The 48 Hours episode “Afraid of the Dark” tells the survival story of Jennifer Schuett. She was 8 years old in 1990, when she was kidnapped from her bedroom window. The man held a knife to her throat “and then he choked me as hard as he could.” She was raped and her throat had been slashed from ear to ear before being left to die in a field. The next day, she was found by children playing hide-and-seek in the field. In 2009, 19 years later, Dennis Earl Bradford was arrested for the kidnapping, rape and attempted murder of Schuett. He confessed to everything.
While awaiting his sentence, Bradford, 40, was found hanged in his jail cell in 2010. According to the Associated Press, Schuett said she was “shocked and disappointed” that he committed suicide. She had wanted to face him in court and now feels “as though I was robbed of that opportunity.” 48 Hours airs Saturdays at 10pm on CBS.
