We’ve seen and read many stories about multiple stab wounds and how many there can be inflicted upon a victim. When we read about 20, 30, even 40 stab wounds, we realize how many that is, but when that number climbs ever higher, we can’t help but wonder, why?
25-year-old college student and Jacksonville Beach waitress Corey Parker was found on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. She had been found stripped, legs spread, and stabbed to death. Her body was posed in a sexual pose and smeared with blood.
There were stab wounds all over her body, but in particular, there were gaping stab wounds in her neck. The medical examiner who worked Corey’s body was unable to determine the gender, point of entry, number of assailants, or even what or how many knives were used. The examiner counted a total of 101 stab wounds.
Though police believed the murder had a sexual motive, semen was not recovered from the scene. Blood and hair that did not belong to Corey, however, was recovered.
For two years, police moved from suspect to suspect, including ex-boyfriends and lesbians suspected of being rejected by Corey, and were unable to land anyone they considered to be the perpetrator.
It wasn’t until police received a tip from a service industry employee about Robert Erik Denney, a former neighbor of Corey. After a difficult interview and a failure to get a confession, police followed Denney until they were able to scrape a DNA sample from his spit off of a rain-soaked sidewalk.
Denney denied knowing Corey, but the science couldn’t lie: his DNA was a match for the DNA recovered in Corey’s apartment. Six hairs matched Denney: four from Corey’s body, and two more found by the body.
Denney was arrested and charged with her murder. After a contentious three-week trial, a jury took 45 minutes to convict Denney of Corey’s murder. He received life in prison. He continues to profess his innocence.