How was Bonnie Craig's killer found after over 12 years? Details explored ahead of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered

The University of Alaska's 18-year-old student Bonnie Craig was abducted, r*ped, and murdered by Kenneth Dion in September 1994. The case remained unsolved for more than 12 years until DNA from semen evidence found on her body was used to link Dion, who was already serving time in prison for an unrelated string of robberies, to the crime.

Dion was found guilty of r*pe and murder in June 2011 after prosecutors alleged that he abducted Craig from her regular bus stop in the morning hours of September 28, 1994, and took her to a cliff area near McHugh Creek, where he r*ped her before beating her in the back of the head using a blunt object. Her body was found in the creek later. He was sentenced to 124 years in prison.

Bonnie Craig's cold case will air on Dateline: Secrets Uncovered this Wednesday, June 21, 2023. The episode titled Justice for Bonnie is scheduled to air on Oxygen at 7:00 pm ET.

Here's a look at the synopsis:

"When Bonnie Craig is found dead, police collect DNA but it doesn't match anyone in the system; twelve years later, there is a hit but the man is thousands of miles away; turns out, prosecutors would need more than DNA to convict a killer."

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Bonnie Craig's killer claimed he had consensual s*x with her but failed to recognize her from a photograph

Bonnie Craig's killer Kenneth Dion was arrested after 12 years when his DNA sample matched the one found on her body (Image via Justice for Bonnie, Getty Images)

In June 2011, nearly seventeen years after Bonnie Craig's body was found floating face-down in McHugh Creek located in Anchorage, a former soldier and ex-convict was convicted of r*pe and murder after DNA evidence linked him to the cold case in late 2006.

Reports state that the jury deliberated for a few hours before considering all the evidence and finding the 41-year-old man guilty. In October of that year, he was sentenced to a total of 124 years in prison - 99 years for the murder charge and 25 years for the r*pe charge.

According to the Foster's Daily Democrat, Bonnie Craig's body was found on September 28, 1994. Prosecutors alleged that she had been beaten in the back of the head by Kenneth Dion, which caused her subsequent death.

The defense, however, argued that Craig engaged in consensual s*x with Dion and later fell to her death while alone on the cliff. The victim's family contradicted these claims, revealing that she was in a faithful, committed relationship with her boyfriend back then and would not have engaged in s*xual encounters with a complete stranger.

Dion was arrested in 2006 after DNA from the semen found on Craig's body matched a sample taken from him. At the time, he was already serving time in a New Hampshire prison on charges stemming from a series of armed robberies. The following May, he was charged with r*pe and murder.

The same Foster's Daily Democrat report states that initially, Dion told investigators that he did not know Craig or her family and even failed to recognize her from a photograph. But he wanted others to believe "he had s*x with Bonnie Craig the week she died and somehow did not "remember her," said prosecutors.

The defense tried to portray Craig as promiscuous, claiming that she allegedly flirted with a man who was not her boyfriend that same week and even showed up late to work on one occasion. They alleged that the rocks on the cliff may have hit her head when she fell from the height, which is how the injuries she suffered came about.

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Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will further delve into Bonnie Craig's cold case this Wednesday at 7 pm ET on Oxygen.