8/17/2006
Mother Turns to DNA Tests, Interrogation in Domestic Terror Case
Left: Kingman family in happier days
(Los Angeles, CA) The missing pack of Big Red gum from her purse was the proverbial last straw for Melissa Kingman.
"I said to myself:'Missy, this is the last time one of these little bastards rifles through your possessions and gets away with it,'" she said. "Instead of getting mad, I got smart."
Getting "smart," for Kingman, meant hiring a private investigator to interview the chief suspects: 8-year-old Mark and 7-year-old Penelope Kingman.
Left: DNA samples aplenty on this evidence
From a wad of gum recovered from under the dining room table, investigators were able to obtain a DNA sample, and it had a match with someone in the Kingman household.
"Oh yeah - Mr. 'I swear it wasn't me, Mom!' was lying through his teeth," Kingman said of her stepson. "And then the little creep still tried to blame his sister. That's when we got tough."
Six hours later, the investigators had their suspect write out a detailed confession. Kingman said that, even still, this was a "hollow victory."
"Like a 4-foot terrorist, Markie's always watching and plotting," she said, eyeing the sniffling child in the corner. "You have to stay two steps ahead of the little sociopath, that's for sure."
(Los Angeles, CA) The missing pack of Big Red gum from her purse was the proverbial last straw for Melissa Kingman.
"I said to myself:'Missy, this is the last time one of these little bastards rifles through your possessions and gets away with it,'" she said. "Instead of getting mad, I got smart."
Getting "smart," for Kingman, meant hiring a private investigator to interview the chief suspects: 8-year-old Mark and 7-year-old Penelope Kingman.
Left: DNA samples aplenty on this evidence
From a wad of gum recovered from under the dining room table, investigators were able to obtain a DNA sample, and it had a match with someone in the Kingman household.
"Oh yeah - Mr. 'I swear it wasn't me, Mom!' was lying through his teeth," Kingman said of her stepson. "And then the little creep still tried to blame his sister. That's when we got tough."
Six hours later, the investigators had their suspect write out a detailed confession. Kingman said that, even still, this was a "hollow victory."
"Like a 4-foot terrorist, Markie's always watching and plotting," she said, eyeing the sniffling child in the corner. "You have to stay two steps ahead of the little sociopath, that's for sure."