Federal investigators working to prove that a teenage cheerleader was raped and murdered aboard a cruise ship by her stepbrother have also obtained DNA evidence from a second juvenile boy she allegedly had sex with during the trip, according to newly unsealed documents.
Timothy Hudson, 16, is accused of raping and murdering his stepsister, 18-year-old Anna Kepner, in November of last year on a Carnival cruise ship as it travelled from Cozumel, Mexico, back to Miami. Prosecutors have stated that he was the only person in the room with the cheerleader when she was strangled to death, after which her body was hidden under a bed in the cabin she shared with her stepbrother and her 14-year-old half-brother.
However, a recently unsealed 145-page detention hearing transcript reviewed by Fox News reveals that prosecutors disclosed that Kepner had sex during the cruise with a different juvenile, referred to as 'minor witness two' in court documents. This disclosure was made as prosecutors laid out DNA evidence collected from Kepner's autopsy, which included vaginal swabs from a rape kit.
Two swabs produced male DNA, one of which tested positive for sperm. The findings allowed the FBI to obtain a search warrant for Hudson's DNA, as well as that of the second minor who allegedly had sex with Kepner. After comparing the DNA samples to the swabs, it was determined that Hudson was almost certainly the contributor, rather than the second juvenile, according to prosecutors.
The FBI lab results found that Hudson was 120 sextillion times more likely to have produced the DNA on the swab that tested positive for sperm, and 1.2 septillion times more likely to have produced the male DNA on the other swab as well.
Prosecutors shared few details about the second boy or how it was determined that he may have had sex with Kepner, other than stating that he was a guest on the cruise who had interacted with her and had no other connection to the family.
Although the evidence strongly suggests that Hudson had sex with Kepner shortly before she died, it does not prove that he murdered his stepsister, according to the defence. Hudson's attorney argued that the prosecution is assuming that the evidence of sexual contact, alleged sexual assault, and murder were all part of the same event.
At a hearing last week, Hudson's defence team questioned the FBI's lead case agent about DNA evidence in the case. The defence asked whether any DNA had been collected from the 'marks and bruises' on Kepner's neck to determine 'who may have strangled her.' The agent replied, 'I'm not sure. Of that I'm not sure, no.' The defence then asked whether the medical examiner was able to determine if the same person who allegedly raped Kepner was the same person who killed her. The agent said, 'I don't think they made that determination.'
The defence team's goal with that line of questioning was to establish reasonable doubt that Hudson was the killer, even if he did have sex with Kepner. Prosecutors will thus have to rely on a more holistic presentation of the evidence to prove Hudson was the murderer, combining the rape kit DNA results with surveillance footage, phone-location data, and the timeline of who was in the cabin.
Surveillance footage from the cruise ship shows Kepner entering the cabin at 7:38 p.m. and never re-emerging, with Hudson spending a key stretch of time in the same room, according to prosecutors. They added that Kepner's phone travelled along the same route as Hudson later that night before the device was found destroyed in a trash bin.
The judge said the evidence certainly amounted to probable cause but that he would not characterise the prosecution's case as strong, adding that 'various defences' could be made. Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, Kepner's father told the Daily Mail in April that he is convinced Hudson is his daughter's killer and that he is a 'danger' to the public. He said his family is outraged by a court's decision to let Hudson live with a relative instead of being locked up ahead of his federal trial. He also said the boy has yet to apologise or show any sign of remorse.
'We're upset that he's still out. We're six months in and he should already have been arrested and yet he's free to do whatever he wants right now,' Christopher Kepner told the Daily Mail. 'I want to see him in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. He does not need to be free. He does not need to be in the general public, around any kids or women in general,' the father added.
Christopher said he and his wife Shauntel – Hudson's mother – have not spoken to the boy since December when he was placed in the care of a paternal uncle in Central Florida. He is wearing a GPS ankle monitor to track his location. The 16-year-old was originally charged as a juvenile on February 2, but the case was transferred to an adult court on April 10, allowing court documents to be unsealed. If convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse charges, Hudson could be sentenced to life in prison, though he is ineligible for the death penalty as the alleged crimes were committed when he was a minor. Hudson's trial is scheduled to begin in September.
