The forensic examiner found no signs of sexual assault or biological traces from the perpetrator, but did not rule out the possibility that Bell may have been raped, as her corpse had been in the waters of the creek for a long time.
[2] On June 3, the charred remains of a woman were discovered on the grounds of Theodore Wirth Park, with an autopsy later determining that the decedent was 43-year-old Deborah LaVoie.
[2] On July 20, the charred remains of another woman were discovered in Theodore Wirth Park, later identified as 21-year-old transsexual Keooudorn Photisane, who was last seen alive in the early hours of that day.
Officers located three children as potential witnesses, with them stating that they saw a suspicious-looking, middle-aged black male setting a fire in the park, exactly where the victim's body would later be found.
[5] He eventually caught up with her and pulled down her pants, but at that time, a married couple - Joan Demeules and George Barrett - were driving through the park when they noticed the attack.
Profit himself claimed that the two spent a lot of time in his car and that Kelly often went to his house on numerous occasions, during which he socialized with his mother and had access to his belongings, including documents and ashtrays.
[2] The attorneys then requested the court to examine potential motives for Kelly to wanted Profit to be prosecuted instead, arguing that the witness testimony was unreliable.
[1] As evidence, they cited claims from Kelly's acquaintances who characterized him as a pathological liar and manipulator, and well as supposedly sending a letter to the KARE-TV station in which he confessed to murdering Keooudorn Photisane.
[11] In addition, the attorneys pointed out that their client regularly met with his parole officer and had restrictions on his liberty, making it supposedly impossible for him to engage in criminal behavior without alarming law enforcement.
To counter this, the prosecution provided the court with witness testimonies from two of Profit's acquaintances, in which they claimed that he had discussed at various times a variety of methods to commit the perfect murder.
[2] One of these acquaintances said that he was serving a term in the same jail as Profit, who was alleged to closely follow the O. J. Simpson trial in 1995 and came to the conclusion that all sperm traces should be destroyed to make DNA analysis impossible.
[2] The other acquaintance claimed that Profit had confessed to him that he chose girls and women of low social status intentionally, as he believed that law enforcement were negligent in investigating violent acts committed against these types of people.
[2] Profit himself initially claimed that he stayed at home with his wife during the murders, but was later forced to admit under the pressure of evidence that he despite being married, he had casual sex with other women and occasionally used the services of prostitutes.
During his imprisonment there, he started making photo albums, studied law and frequently read the Bible, claiming that his favorite verse was John 8:32.
[12] A week before his death, he had been found guilty of assaulting a prison guard and another inmate, and likely faced an additional 20 years imprisonment to be served concurrently with his two life sentences.