put up a screen that kept people from seeing anything Daphne signed to her attorneys to preserve attorney client privacy.

47:09

Third, they did provide a CDI to Daphne to communicate with her attorneys before each day of testimony, but not during the proceedings for they provided real time captioning where the court reporters transcription was projected on a computer screen.

47:28

This would have been of limited use to Daphne due to her reading level.

47:34

The fifth thing they did was record the interpreter every day and give Daphne the DVD every night to watch back in herself so she can catch anything she missed or ask for an explanation for anything she didn't understand.

47:50

And lastly, the court allowed Daphne unlimited breaks during the trial, if she was struggling to keep up and she could then consult her attorney and the interpreters to get a fuller explanation, they did put a lot into place to try to make this work for Daphne without making the trial take six months to get through the things they didn't do were the top two things.

48:15

The psychologist recommended the time considerations of the court extended also to jury selection.

48:24

This was going to take a while because first they had to find people who hadn't made up their minds about the case.

48:33

They had to find people who didn't have any conflict of interests, really the usual issues you see in any jury selection.

48:40

But then they had to find people who are open-minded about the death penalty.

48:44

And then they had to account for any racial biases and staff knew was black and Darlene was white.

48:49

They then had to look for any biases against gay peoples since Daphne was a lesbian and Darlene was straight.

48:57

And then they had to account for any prejudices about people with a disability prejudices in either direction.

49:03

Would they go harder on someone who is deaf or easier, or could they judge it fairly jury selection?

49:10

It took a while. It was not a small task, but they finally had a jury.

49:14

And Daphne's trial began in the spring of 2007.

49:19

Darlene's mother Dee testified about learning.

49:22

Darlene was missing and driving to our apartment in Sioux falls.

49:26

She said that several of Darlene's friends came by the next day.

49:29

And one of them was Daphne, right?

49:32

Daphne introduced herself, gave the, a hug, expressed her sympathies that Darlene was missing.

49:39

And she assured Dee that she would pray for her.

49:44

That was the first time Dee had met Daphne.

49:47

And it's just so hard to believe.

49:49

Daphne was able to Cooley go up to Dee and hug her figuring she had pretty much just dismembered her daughter's body.

49:59

Who could do that now, according to Daphne's ex-girlfriend Sally, she wasn't acting all that cool about it.

50:08

Sally testified that when they went to Darlene's apartment and talked to the family, Daphne was eager to leave the whole time they were there afterwards.

50:17

They rented a movie to watch and went home.

50:20

But Daphne was agitated. The whole time Sally asked her what was wrong.

50:23

And Daphne said it was nothing, but she was chained smoking.

50:27

And Sally knew Daphne wasn't okay.

50:31

But the person who really could shed the most light on Daphne during the days following Darlene's disappearance was really her roommate.

50:38

Jackie Jackie testified that on the same day, Daphne bought that chainsaw.

50:43

She came home from work to find Daphne pulling carpet out from the basement.

50:48

And she was spending quite a bit of time and cleaning down there later.

50:52

She watched Daphne load bags of trash into the back of the car.

50:58

Jackie didn't know what Daphne was doing, but this is the closest we're going to get to an eyewitness to anything the state had.

51:07

The medical examiner testified that Darlene's cause of death was either the blunt force trauma or suffocation, or both.

51:14

According to the Emmy, Darlene had been hit on the head at least twice causing a seven inch skull fracture.

51:22

What object caused that injury was not known, no weapon was found, but the Emmy also testified that the bag over Daphne's head was secured in a way that it would have suffocated her.

51:33

If she was still alive.

51:36

He also testified that there was an obvious attempt to burn the body before it was ultimately dismembered.

51:42

And as I'm sure we can all understand the family did opt to leave the courtroom during the worst of this testimony.

51:48

And it did include autopsy photos.

51:52

During the investigation, there was an experiment done to see if a relatively lightweight chainsaw like the one Daphne bought would have been able to cut up a body.

52:02

And if the markings they saw on Darlene's body would match it.

52:07

So they use the carcass of an animal, similar to humans and body fat distribution.

52:12

And that is of course a pig.

52:15

They did find that the evidence matched both the blood and tissue spatter in the basement, as well as the marks on the body.

52:23

They recorded this experiment, but the judge was like, whoa, that is not going to be shown to the jury.

52:30

They were able to present their findings, but the jury was not going to watch a video depiction of a dismemberment.

52:38

It was more prejudicial than probative to the nth degree.

52:44

The defense on cross examination asked the Emmy, if Darlene's head injury could have been caused by a fall down the stairs.

52:52

The medical examiner said no, there were at least two blows and it was not consistent with falling down the stairs.

53:00

So the fall down the stairs is the first hint we have at the defense's case.

53:05

Now we can sum up their case by saying, just because the state could prove dismemberment and disposal of a body.

53:12

They didn't prove the actual murder.

53:16

This is a bit like the Robert Durst defense in the murder of Morris black.

53:20

And in his case, it worked, but Daphne's defense differed from Dursts in that the defense did not present an alternative theory from the defendant's own mouth Durst took the stand and explained how Morris ended up dead and why he dismembered him.

53:38

Daphne didn't do this.

53:40

Remember she doesn't have to.

53:42

The burden is on the state to prove Daphne did it not on Daphne to prove she didn't.

53:47

So the defense chose to instead point out the holes in the case that may have pointed to any number of alternative scenarios.

53:58

The idea that Darlene died through a possible accident like a fall down the stairs was one of them.

54:05

Another was that the defense pointed out that the forensic evidence implicated Daphne's roommate, just as much as it implicated Daphne, since they shared the basement, they shared the house.

54:17

They shared the car, also a polo shirt with a Wells Fargo logo on it was found in the landfill near Darlene's remains.

54:30

And Daphne's roommate.

54:31

Jackie worked at Wells Fargo.

54:37

It turned out that the shirt was given to employees before Jackie even worked there.

54:44

And then the shirt was not even given to the people in her department.

54:49

So it was unlikely. An old giveaway from another department would have found its way to Jackie.

54:54

And Jackie said it wasn't her shirt.

54:57

While the shirt was taken into evidence, it was not DNA tested.

55:01

And the defense was asking why not?

55:05

The response was that it didn't seem to be relevant enough.

55:09

They had collected over 400 pieces of evidence and they just couldn't test everything.

55:15

The shirt had no obvious connection to the case or anyone in the case, in the view of the investigators, the defense also pointed out that Darlene's address book was found with the pages for C and D ripped out Daphne's roommate.

55:31

Jackie's last name starts with a C.

55:33

And so did her ex-girlfriend Sally's that offense also questioned why a pair of men's underwear found outside of Darlene's apartment.

55:42

Wasn't tested for DNA.

55:44

The state said it was because it was established to belong to a nine-year-old child who went to a nearby daycare.

55:51

But this was through witness testimony.

55:53

The defense believed like the Wells Fargo shirt.

55:57

It should have been tested.

55:59

Now there are other things like cigarettes found at Darlene's apartment.

56:03

They weren't hers. And they weren't Daphne's.

56:05

There was an issue of Darlene meeting men online, which opens up the suspect pool, even wider.

56:12

The defense argued that the police had tunnel vision when Daphne Wright came on their radar and that caused them to ignore other leads.

56:19

They didn't test evidence that wouldn't directly link them to Daphne.

56:25

The defense also called their own pathologist in, from rapid city, which is clear across the state from Sioux falls.

56:32

He testified that the bruising on Darlene's head could have occurred with one blow and he didn't rule out a fall down the stairs.

56:41

He theorized that the bag over Darlene's head.

56:44

It may not have been to kill her, but rather to cover her face while she was being dismembered, I feel like that's a good try, but it really doesn't fit for me.

56:54

For one thing, the bag was tightly secured around Arlene's snack.

56:59

If it was just to cover the face, why tightly secure it.

57:03

And another thing, those who responded to the scene when this part of Darlene's remains were found, set her face was visible through the bag.

57:12

It was a thin bag.

57:14

It didn't cover her face.

57:17

So while you could throw this out as a theory, and if I was the defense attorney, I would as well, it just still doesn't really fit.

57:26

Closing arguments occurred over four hours and the defense wanted the jury to focus on all of the question marks in the case.

57:32

And they drove those home hoping that one of them or the, some of them would be enough for reasonable doubt.

57:40

On April 12th, 2007, after several hours of deliberation, the jury found no reasonable doubt.

57:46

They convicted Daphne of first degree murder and kidnapping, and the case moved to the penalty phase.

57:53

This is where the defense there's everything they can to show the jury Daphne deserved to be spared a death sentence.

58:01

The jury heard about Daphne's childhood.

58:03

She was bullied as a child for being deaf, for being black and later for being gay, even though Daphne was born deaf, her mother didn't learn sign language until she was a teen.

58:15

And that did impact their relationship.

58:17

They used some type of homemade sign language in the home, which isn't uncommon, but those systems tend to be incredibly simplistic, which would have also impacted Daphne's early language learning.

58:31

Daphne went to a deaf school where she did learn American sign language.

58:35

When she was in high school, her father died and Daphne's struggled to deal with it.

58:39

Her behavior was bad enough that she ended up being expelled from school.

58:45

The psychologist who examined her before trial testified, he talked about Daphne's extreme reaction to thinking Sally was leaving her.

58:55

It was a fear of abandonment that was rooted in losing her father.

59:00

He also testified that even though Daphne's IQ was measured at one 14 to one 17, she showed that her ability to reason was low and considered a borderline functioning.

59:13

This meant she had poor problem solving skills, and this is why it matters.

59:19

Part of the reason the state argued that Daphne should be executed was the depraved nature of the crime.

59:28

And that included the dismemberment.

59:30

But the defense said, this wasn't a depraved mind who did this.

59:35

It was someone who had a problem and she couldn't solve it.

59:38

She had a full grown woman's body in her basement and had to get it out of there.

59:44

And this was the solution she came up with.

59:47

Not only was the dismemberment, not to praise the defense said the state failed to prove there was a kidnapping or that this was a premeditated murder.

59:58

The jury deliberated this time for nine hours, the verdict would have to be unanimous to give Daphne the death penalty.

1:00:06

Though, the jury found the state had proved the necessary aggravating circumstances to support the death penalty.

1:00:13

They decided not to go with it.

1:00:16

Daphne was instead of given life in prison without parole, Darlene Vander Gleason's mother said she would pray for Daphne Daphne's.

1:00:27

Mother said that Daphne told her she didn't kill Darlene.

1:00:30

And she still believed her everyone except Daphne made statements before, during and after Daphne has declined comment.

1:00:41

Daphne Wright appealed on a number of grounds, which is very normal in an appeal.

1:00:46

You have to raise issues at the earliest opportunity, procedurally speaking.

1:00:50

So it's not uncommon to see this first direct appeal include everything except the kitchen sink.

1:00:56

And if the kitchen sink was admitted, but outside the rules of evidence that will be included to the point.

1:01:04

And the appeal I thought was most interesting was that they believe the court erred in not providing Daphne with a certified deaf interpreter and not allowing the consecutive interpretation.

1:01:15

The appellate court said that the defense might be correct on that.

1:01:19

They may be correct that the CDI and the consecutive interpreter would have been the best solution, but they said it didn't mean the solution.

1:01:29

The court came up with wasn't enough, the defense couldn't just say there was a potential for error in Daphne's understanding of what was going on.

1:01:40

They had to show that the error occurred.

1:01:43

So where in the trial did Daphne misunderstand something or have a question that wasn't clarified for her, the appeal to not offer a specific example.

1:01:53

So it was denied, but you have to see how tricky this is.

1:01:58

How do you even pinpoint the sort of thing?

1:02:01

Because if Daphne didn't understand it, she doesn't know what she doesn't know.

1:02:08

How is she to say, I didn't understand this thing, but I don't know.

1:02:11

I didn't understand it because they didn't understand it.

1:02:14

But this is a court.

1:02:17

You have to prove your claims. You have to prove the error happened.

1:02:20

Not just that it had the potential for happening.

1:02:23

So I understand it, but I also see why the defense was at such a disadvantage in making this claim, Daphne right, remains incarcerated in the South Dakota women's prison for Darlene Vander, Gleason's family.

1:02:39

They've very clearly leaned on their faith to get through this.

1:02:44

Darlene's mother reached out to Daphne's mother, acknowledging that they both lost a daughter, one to death and the other to prison.

1:02:53

I am always amazed at the depth of compassion.

1:02:57

People can reach even when they are the ones who lost the most.

1:03:02

So if Daphne Wright has anything going for her in prison, she does have the prayers of Darlene's family, which is truly a remarkable Testament to the love and empathy of the Vander Giesen family.

1:03:21

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1:03:34

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1:03:43

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1:03:52

In preparing this episode, which does deal with contemporary issues of deaf individuals within the legal preparing this episode, which does deal with contemporary issues of deaf individuals within the legal system, I thought about a podcast that I had begun years ago, that was designed to explore the history of the deaf community in America. I had several episodes planned that I didn't finish, but I did have four fully researched and ready to go episodes. I dusted them off, I polish them up, and I decided to release them. I considered putting them in their own feed and just directing people to go listen over there. However, in talking with some listeners on social media, the consensus seemed to be to go ahead and put them in separate feed if I wanted, but if I could also put them in the crime lines feed so they could find them easily, that would be great. I decided to just go ahead and put them in the crime lines feed because this is where my audience is. So those will be out soon. I will release one a day for the four days that will take to release all four of them. So they're there if you're interested. But for today, I do have a true crime case for you, so onto the show. I went to send a very happy birthday message to some patrons. I am freezing right now. I hope it's not quite so cold for your birthday celebrations If it is, just heat yourself up with the candles on your birthday cake. I wanna say happy birthday to Tiffany, Tuesday, Jonathan Katie, June's, Donna, and Carly. I hope you all have just a wonderful birthday celebration and enjoy every minute of it. Happy Happy birthday. When Darling VanderGiesen went missing after work in two thousand and six, the deaf community of Sioux Falls rallied around her family. But when the investigation pointed to someone within their circle, The conversation began over how the legal system deals with deaf suspects. I'm Charlie, and welcome to crime lines. Welcome to crimelinespodcastgmailcom episode will see adjusted by two listeners, one is Nate, and the other is Haley. With Haley suggesting this case specifically, because she knows my background in sign language. So thank you for sending this one over. For those who don't know, I trained to become a sign language interpreter. That is my educational background. I was never certified or licensed. I wanna be clear on that. But in my education, I did have to take classes obviously in sign language and interpreting, but also classes and workshops in deaf culture, education, ethics, and interpreting, and a number of other specific topics like deaf blind interpreting. So when Haley heard about this case, she thought about me and some insights I may be able to bring to this story. Because this case does involve issues of accessibility to the courts for someone who is deaf. Particularly, in this case we're talking about someone who is prelingually deaf. And we will get into that when we get there. We first have to get to the trial before we can even discuss this. The main sources for this episode are court documents and the Argus leader newspaper which covered this case day to day. All of the sources are linked in the show notes. Let's back up and talk about Darlene VanderGiesen. She was born in Osborn, Kansas in July nineteen sixty three, but her family moved to Rock Valley, Iowa when she was still little. Rock Valley is just about an hour outside of Sioux Falls South Dakota. Darlene and her younger sister were both born deaf, two hearing parents. Darlene went to Rock Valley Schools as well as HOPAY VIN, WHICH IS AN EDUCATIONAL SERVICE FOR DISABLED INDIVIDUALS. DARELINE ATTENDED THE IOS SCHOOL FOR THE DEATH IN COUNCIL BLOUGHS for high school. This is two and a half hours away from her home and it is a residential school. For a lot of students going to a deaf boarding school is the first time, they experience communicating twenty four seven with everyone around them. So just think about all the people you chat with during your just think about all the people you chat with during your day, even just a quick exchange as you pass in the grocery store, telling somebody that their baby is cute and then moving on. At a deaf school where sign is the primary language, This is the first time many can do something like that, something that in the hearing world we just take for granted. After high school, Darlene went to a community college and council Bluffs for vocational training. She ended up moving to Sioux Falls South Dakota in nineteen ninety two. It was not only closer to her family, including her sister, but there is a close knit deaf community there. Darlene quickly found work in a warehouse of a trophy manufacturer where she was a well loved employee for thirteen years. She made a lot of friends through the local deaf club. She liked to play softball. She played cards. And she loved to go camping. And it was through the deaf community that Darlene met a couple named Daphne Wright and Sally Collins. It is a bit of a story to explain how Daphne Wright ended up in South Dakota. Dakota. Daphne was living in Maryland, which is where she grew Daphne was living in Maryland, which is where she grew up. When she met a woman named Jackie Chasmore in an Internet chat room in the late nineteen nineties. They had a budding online romance when Jackie flew to Maryland where Daphne lived for them to meet in person. THEY HITTED OFF SO MUCH THAT AFTER JACKIE RETURNED TO SUFALLS, DAFNY MADE PLANS TO MOVE THERE TO BE WITH HER. Daphne moved in with Jackie in October two thousand. The two broke up about a year and a half later, but they stayed friends and stayed roommates sharing Jackie's house. In August two thousand two, Daphne started dating Sally Collins. And the two first moved to Madison, Wisconsin for a little while, but then they returned to Sioux Falls in two thousand four. When they did, Sally and Daphne together moved in with Jackie. So Daphne and Jackie were still good friends at this point. The problem was that Jackie and Sally weren't really friends at all. They didn't get along well. Because of this tension as well as Sally starting to lose interest in the relationship with Daphne, Sally moved out after about a year. When Sally moved out, it was September two thousand five, and she moved into an apartment complex known as the deaf apartments because a lot of deaf people lived there. Again, back to the idea of being at the boarding school and being able to finally communicate with people twenty four seven living close together in an apartment complex like this with people who use sign language fluently, it replicated that to some degree. Although Sally had taken a big step away from her relationship with forty three year old Daphne Wright by moving out, they were still sort of seeing each other. One day, Sally was playing cards with people at the deaf apartments and she met forty two year old Darlene VanderGiesen there. Darlene then met Daphne through Sally. Sally and Darlene formed a friendship and Daphne was feeling pushed out. In late January two thousand six, Daphne went over to Sally's apartment and walked in to find Darlene there unexpectedly. Daphne's jealousy over what she thought was a growing relationship between Sally and Darlene boiled over in that moment. Daphne started going at Darlene about her trying to ruin her relationship and Sally told Daphne to go. Daphne said she wasn't going to leave, so Sally then asked Darlene if she would go. She was just trying to diffuse this situation at this point. Darlene agreed and when she left, Daphne made an obscene gesture towards her. The argument continued between Sally and Daphne afterwards. Like I said, Daphne had this impression that Sally was moving towards having some sort of romantic relationship with Darlene. But that was not even remotely true. Darlene was straight and she was seeing a man at the time. She and Sally were just friends. They were always going to be just friends, but that is not how Daphne saw it. After the argument between Sally and Daphne was just going in circles, Sally asked Daphne again to leave. Daphne refused so Sally decided she would go. Daphne initially blocked Sally at the door, but she was eventually able to get out of the apartment and she went to someone else's place and called the police. She told them that Daphne was at her apartment and wouldn't leave. So the police showed up and told Daphne she had to go. AS Daphne LEFT, SHE TOLD Sally SHE WOULD BE VERY SORRY. WORD ABOUT THIS Little argument got around, which isn't surprising to me when we're talking about the deaf community. In school, we're taught that deaf people are more direct because of how highly they value sharing information. They will ask questions that hearing Americans may think are too personal, but they are totally acceptable within deaf culture. And if we're entering their world, we need to be little more flexible with our culturally instilled conversational boundaries. For instance, you all know I have several children. I have never once been asked by a hearing person if my children all have the same father. Never. Hearing Americans would find that an inappropriate question. But I have been asked that exact thing multiple times by deaf people and all during the get to know you, Chitchat, after I first meet them. They weren't being rude and they weren't being nosy. They were just asking me a question to get to know me better. This love of sharing information and having information, all the information you can get, comes from being cut off from so much information in the world around you. You start prioritizing the gaining of information and also being able to share it. So, yeah, I was not surprised that word of this argument between the friends spread. And not necessarily in a gossipy way, just in a reporting what is going on around them way. But Darlene told people that she and Daphne had talked afterwards and they had smoothed things over. Darleen was ready to move on from the argument. And then five days later, Darleen disappeared. It was Wednesday, February first two thousand six. Darlene went to work as usual and left at precisely 507 PM. Around six PM, she stopped at a tax prep office. The following day, Darlene didn't show up to work. Then the next day, February third, she also didn't show up to work. It was unusual To miss one day, let alone two, so her boss called her parents as they were listed as her emergency contacts. Her parents hadn't heard from her in that time either, so they immediately got into the car and drove to Sioux Falls to see what was going on. They had a key to Daphne's apartment so they let themselves in. Everything in the apartment looked fine and nothing was out of place. Darlene's keys and wallet were gone, and so was her vehicle. So it looked like she had just stepped out. But her cell phone was left behind and that was something she wouldn't have spent much time without. Texting wasn't is a major source of communication for deaf people. I got my first cell phone with a full keyboard after I made friends in the deaf community because Oh my goodness, the texting with pushing the three buttons? Maybe that's fine here and there, but when you're having full conversations through text, It is a no go. So that's when I got that, was when I had deaf friends around this time period. This was before most of my hearing friends were texting to the level we do today. So this idea that Darlene left her cell phone behind really would have shown that she wasn't planning to be gone for long wherever she went. Her parents also noticed that The duffle bag, Darlene Woodpack, when she'd go out of town, was still there. And all of her clothes and hygiene items appeared to be around SO IT DEFINITELY DIDN'T LOOK LIKE WHEN DARELENA LEFT HER APARTMENT SHE PLANNED TO BE GONE FOR VERY LONG. Realizing something was very wrong here, her parents called the police to report Darlene missing. And within hours, the first major lead came in. An employee at a local pizza hut restaurant called the police to report that there was a truck that had been abandoned in their parking lot for the last two days. The truck turned out to be Darlene VanderGiesen. The police spoke with the employees at the Pizza Hut and showed them a photograph of Darlene. No one remembered her coming into the store, but the truck had been there since sometime before nine PM on Wednesday, February first. That was the last day Darlene had been seen. Like at the apartment, there was nothing about the vehicle that seemed alarming. It had plenty of gas. It was in perfect working order. It's not like it broke down there. There was no damage to it and nothing obvious like blood. It looked like Darling had just walked away. Figuratively speaking, actually walking around Sioux Falls during the winter wasn't something most people did if they could help it. So it was much more likely she had gotten into another vehicle in the parking lot. And the real question was, who was driving that other vehicle? Unfortunately, there were no witnesses who saw Darlene climb into another car and no cameras outside of the Pizza Hut to capture it. The family did express two possible concerns to the police from the start. The first one was that Darlene had begun Internet dating. The family worried that Darlene wasn't being as careful as she could have been or should have been when meeting up with people. She was a kind and open hearted person. She wasn't exactly naive, but she also wasn't naturally suspicious or super cautious about this sort of thing. At the time, she went missing, Darlene had been seeing a man named Jeff. The police went to his apartment to ask him some questions, but he wasn't there and no one had seen him in a few days. Darlene had also been gone for a few days, so this timing seemed odd. It took an additional four days for Jeff to show back up. He had been out of town visiting a friend and had No idea, Darlene was even missing. The police, of course, still checked his alibi, and they even searched his car. They found a small amount of blood in his trunk, which seemed like a promising lead, but it was soon determined to be animal blood likely transferred during a hunting trip. The second lead the family gave to the police were some emails Darlene had gotten from a woman named Wendy Smith. Darlene's sister said the emails came about two weeks before she disappeared. And they were insulting in nature. They called Darlene Phatt and said things like how much Wendy hates her. The thing is Darlene didn't know anyone named Wendy or Wendy Smith, so the emails seemed very strange. The police took Darlene's computer in for a search, not just for the Wendy Smith emails, but also any contacts with men online. There was nothing really suspicious about any of the dating sites or the communications there, but they were able to find the Wendy Smith emails. The insults were described as childish with immature name calling and telling Darlene to stay away from the deaf apartments. The investigators also found an email from Daphne Wright that was sent to Darlene days after the Wendy Smith emails were saying that she was disappointed that Darlene kept visiting Sally when Daphne wasn't there and told her essentially It was enough, stop it. There was some unusual syntax in the Wendy Smith emails that matched some unusual syntax in the Daphne right email. Some deaf people, particularly those like Daphne who were born deaf or became deaf prior to exposure to spoken English. Learn English as a second language. And that's how these emails sounded grammatically. For example, writing disappointment instead of disappointed. In American sign language, you would sign these two words the same. So it wouldn't be uncommon for someone who wasn't fluent in English to mix up which suffix to put on the word. Moda find words with prefixes and suffixes isn't really a thing in American sign language. Words are modified through movement or facial expression since the language is visual and concept based. If two words express the same concept, regardless if they end in an INGEDMENT or whatever, They will use the same basic hand shape, though sometimes the movement will change. Another issue is conjugating verbs. In English, we do that by changing the sound and sometimes the spelling of the word. Say says said saying help helps help helping. In sign language, this is done through the movement of the sign or through establishing tense at the beginning of the sentence. So if I'm telling you, I will help you on Monday, I will sign Monday and then I will sign help moving the sign from me to you. Two signs will convey four English words. Because the movement of the sign is establishing for us the subject and the object. I am getting more detailed than necessary, which is on brand for me. But the point is that when someone who isn't fluent in English tries to transliterate ASL into written English, they will have errors that are pretty easy to spot when you know ASL and ASL grammar. You understand why that error was made and that was the case with the Wendy Smith emails. They were very likely written by someone whose first language was American sign language. In comparing the Wendy Smith emails with the Daphne Wright email, they had the same types of errors, making it seem more likely that Daphne was the deaf person who sent the emails. Since Darling had conflict with Daphne in the past and now this anonymous Wendy Smith is coming in, this seemed worth following up on. Are you ready for a hot button topic, we talked about it in the Olin Pete June's case, and that is Qualified Immunity. Why is it so hard to sue the police and other government officials when they violate the constitution? Why are the courthouse doors closed off to victims of government misconduct? This is topic I feel very passionately about. It's something I've learned about through podcasting. So I'm really excited to tell you that there is a podcast out there that is exploring So I'm really excited to tell you that there is a podcast out there that is exploring this. It is called bound by It is called bound by oath. The bound by oath podcast is going to look at legal doctrines. Like qualified immunity that make it difficult or even impossible to hold government officials accountable. Bound by oath is brought to you by the Institute for Justice, which is a nonprofit law firm that litigates police brutality, free speech, and other civil rights cases. Bound by oath is a legal history podcast with scholars, journalists and litigators and it features real stories of real people who are fighting for accountability over things like lying on the witness stand. Putting innocent people in prison, using excessive force, and much much more. Listen to bound by oath on any podcast app and I will leave it in the show notes. notes. If you've been listening to my show for a while, you know I do like unsolved cases. But something else I like, a hobby in my free time, is fictional murder mysteries from Agatha Christie to Anthony Horowitz. Horowitz. I read it read it all. all. And that is a big part of why I love June's that is a big part of why I love June's Journey journey. The game I get to take my love of mysteries and play a fun game on my Game. I get to take my love of mysteries and Play a fun game on my phone. This game puts my powers of observation to the test test. As I have to search for hidden clues to solve mystery after mystery, there are thousands of vivid scenes set in the glamorous roaring twenties, but this also has a storyline full of danger and I have to search for hidden clues to solve mystery after mystery. There are thousands of vivid scenes set in the glamorous roaring twenties But this also has a storyline full of danger and romance. romance. They're adding new chapters every adding new chapters every week, so you and I are never going to run out of cases to crack. The game has quickly become part of my evening routine routine. As I'm winding down and getting my brain ready to settle, it keeps me I'm winding down and getting my brain ready to settle. It keeps me engaged. engaged. It makes me think, but it's also relaxing and very It makes me think, but it's also relaxing and very focused. focused. There is a detective in all of us find your inner detective download June's journey free today on the apple app store or Google play, is a detective in all of us. Find your inner detective. Download June's journey free today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. The police sent a subpoena to Yahoo to get the IP of the sender of the Wendy Smith emails. It traced back to the downtown Sioux Falls home that Daphne shared with her friend, Jackie. They were able to specifically say that these were sent from Jackie's computer, but Daphne also had access to that computer. The day after tracing the emails to Jackie's computer on February seventh, both Jackie and Daphne were asked to come in for an interview with the police, which they agreed to do so. Daphne was told through a sign language interpreter that this was in regards to a missing person's investigation, but that she was free to leave at any time. Daphne was asked about the emails and she denied sending them. They were then like, yeah, no. We know you sent them because we have evidence you sent them. And Daphne said maybe it was a hacker. She got pushed back on this and the detective even read one of the emails to her. At that point, Daphne said, okay, she did send it and she was the person who used the Wendy Smith account. She admitted she thought that Sally and Darlene were having some sort of romantic relationship and she wanted Darlene to stay away from Sally. However, Daphne insisted that she and Darlene had made up after that altercation at Sally's apartment. And that is something Darling had told people had happened. Then Daphne was asked about the last time she saw or talked to Darlene and specifically had she seen her on February first. Daphne said she hadn't seen her talk to Darlene since January twenty ninth. Later on, Daphne said, actually, she was supposed to meet Darlene on the first at the Pizza Hut. But Daphne didn't have guests to get there so she never showed up. Then later, the story changed again. And now this time, Daphne did make it to the Pizza Hut, but they only talked in the parking lot for a few minutes before Daphne left. left. They had plans to have dinner together, but definitely didn't have enough money to had plans to have dinner together, but Daphne didn't have enough money to eat. So she was basically just showing up long enough to cancel their plans. Daphne was asked directly if Darlene had ever been in her vehicle, which was a Suzuki SUV, and Daphne said no. When Daphne was asked why she was changing her story and specifically the story about when she last saw Darlene, Daphne said she was scared that she was being blamed for Darling's disappearance, and she was just lying to avoid getting wrapped up in something she had nothing to do with. This was a two hour long interview and deaf knee lied repeatedly. repeatedly. She lied about the emails, then admitted She lied about the emails, then admitted it. She lied about not seeing Darlene, then admitted it. But she still denied knowing what happened to Darlene and they could not get her to budge on that story. story. The questioning stopped when Daphne asked for a lawyer, in the meantime, the police were able to get a search warrant of Daphne's home person and vehicle based on the email, she had sand and her inconsistent questioning stopped when Daphne asked for a lawyer. In the meantime, the police were able to get a search warrant of Daphne's home, person, and vehicle based on the email she had sent and her inconsistent statements. When the investigators entered Daphne's house to search, they were immediately hit by a number of smells. smells. The strongest of which were paint and cleaning The strongest of which were paint, and cleaning chemicals. The smell grew stronger as they approached the basement door. When they headed down the stairs, they found blue paint all over, but not quite everywhere. So there was a blue paint on a section of the floor, but not the whole floor. floor. It wasn't It wasn't spilled. spilled. It was purposely put down in specific It was purposely put down in specific spots. spots. The same with the walls and the The same with the walls and the stairs. stairs. There were large areas that were painted, but not the whole wall or all of the There were large areas that were painted, but not the whole wall or all of the steps. steps. The paint was still paint was still tacky, so they knew these areas were recently painted. Off the main area of the basement was a small room that backed in the day was used to store coal for the house's old heating system, but thanks to modern technology, it was empty. In that room, on the walls, they found even a more blue paint. When they peeled it back, they found small amounts of blood tissue and bone fragments and chips. chips. You can only imagine what they were thinking at that You can only imagine what they were thinking at that point. They had stumbled into some type of crime scene. Another thing they noticed down there was that there was a smell of gasoline. They collected the evidence in the basement very carefully as well as some evidence they found upstairs on the main floor. In the trash can, they found a half empty bottle of chainsaw oil. oil. They also found a receipt for a chainsaw from ACE also found a receipt for a chain saw from Ace Hardware. The chain saw itself was nowhere to be found. But that receipt and the chainsaw lubricants connected with something else else. The investigators had noticed in the investigators had noticed in the basement. There were several long gouges in the floor that ran parallel with each other. They were jagged enough that someone even commented while they were down there that they looked like they were made from a chain saw. So now they have circumstantial evidence that a chain saw was in that. House even though like I said no chainsaw was found. The chainsaw receipt did have a store name and location on it so they went out there and showed the clerk a photo lineup. He pointed out Daphne, saying that she bought a chain saw and even specifying that he remembers she was death. He had helped her find the chainsaw that she then paid cash for. The investigators next pulled Daphne's bank records, and they found that on February first, the day Darlene went missing, Daphne had twenty one dollars in her account. The next day, her account was overdrafted by thirteen. Dollars on February third, as Darlene's parents were coming to Sioux Falls to look for her, Daphne's Social Security check hit her account. Daphne was then at the ATM at nine AM with drying money. At ten AM, the chainsaw was bought as was a large pack of trash bags about twenty minutes later. The chainsaw oil was bought in the afternoon. In a search of Daphne's vehicle, which she shared with her roommate Jackie, reddish stains were found on the rear bumper. bumper. It was collected and sent to the lab with all of the evidence from the was collected and sent to the lab with all of the evidence from the basement. basement. They got Darlene's DNA from her toothbrush and her hairbrush for They got Darlene's DNA from her toothbrush and her hairbrush for comparison. At this point, they knew this was a homicide investigation. Even if it wasn't Arlene's blood, tissue, and bone in the basement, it was someone's, but they were pretty sure it was probably Darlene's. Daphne stated hotel room while her home was being searched. And the police then searched that hotel room after Daphne checked out. In the trash, they found a note that was written on the hotel notepad, so this covered several of those little pages. Daphne wrote that she was nervous, not because she did anything wrong, but because a man had been stalking and raping her four months. She wrote that it was this man who must have kidnapped Darlene from the Pizza Hut because he thought Daphne told Darlene about what he had been doing to her. Maybe that man was even framing Daphne because he wanted Daphne out of Sioux Falls. This story doesn't make much sense and there isn't really a point in dissecting it because it also seems like it was a practice story because it really isn't going to come up again. But something interesting in this note is that Daphne wrote that she was painting the basement because she planned to start sleeping down there. And there are two reasons this is An interesting statement. One was that Daphne was admitting she was the one who painted the basement. Whoever painted the basement only happened to paint areas where there was blood and tissue evidence. The other incriminating thing is that the basement being painted had not been in the media at that point. The police had not done a search of the house at the time they interviewed Daphne, so they hadn't asked her about it. The only people who knew the painted basement was relevant to what appeared to be a cover up of a suspected murder were the police? AND THE KILLER. killer. So pretty early on the police are developing a PRETTY EARLY ON THE POLICE ARE DEVELOPING A THEORY THAT IS ACTUALLY THE ONE THAT WILL CARRY ON THROUGH TO COURT. They believed Daphne had somehow talked Darlene into getting into her car at the Pizza Hut. There was some indication that Daphne may have asked Darlene to go shopping with her. Daphne had drove Darlene to her house and somehow Darlene ended up in the basement dead. Whether she was killed down there or dragged down there, They don't know, but Darlene's body was then left in the basement for two days until Daphne had enough money for a chainsaw. Darleen's body was then dismembered and dumped somewhere. somewhere. That's where the evidence trail ended at this point, suspecting that Daphne dismembered, Darlene, and put her body in the trash bags she bought, they searched nearby dumpsters where the evidence trail ended at this point. Suspecting that Daphne dismembered Darlene and put her body in the trash bags she bought, they searched nearby dumpsters. Though though. They didn't find any didn't find any evidence, evidence. The dumpster had been emptied between the suspected dismemberment and the search in spite of not being sure they would find the dumpster had been emptied between the suspected dismemberment and the surge. In spite of not being sure they would find anything, anything. The investigators decided to undertake a massive search of the landfill in Sioux the investigators decided to undertake a massive search of the landfill in Sioux Falls. It began February ninth and lasted five days through zero degree wind chill with snow and sleep falling. A day after the search at the landfill began on February tenth two thousand six, the DNA results came back from the lab. It was Darling's biological material in the basement and on the bumper of the SUV, even without a body. They felt they had enough to move forward with This significant amount of circumstantial and forensic evidence, forty three year old Daphne Wright was arrested and charged with murder. murder. She was charged with murder in the first degree murder in the second degree and aggravated was charged with murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, and aggravated kidnapping. But this case was not destined to be a no body case for long. The search of the landfill continued and five days after searching, Darlene's partial remains were found. They found her lower legs and her pelvis. This lower torso area was wrapped in a bedsheet that had a familiar pattern on it. it. The investigators had already seen the matching pillow cases back at Daphne's house, and that's not all they The investigators had already seen the matching hello cases back at Japhne's house. And that's not all they found. found. They found a bloody carpet nearby as well as a blood-stained found a bloody carpet near by as well as a blood stained sweatshirt. This sweatshirt had sign language graphics on it. Now the blood matched Darlene, testing the inside of the sweatshirt, discovered DNA not from blood, but from skin cells and this DNA matched Daphne right. Of all the evidence they had, this sweatshirt was the one piece that had both of their DNA on it. And that was really important here because everything else they had could apply to Daphne's roommate Jackie. Jackie had access to the basement. Jackie had access to the vehicle, Jackie had access to all the same bed sheets. She basically had access to all the areas where Darlene's DNA was found. But this sweatshirt that had Darling's blood on it appeared to have been worn by Daphne. Three weeks after Darlene went missing, her family did hold a memorial service even though all of her remains had not yet been recovered. And nothing would be released to them for a funeral until the investigation was over. A month later, the family no longer had to worry about not getting all of Darlene's body back to lay her to rest because the rest of her remains WERE FOUND. IT WAS MARCH twenty eight WHEN A HIGHWAY WORKER IN SOUTH WESTERN MINNESOTA PASSED BY WHAT LOOKS LIKE trash bags that someone had dumped down a steep ditch. ditch. He had passed them earlier when he was clearing snow and assumed someone would come haul them He had passed them earlier when he was clearing snow and assumed someone would come haul them away. But when they were still there, he decided he would go do it. When he got down to where the trash bags were, he realized he had actually found the upper torso and head of a woman wrapped in bags and bed sheets. He called the police and this was quickly determined to be the rest of Darling VanderGiesen body. A forensic examiner was called to the scene and she said she could see black charring on the face and neck of the body. body. She also noticed the bra had charring on She also noticed the bra had charring on it and there was a smell of gasoline. Coupled with the evidence from the basement, it seemed to the authorities that Daphne tried to first burn the body in the basement and when that didn't work, she switched to dismemberment. Around Darlene's head was a plastic bag that was securely fastened with a cord around her neck. An autopsy was conducted and found that Darlene had also suffered a seven inch long skull fracture. The cause of death was either blunt force trauma to the head, suffocation from the bag over the head or a combination of the two. So the state going into trial had a pretty strong case against Daphne, and we are going to go over the trial highlights later. There were some major pre trial issues with this case though, and the first was the death penalty. penalty. The state was pursuing it because they believed this was a premeditated The state was pursuing it, because they believed this was a premeditated murder murder. And that Daphne kidnapped Darlene, which was one aggravating factor they could that Daphne kidnapped Darlene, which was one aggravating factor they could argue. Kidnapping does not require physical force according to the law. The state's theory was that Darlene went with Daphne voluntarily. However, it was a ruse. ruse. The word in all the court documents is Invega The word in all the court documents is inveggled, and that's our word of the day. Inveggled. old. It means to persuade someone to do something by means of deception Daphne's defense tried to get the death penalty taken off the means to persuade someone to do something by means of deception. Daphne's defense tried to get the death penalty taken off the table. table. They filed a motion arguing that it violated Daphne's eighth amendment, right against cruel and unusual filed a motion arguing that it violated Daphne's eighth amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment. They argued that Daphne was prelingually deaf, meaning she was deaf before developing language. They said that it left her at a disadvantage in a court setting in understanding what was going on. on. It was interesting to see that disability advocates took the side against Daphne's defense was interesting to see that disability advocates took the side against Daphne's defense here. They worried about what it was saying when a woman like Daphne who had a nonverbal IQ of over one fourteen, meeting Daphne was intelligent. Said that her disability alone should give her some special treatment in the court system. system. They said that this was reinforcing stereotypes of deaf individuals being less intelligent or less aware than hearing They said that this was reinforcing stereotypes of deafened individuals being less intelligent or less aware than hearing people. But that wasn't exactly what the defense was arguing. was. They were saying that this was a language issue, not an intelligence They were saying that this was a language issue, not an intelligence one. It could be argued that because Daphne was born to hearing parents who didn't learn sign while she was a child, She had a delayed introduction to any language, language. And that put her at a disadvantage while interpreting services can overcome that for other non English speaking defendants, the language deficiency was just too great here to Bridgette, but the judge rules against this and believed that this disadvantage could be overcome in the that put her at a disadvantage. While interpreting services can overcome that for other non English speaking defendants, the language deficiency was just too great here to bridge it. But the judge June's against this and believed that this disadvantage could be overcome in the courts. court. So then the court moved on to try to figure out how they were going to overcome then the court moved on to try to figure out how they were going to overcome this. this. You might be thinking, hire an interpreter, but it really isn't that easy in legal situations where things are moving You might be thinking, hire an interpreter. But it really isn't that easy in legal situations where things are moving Buckley. And the words and concepts are ones that don't come up in day to day conversation, Daphne would have little to no context for some of the signs being thrown at her. To figure this out, they did have a psychologist evaluate Daphne and then make a recommendation. He ran IQ tests education level tests, evaluated her reading comprehension skills, as well as her fluency in American sign language. He determined that Daphne was intelligent, but she had the reading ability of a third grader as well as language issues in general. general. He recommended that instead of having a simultaneous interpreter, they use a consecutive recommended that instead of having a simultaneous interpreter, they use a consecutive interpreter. So, simultaneous interpreting is what you usually see. see. The interpreter signs as the person is talking, they're a step or two behind keeping up with The interpreter signs as the person is talking, they're a step or two behind keeping up with them. Consecutive interpreting means that the person speaking finishes speaking, and then the interpreter signs what they said. There are a lot of benefits to consecutive interpreting, particularly when the goal is to make sure deaf person understands absolutely everything because their life is literally on the line. This is because the interpreter would have time to take in the full message and then formulate how to convey the testimony best rather than just signing the words and throwing up fingerspelled legal terms at her as her trying to keep up. One reason it can be hard to keep up with simultaneous interpreting is that it can take longer to sign concepts than it does to speak them. Even if sentence has fewer actual signs for it, ASL is a spatial language and there is setting up the space in front of you and it's really hard to describe. You should see my hands as I'm doing it. Obviously, you can't see them. But take my word for it. it. Take the word of the research that has shown that signing takes longer than speech, which is why you'll often see interpreters, hands flying as they're keeping the word of the research that has shown that signing takes longer than speech, which is why you'll often see interpreters hands flying as they're keeping up. So consecutive interpreting does seem like the best option and it really was, but there is a major downside to this, especially in the court's view. The time. It would mean the trial would take more than twice as long to do it this way. The court denied the defense's request for consecutive interpreting. interpreting. So Daphne's defense then filed a motion for reconsideration on that and then filed another motion asking for a certified deaf interpreter to be So Daphne's defense then filed a motion for reconsideration on that and then filed another motion asking for a certified deaf interpreter to be employed. And the CDI is what it sounds like, a deaf or hard of hearing person who is a certified interpreter. The way this works in practice is that there is a hearing interpreter who interprets the speech into sign to the deaf interpreter. interpreter. The deaf interpreter then signs it to the deaf The deaf interpreter then signs it to the deaf client. This is also called relay interpreting sometimes. There are a few advantages to this. The main one is that the deaf interpreter Almost always has more experience with deaf people than the hearing interpreters do. They can more easily and naturally adapt to different language abilities. And when we have someone where comprehension of complicated concepts might be harder, A CDI can bridge that in a way a hearing interpreter would struggle to. CDIs are incredibly important particularly in situations with a limited language client. In most situations, staff need would not be considered a limited language client. She could sign and understand ASL without issue. But when they would try to discuss the legal side of things with her, They found that she struggled to understand and keep up. In a courtroom, I think it's safe to say Daphne would have been limited in her understanding. But then the judge denied the CDI and relay interpreting as well. So here's what the court did instead. They took a multi step approach to this. First, they provided five level five certified ASL interpreters. Level five is the highest certification. Because of how taxing sign language interpreting is, they had three of them taking turns interpreting what was happening in the courtroom. The other two sat at the defense table to facilitate communication between Daphne and her attorneys. attorneys. The second thing they did was put up a screen that kept people from seeing anything Daphne signed to her attorneys to preserve attorney client second thing they did was put up a screen that kept people from seeing anything Daphne signed to her attorneys to preserve attorney client privacy. See. Third, they did provide a CDI to Daphne to communicate with her attorneys before each day of testimony but not during the proceedings. Four, they provided real time captioning where the court reporter's transcription was projected on a computer screen. This would have been of limited use to Daphne due to her reading level. The fifth thing they did was record the interpreter every day and give Daphne the DVD every night to watch back in her cell so she can catch anything she missed or ask for an explanation for anything she didn't understand. understand. And lastly, the court allowed Daphne unlimited breaks during the trial, if she was struggling to keep up and she could then consult her attorney and the interpreters to get a fuller explanation, they did put a lot into place to try to make this work for Daphne without making the trial take six months to get through the things they didn't do were the top two And last the court allowed Daphne unlimited breaks during the trial if she was struggling to keep up. And she could then consult her attorney and the interpreters to get a fuller explanation. They did put a lot into place to try to make this work for Daphne without making the trial take six months to get through. The things they didn't do were the top two things things. The psychologist recommended the time considerations of the court extended also to jury psychologists recommended. The time considerations of the court extended also to jury selection. This was going to take a while because first, they had to find people who hadn't made up their minds about the case. They had to find people who didn't have any conflict of inch trists really the usual issues you see in any jury selection. But then they had to find people who were open minded about the death penalty. And then they had to account for any racial biases since Stephanie was black and Arlene was white. They then had to look for any biases against gay people since Daphne was a lesbian and Darlene was straight. And then they had to account for any prejudices about people with a disability. Prejudices in either direction. Would they go harder on someone who is deaf or easier? Or could they judge it fairly? Jury selection, selection? It took a it took a while. while. It was not a small task, but they finally had a It was not a small task, but they finally had a jury, and Daphne's trial began in the spring of two thousand and seven. Darleen's mother, Dee, testified about learning, Darling was missing and driving to her apartment in Sioux Falls. She said that several of Darlene's friends came by the next day, and one of them was Daphne Wright. Daphne introduced herself gave Dea Hugg, expressed her sympathies that Darlene was missing, and she assured Dea that she would pray for her. That was the first time D had met Daphne, and it's just so hard to believe Daphne was able to coolly go up to d and hug her, figuring she had pretty much just dismembered her daughter's body. Who could do that? Now, according to Daphne's ex girlfriend, Sally, she wasn't acting all that cool about it. it. Sally testified that when they went to Darlene's apartment and talked to the family, Daphne was eager to leave the whole time they were there testified that when they went to Darlene's apartment and talked to family, Daphne was eager to leave the whole time they were there. Afterwards, they rented a movie to watch and went home, but Daphne was agitated did the whole time. Sally asked her what was wrong and Daphne said it was nothing, but she was chain smoking and Sally knew. Daphne wasn't okay. But the person who really could shed the most light on Daphne during the days following Darlene's to appearance was really her roommate, Jackie. Jackie testified that on the same day, Daphne bought that chain saw, she came home from work to find Daphne pulling carpet out from the basement, and she was spending quite a bit of time in cleaning down there. Later, she watched Daphne load bags of trash into the back of the car. Jackie didn't know what Daphne was doing, but this is the closest we're going to get to an eyewitness to anything. The state had the medical examiner testified that Darling's cause of death was either the blunt force trauma or suffocation or both. According to the ME, Darlene had been hit on the head at least twice, causing a seven inch skull fracture. What object caused that injury was not known, no weapon was found. But the ME also testified that the bag over Daphne's head was secured in a way that it would have suffocated her if she was still alive. He also testified that there was an obvious attempt to burn the body before it was ultimately dismembered. And as I'm sure we can all understand, the family did opt to leave the courtroom during the worst of this testimony, testimony. And it did include autopsy and it did include autopsy photos. photos. During the investigation, there was an experiment done to see if a relatively lightweight chainsaw like the one Daphne bought would have been able to cut up a the investigation, there was an spermit done. She see if a relatively light weight chain saw, like one Daphne bought, would have been able to cut up a body. And if the market they saw under Arlene's body would match it. So they used the carcass of an animal similar to humans and body fat distribution, and that is, of course, a pig. pig. They did find that the evidence matched both the blood and tissue spatter in the basement, as well as the marks on the They did find that the evidence matched both the blood and tissue spatter in basement as well as the marks on the body. body. They recorded this experiment, but the judge was like, whoa, that is not going to be shown to the They recorded this experiment, but the judge was like, whoa. That is not going to be shown to the jury. They were able to present their findings, but the jury was not going to watch a video depiction of a dismemberment. dismemberment. It was more prejudicial than probative to the nth was more prejudicial than probative to the nth degree. The defense on cross examination asked the Emmy if Darlene's head injury could have been caused by a fall down the stairs. The medical examiner said, no. There were at least two blows and it was not consistent with falling down the stairs. So the fall down the stairs is the first hint we have at the defense's case. Now we can sum up their case by saying, just because the state could prove dismemberment and disposal of a body, they didn't prove the actual murder. This is a bit like the Robert Dursley fence in the murder of Morris Black. And in his case it worked. But Daphne's defense differed from DURS, in that the defense did not present in all turnative theory from the defendant's own mouth. Dirst took the stand and explained how Morris ended up dead and why he dismembered him. Daphne didn't do this. Remember, she doesn't have to. to. The burden is on the state to prove Daphne did it not on Daphne to prove she burden is on the state to prove Daphne did it, not on Daphne to prove she didn't. So the defense chose to instead point out the holes in the case that may have pointed to any number of alternative scenarios. scenarios. The idea that Darlene died through a possible accident like a fall down the stairs was one of idea that Darlene died through a possible accident, like a fall down the stairs, was one of them. them. Another was that the defense pointed out that the forensic evidence implicated Daphne's roommate, just as much as it implicated Daphne, since they shared the basement, they shared the was that the defense pointed out that the forensic evidence implicated Daphne's roommate just as much as it implicated Daphne since they shared the basement, they shared the house, they shared the car. Also, a polo shirt with a Wells Fargo logo on it was found in the landfill near Darling's remains, and Daphne's roommate Jackie worked at Wells Fargo. It turned out that the shirt was given to employees before Jackie even worked there. And then the shirt was not even given to the people in her department. So it was unlikely an old giveaway from another department would have found its way to Jackie. Jackie. And Jackie said it wasn't her Jackie said it wasn't her shirt. While the shirt was taken into evidence, it was not DNA tested tested. And the defense was asking why the defense was asking why not? not? The response was that it didn't seem to be relevant response was that it didn't seem to be relevant enough. They had collected over four hundred pieces of evidence that they'd just couldn't test everything. everything. The shirt had no obvious connection to the case or anyone in the case, in the view of the investigators, the defense also pointed out that Darlene's address book was found with the pages for C and D ripped out Daphne's shirt had no obvious connection to the case or anyone in the case in the view of the investigators. The defense also pointed out that Darling's address book was found with the pages for c and d ripped out. Daphne's roommate Jackie's last name starts with the c, C. And so did her ex-girlfriend Sally's that offense also questioned why a pair of men's underwear found outside of Darlene's so did her ex girlfriend, Sally's. The defense also questioned why a pair of men's underwear. Found outside of Darling's apartment wasn't tested for DNA. DNA. The state said it was because it was established to belong to a nine-year-old child who went to a nearby state said it was because it was established to belong to a nine year old child who went to a nearby day care. But this was through witness testimony. The defense believed like the Wells Fargo shirt shirt. It should have been should have been tested. Now there are other things like cigarettes found at Darling's apartment, apartment. They weren't they weren't hers, and they weren't daphne's. There was an issue of Darlene meeting men online, which opens up the suspect pool even wider. wider. The defense argued that the police had tunnel vision when Daphne Wright came on their radar and that caused them to ignore other The defense argued that the police had tunnel vision when Daphne Wright came on their radar and that caused them to ignore other leads. They didn't test evidence that wouldn't directly link them to Daphne. The defense also called their own pathologist in from rapid city which is clear across the state from Sioux Falls. He testified that the bruising on Darling's head could have occurred with one blow. And he didn't rule out a fall down the stairs. He theorized that the bag over Darling's head may not have been to kill her but rather to cover her face while she was being dismembered. I feel like that's a good try, but it really doesn't fit for me. For one thing, the bag was tightly secured around Darling's snack. If it was just to cover the face, why tightly secure it? And another thing, those who responded to the scene when this part of Darlene's remains were found, said her face was visible through the bag bag. It was a thin was a thin bag. bag. It didn't cover her didn't cover her face. face. So while you could throw this out as a theory, and if I was the defense attorney, I would as well, it just still doesn't really So while you could throw this out as a theory, and if I was the defense attorney, I would as well It just still doesn't really fit. Closing arguments occurred over four hours, and the defense wanted the jury to focus on all of the question marks in the case, and they drove those home hoping that one of them or the some of them would be enough for reasonable doubt. On April twelfth of two thousand seven, after several hours of deliberation, the jury found no reasonable doubt. They convicted Daphne of first degree murder and kidnapping, and the case moved to the penalty phase. This is where the defense throws everything they can to show the jury Daphne deserved to be spared a death. Sentence. The jury heard about Daphne's childhood. childhood. She was bullied as a child for being deaf, for being black and later for being gay, even though Daphne was born deaf, her mother didn't learn sign language until she was a She was bullied as a child for being deaf, for being black, and later for being gay. Even though Daphne was born deaf, her mother didn't learn sign language until she was a teen teen. And that did impact their that did impact their relationship. They used some type of homemade sign language in the home, which isn't uncommon, but those systems tend to be incredibly simplistic. Which would have also impacted Daphne's early language learning. Daphne went to a deaf school where she did learn American sign language. When she was in high school, her father died and Daphne struggled to deal with it, her behavior was bad enough that she ended up being expelled from school. The psychologist who examined her before trial testified. He talked about Daphne's stream reaction to thinking Sally was leaving her. her. It was a fear of abandonment that was rooted in losing her was a fear of abandonment that was rooted in losing her father. father. He also testified that even though Daphne's IQ was measured at one 14 to one 17, she showed that her ability to reason was low and considered a borderline also testified that even though Daphne's IQ was measured at one:fourteen to one:seventeen, She showed that her ability to reason was low and considered borderline functioning. This meant she had poor problem solving skills. And this is why it matters. Part of the reason the state argued that Daphne should be executed was the depraved nature of the crime, and that included the dismemberment. dismemberment. But the defense said, this wasn't a depraved mind who did defense said this wasn't a depraved mind who did this It was someone who had a problem and she couldn't solve it. it. She had a full grown woman's body in her basement and had to get it out of She had a full grown woman's body in her basement and had to get it out of there. And this was the solution she came up with. Not only was the dismemberment, not depraved, the defense said the state failed to prove there was a kidnapping, or that this was a premeditated murder. The jury deliberated this time for nine hours. The verdict would have to be unanimous to give Daphne the death penalty. penalty. Though, the jury found the state had proved the necessary aggravating circumstances to support the death the jury found the state had proved the necessary aggravating circumstances to support the death penalty, penalty. They decided not to go with decided not to go with it. Daphne was instead given life in prison without parole. Darlene mother said she would pray for Daphne. Daphne's mother said that Daphne told her she didn't kill Darlene and she still believed her. Everyone, except Daphne, made statements. Before, during and after, Daphne has declined comment. comment. Daphne Wright appealed on a number of grounds, which is very normal in an Wright appealed on a number of grounds, which is very normal in an appeal appeal. You have to raise issues at the earliest opportunity, procedurally have to raise issues at the earliest opportunity, procedurally speaking. So it's not uncommon to see this first direct appeal include everything except the kitchen sink. And if the kitchen sink was admitted, but outside the rules of evidence, that'll be included too. The point in the appeal I thought was most interesting was that they believe the court aired in not providing Daphne with a certified deaf interpreter and not allowing the executive interpretation. The appellate court said that the defense might be correct on that. They may be correct that the CDI and the executive interpreter would have been the best solution. But they said it didn't mean the solution the court came up with wasn't enough. The defense couldn't just say there was a potential for error in Daphne's understanding of what was going on. on. They had to show that the error had to show that the error occurred. So where in the trial did Daphne misunderstand something or have a question that wasn't clarified for her. The appeal didn't offer specific example example. So it was denied, but you have to see how tricky this it was denied. But you have to see how tricky this is. How do you even pinpoint this sort of thing? Because if Daphne didn't understand it, She doesn't know what she doesn't know. How is she to say I didn't understand this thing, but I don't know. I didn't understand it because I didn't understand it. But this is a court. You have to prove your claims. claims. You have to prove the error You have to prove the error happened, not just that it had the potential for happening. So I understand it, but I also see why the defense was at such disadvantage in making this claim. Daphne Wright remains incarcerated in the South Dakota women's prison. For Darling VanderGiesen family, they've very clearly leaned on their faith to get through this. Darlene's mother reached out to Daphne's mother acknowledging that they both lost a daughter, one to death, and the other to prison. I'm always amazed at the depth of compassion, people can reach even when they are the ones who lost the most. So if Daphne Wright has anything, going for her in prison. She does have the prayers of Darling's family, which is truly a remarkable testament to the love and empathy of the VanderGiesen family. They you for listening. You can find Cremelines on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and occasionally TikTok. 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