Jesse Timmendequas Trial: 1997

At the station, Timmendequas waived his right to counsel and agreed to a search of his truck, which he had driven to the police station. It contained a piece of black felt and a brown toy chest. During the search, Timmendequas volunteered that he had cut his hand earlier in the day on a curtain rod in the truck. He did have a wound on his palm, but the police found no blood or skin on the rod.

Timmendequas then went home, promising to return the next day. Meanwhile the police searched his boat and nearby garbage cans. In the trash they found a knotted rope with what appeared to be dried blood on it, and the waistband to a pair of small pants. Mrs. Kanka identified them as fragments of Megan's clothing.

On July 30 police again questioned Timmendequas, who was by now their main suspect. He wrote a second statement about his activities that conflicted with his previous statement written the night before. Detectives questioned him for another six hours. Finally he asked to speak to his roommate, Brian Jenin. When Jenin entered the room he told Timmendequas, "They got you, they got you, they got you. You're going to need a friend on the outside and I'll be that friend." Timmendequas put his head down and said, "She's in Mercer County Park." He agreed to lead the police to the body, which he had dumped near a portable toilet in a weeded area of the park three miles from Megan's home.