Beating a DNA Test - Trickery Gone Wrong

Winter shutdown. This is my favorite time of the year. I get at least 2 weeks off during this time. What makes it more fun is the two major holidays – Christmas and New Year. For someone who likes to shop cheap, Boxing Day is a huge deal for me. It is the Canadian version of Black Friday in the US. More shopping, more fun.

Last year had really been challenging due to COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses are closed and non-essential travels are banned. I was hoping to celebrate Christmas and New Year in Montreal with my husband but the lockdown prevented us from going. My doctor also advised me not to go anywhere due to my high-risk pregnancy. I got nothing to do. I was extremely bored. I sat at home wondering how to kill the boredom. Thanks to Mr. TV for keeping me company. I spent most of my time watching shows on Netflix until one day I stumbled upon a very intriguing yet disturbing series, Forensic Files. Forensic Files, also known as Medical Detectives, is an American documentary-style TV show that solves violent crimes with the help of Forensic Science. I’ve always been fascinated with Forensic Science and how it helped solve convoluted crimes, mysterious accidents, and even outbreak of diseases. There was one episode that I found very disturbing. It was the Episode 18 of Season 6 – Bad Blood.

Bad Blood is the story of 23-year-old Candy from Kipling. Kipling is a small town in southeast Saskatchewan where population is sparse and people knew each other. It made national news in 1992 when a doctor reportedly raped a woman on Halloween night. The DNA test proved that the doctor was innocent. The victim insisted that the DNA test result was wrong. Was it a night of lies and deception or a calamitous misunderstanding? How could a high school graduate prove that she got raped after DNA tests demonstrated otherwise?

Candy just got off from work in a gas station that night when her boyfriend paid her a visit. She fought with him, ended the relationship, and left angrily. She drove to Kipling Memorial Union Hospital to see her friend but she was not there. The nurse noticed that she was very upset and suggested that Candy see a doctor. Dr. John Schneeberger, Candy’s doctor, happened to be on call that night. Candy was not hysterical but she expressed her extreme fury towards her boyfriend so the doctor recommended a sedative. She was expecting she would be given some pills to calm her down but the doctor gave her the shot anyway. She immediately felt numb until she lost full control of her muscles. She tried to scream for help as she fell over but nothing came out of her mouth but a croaking sound. After that, she was not sure of what happened but believed she was raped. When she regained consciousness in the exam room, she put her underwear in an airtight bag. This was the smartest thing she did! She preserved the evidence. She was too dizzy to go anywhere so she spent the night at the hospital without saying anything to anyone. She confronted Dr. Scheeberger the following day but he just gave a snide remark that she might have had wild dream that night. From that moment on, Candy knew she would go to war soon.

Candy told her parents about her suspicion of being raped and went to a rape clinic in Regina to provide sample for a rape test kit. They found semen on her underwear, jeans, and vaginal swab. Lab test also showed an unusual drug in her system, Versed. This drug is commonly used as an anesthetic that would numb a person’s muscles instantly.

When Candy formally accused her doctor of rape, majority of the people of Kipling didn’t believe her. They were not kind to her at all. Nobody supported her. They thought that a single mother like Candy was either romantically interested in the married doctor or after the financial settlement. Dr. Schneeberger had a very good reputation in the town and had never been accused of anything like that before. Wanting to end the controversy, Dr. Schneeberger provided blood sample to prove his innocence. The test revealed that the biological material on Candy’s rape test kit was not his. To Candy’s disappointment and surprise, Dr. Schneeberger was found not guilty.

The people in Kipling moved on from the incident but Candy refused to let it go. She insisted that the first DNA sample might have been tampered. She requested for a second DNA test at the hospital, which the doctor willingly complied in August 1993. The police monitored the entire procedure and the samples were sent directly to the forensic lab at police headquarters. The result again revealed that Dr. Schneeberger's DNA did not match the DNA from the rape test kit. Candy didn’t believe the result and knew Dr. Schneeberger was up to something. The doctor even said that the drug given to her caused erotic hallucination and that made her believe that she got raped. Without other evidence to convict the doctor, the police closed the case in 1994.

Candy was convinced that the doctor raped her. Despite the negative comments from people around her, she continued to seek justice. She hired a private investigator that broke into Dr. Schneeberger’s car. The investigator found some hair strands and a lip balm presumably used by the doctor. The hair strands had no roots so they couldn’t be used for DNA testing. Candy sent the lip balm to a private lab to get tested. The DNA from the lip balm matched the DNA from her rape test kit. This was the first piece of evidence that would have tied Dr. Schneeberger to the crime but couldn’t be presented in court for two reasons. First, there was no proof that the epithelial cells on the lip balm belonged to Dr. Schneeberger. Second, the evidence was obtained illegally when the investigator broke into his car without a warrant. It was mind-boggling as to why the DNA from the doctor’s lips was different from the DNA from his blood. Candy filed a civil case against Dr. Schneeberger to find out. The charges against him were brought to local medical society. Dr. Schneeberger’s wife was very furious and stared glaringly at Candy during the hearing. Due to pressure from the medical society, Dr. Schneeberger agreed to another DNA testing.

The procedure was videotaped and monitored by the police. The doctor was taken to the forensic lab for blood draw. The technician asked if she could take a sample from his finger but the doctor politely refused and reasoned out that he had an illness that would cause his hand to bruise. Given that this was a voluntary test, the technician didn’t insist to take blood from his finger as he couldn’t be forced to do anything that he didn’t want to do. She then took blood sample from his arm. She noticed that there was no blood coming out and that his vein was unusually larger. She took another vial thinking the vacuum was poor making it harder for the blood to come out. She finally got a sample and gave it to the nurse for testing. The nurse noticed the unusual color of the blood. It didn’t look fresh according to her and the sample was too degraded for DNA testing. This was another sad news for Candy. How could that man get away from the crime that he committed?

The police were also suspicious as to why the DNA from the lip balm matched the DNA from Candy’s rape test kit and the blood sample didn't. But since the doctor passed the test twice, they couldn’t charge him. On April 25, 1997, police got a break when Dr. Schneeberger’s stepdaughter told the police that he sexually assaulted her too. She said that he had been giving her injections at night for several years. The doctor’s wife, Lisa, found boxes of condoms, needles, and drugs in his office. One of the drugs discovered was Versed. Due to this, Dr. Schneeberger was arrested and ordered to undergo DNA testing again. The procedure was also videotaped. This time they took several samples such as hair, saliva, and blood. The blood was taken from his finger instead of his arm. The DNA from the three samples matched the DNA from Candy’s vaginal swab.

How did the doctor beat the test on three separate occasions? This was a question nobody could answer. On the stand, the doctor revealed his secret. In November 1999, Dr. Schneeberger went on trial for Candy’s and his stepdaughter’s rape. There he said that he surgically inserted a blood filled tube into his arm. The blood was from one of his patients. This was the reason why he refused blood to be taken out from anywhere other than his left arm. How sick is that? After all the evidences, the doctor denied Candy’s accusations. He made up a story that Candy broke into his home to steal a used condom to convict him.

As a doctor, it was Dr. Schneeberger’s ethical obligation to protect his patient and yet he used his medical privileges to assault a woman. It not only destroyed Candy’s reputation but also destroyed the people’s trust to the medical community. Doctors vowed to protect the best interest of their patients but incidents like this raise a question to their integrity. One valuable lesson from this case is to fight for what you believe in especially when you know you are right. Never stop seeking justice when it’s due. Never give up even if the whole world questions your credibility. Candy was a strong-willed individual who fought for her right. She knew she was right and she was right all along. In life where inequality is prevalent, you need to look after yourself and protect your rights as an individual. Rich or poor, you have a right to live with dignity. Never let anybody take that away from you.