Charges filed in girl's '99 killing
Posted on 07/12/2002 6:56:58 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Charges filed in girl's '99 killing
Recent DNA evidence linked man to Irving girl found in Trinity
07/12/2002
Late at night, when she's supposed to be sleeping, 6-year-old Tiffany Ryno plays with her twin sister, Cristy. Their mother, Leticia Ryno, isn't sure if Tiffany is dreaming or merely sharing her wish that Cristy were still alive.
That wish, of course, will never come true. But Thursday, another one did.
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Irving police charged Brett Jonathan Bednarek, a 26-year-old maintenance man, with killing Cristy Ryno in April 1999 and dumping her nude body into the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.
Officers said DNA evidence, which they wouldn't describe, linked Mr. Bednarek to the long-unsolved crime and led them to arrest him Wednesday night at his apartment in north Irving.
Mr. Bednarek, who declined to speak with reporters, was being transferred to the Dallas County jail late Thursday. He was being held without bail.
Ms. Ryno, contacted while visiting her father in Utah, said she had given up hope her daughter's killer would be found.
"I actually gave up. I didn't think they would ever ... " Ms. Ryno said, her voice trailing off. "I worried they had given up. It's totally shocking."
The mother, who now lives in Azle, said the arrest will bring justice but not comfort.
"Tiffany remembers her," Ms. Ryno said. "She says Cristy still comes to see her at night and keeps her from sleeping. She says she plays with her when she's supposed to be sleeping."
Police said Mr. Bednarek knew Ms. Ryno, although they are not sure how well. David Tull, spokesman for Irving police, said he did not believe the two were close.
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"The name is not familiar. I'm not sure if I would recognize him," Ms. Ryno said. "The police said he knew my boyfriend at the time and my roommates and me."
Officer Tull said officers interviewed Mr. Bednarek along with more than 300 others early in the investigation, but nothing made him stand out as a suspect.
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Months after the crime, the unspecified DNA evidence was obtained from Cristy's body and detectives began re-interviewing the 300-plus people with connections to the apartment complex.
Police requested DNA samples from every person who was re-interviewed. Mr. Bednarek voluntarily gave a DNA sample by swabbing the inside of his cheek June 18 at the Irving Police Department, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
The sample was sent to the Department of Public Safety crime lab in Garland, which notified Irving officers Tuesday of the match on Mr. Bednarek, the affidavit says. Police requested an arrest warrant Wednesday and arrested him that evening. Several neighboring residents at the north Irving apartment complex said they did not know Mr. Bednarek.
Police say the arrest brings an end to an extensive and sometimes frustrating investigation.
"There's an overall sense of relief, not just for the department, but for the public, especially parents. The not knowing who could have ... made it worse," Officer Tull said. "It obviously bolsters our belief in the system. It may be slow, but it works."
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When her daughter disappeared, Ms. Ryno told police that the girl was gone from the apartment in the 2700 block of East Grauwyler Road when she awoke on the morning of April 17, 1999. Ms. Ryno's roommate, Samantha Frederick, said she saw Cristy and Tiffany sleeping on the couch in the living room about 2:30 a.m.
Ms. Ryno's ex-boyfriend, Larry Bartlett, said he left the front door unlocked when he left for work at 9 a.m. that day. He told police that he saw Tiffany sleeping on the couch and assumed Cristy was there, too.
Police said Cristy may have walked outside by herself but probably did not leave the area alone. Police dogs lost her scent just outside the apartment.
Fishermen found Cristy's nude body four days later in the Trinity, about two miles upstream from where she disappeared.
The Dallas County medical examiner's office ruled the cause of death "homicidal violence." An autopsy report shows possible causes as smothering, drowning and strangulation. Police have never said if the girl was sexually assaulted.
Investigators ran down hundreds of leads in the death but came up empty. Six months after the slaying, the DNA evidence found on Cristy's body eliminated the four adults who lived in the apartment. Until Mr. Bednarek's arrest, there had been little activity in the case.
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Detectives have not interviewed Mr. Bednarek because he immediately asked for an attorney, Officer Tull said. Mr. Bednarek has said he does not have the money to pay for a lawyer, and an attorney hasn't been appointed yet.
Mr. Bednarek was living and working in Irving at the time of Cristy's death, according to his current employer, BG Personnel Services, which provides temporary workers to the apartment industry.
The company did not hire Mr. Bednarek until after Cristy's death, said John Cullens, a company spokesman.
Mr. Bednarek's past includes an arrest on a deadly conduct charge in 1995. A grand jury did not indict him on a 1996 assault charge. He was sentenced to 24 months for a 1999 DWI.
Ms. Ryno said no punishment for Mr. Bednarek, who could face the death penalty, if convicted, will compare to the pain Cristy experienced before her death. She said she isn't sure whether a death sentence or life in prison is more fitting.
"I think what he did to my daughter, someone should do to him," she said. "Cristy, this is all for her really, more than for us. I know she's in a better place and she's happy ... I'm just glad he's gonna pay for what he did."
IRWIN THOMPSON / DMN Brett Bednarek, escorted by Dallas County sheriff's deputies on Thursday, was re-interviewed and voluntarily gave a DNA sample on June 18. |
Tiffany, who is now 6, lives with her great aunt, Debora Karnes of Fort Worth, because Child Protective Services removed her from Ms. Ryno's home shortly after Cristy's death. Ms. Ryno, who does not work, said she saw Tiffany frequently until recently.
She said she best remembers Cristy when she sees Tiffany.
"I look at Tiffany, and I see her," Ms. Ryno said. "They were twins. I wonder who she would be and what she would look like."
Staff writer Tiara M. Ellis contributed to this report.
E-mail jemily@dallasnews.com
My old boss' name was Ryno in the Dallas area. I'm trying to find
out if Cristy is his niece or otherwise related.
Definately time for the 'hot shot'.
No there was no relationship.
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