Body of Proof: Tainted Evidence in the Murder of Jessica O'Grady? by John Ferak

Paperback:  Jessica O’Grady was a tall, starry-eyed co-ed in search of finding her Mr. Right.

Christopher Edwards was a 19-year-old deceitful and darkened soul.

David Kofoed was a veteran crime lab commander who was on the prowl for more high-profile sensational murder cases to keep his prestigious forensics lab in the media spotlight.

In May of 2006, Jessica’s sudden and mystifying disappearance quickly turned into the biggest news story in Omaha, Nebraska.

Hundreds of volunteers scoured lakes, creeks, riverbeds, forests, parks and barren fields.

But it did not matter how hard people tried, nobody could find Jessica’s body.

Clearly, something awful and grisly happened to Jessica inside a west Omaha home where one noteworthy clue made Edwards the prime suspect.

Enter CSI commander Kofoed.

A week later, he emerged on the case.

By that point in time, Kofoed had already gotten away with producing false clues and planting blood in two other high-profile murder cases across Nebraska’s Heartland.

O’Grady’s friends and family were sad.  They starved for answers.  They demanded swift justice.

Kofoed faced a dilemma.

If authorities wanted to solve the homicide of Jessica O’Grady, they had to move fast.

Would he be tempted to work up some secret magical evidence back inside his Omaha crime lab to avenge Jessica’s murder?

Or would he let Christopher Edwards continue to mock law enforcement and roam free in the community?

As each day in May passed, the saga surrounding the charming coed’s shocking mysterious disappearance remained Omaha’s top news story.

The Jessica O’Grady story often led the noon, dinner, and nightly television news broadcasts.

The general consensus was that Jessica met her untimely demise at the hands of her lover, Edwards.

But at least three nagging questions remained unanswered:  Where did Jessica’s killer put her body?  What was his weapon?  When, if ever, might Edwards face murder charges?

About the author:  A native of Plainfield, Illinois, John Ferak's first true crime book, Bloody Lies:  A CSI Scandal in the Heartland (2014) was the runner-up in the 2014 Foreword Review for true-crime book of the year.  Ferak's first book for WildBlue Press, Dixie's Last Stand:  Was It Murder or Self-Defense? (2015) was an Amazon bestseller and Hot New Release.  Since 2012, Ferak has worked as an award-winning investigative team member for Gannett Wisconsin Media, based at The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wisconsin.