An eight-member jury returned a verdict of not guilty for Dan L. Petersen, charged with the 1986 murder of Tiffany Hambleton, 14. Expert witness testimony was crucial to Petersen’s defense. Two forensic expert witnesses testified that in such a brutal stabbing, blood would have been everywhere. A roommate saw him come home the next day with no blood on his clothes or shoes. Another person sat next to him in a vehicle and also observed no blood. DeseretNews.com also reports:
Defense attorney Randall Skeen said the area where the girl’s body was placed was muddy that night, but there was no mud on Petersen’s shoes or his truck. Skeen also said there would not have been enough time for Petersen to take Hambleton to the place where the murder supposedly took place, kill her, cover her body with weeds, wash or change clothes, clean the truck thoroughly, make it run out of gas and then walk home.