Debbie Hawk Death And Obituary – Judge David Minier of the High Court issued the order to release Debbie Hawke’s remains to her family for burial or cremation on Tuesday following a two-day court proceeding.
On June 13, 2006, Debbie Hawke, 46, vanished from her Hanford home; her body was not discovered until over a decade later.
The blood was found from their mother’s bedroom to the garage when Debbie Hawke’s three children returned from seeing their father Dave Hawke in Lemoore. Authorities discovered Debbie Hawke’s van abandoned in southwest Fresno two days later.
2008 saw the murder arrest of Dave Hawke. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2009 along with financial enrichment, tax evasion, embezzlement, theft, and perjury by a Kings County jury.
The conviction was based on circumstantial evidence that Dave Hawke killed his ex-wife in order to hide the theft of more than $300,000 from the trust fund account for their children.
Debbie Hawke’s whereabouts were unknown until her remains were discovered in a field close to Stratford on March 18, 2016. After the remains were found, the police and Dave Hawke’s lawyer, Mark Coleman, decided to keep them for DNA testing.
The Kings County District Attorney requested the repatriation of Debbie Hawke’s remains to her family on February 22.
The Kings County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Mark Lusk testified about the location of the remains, how they were recovered, their condition, and the soil in which they were found as the hearing on the application got underway on March 8. Officials added in a second statement that two agricultural workers who were excavating in the field had found the bodies.
The hearing, which went on until April 10, was presided over by assistant district attorney Phil Espenshad, and California Department of Justice DNA analyst Christopher Johnson gave testimony regarding the DNA tests carried out on the remains.
Thirteen pieces of artificial nails that were discovered among the remains, according to Johnson’s testimony, lacked Genetic traces.
According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office, Johnson also testified that he ran DNA tests on several of the teeth and discovered merely that Debbie Hawke’s profile had deteriorated. Other than Debbie Hawke’s personal information, none was discovered during the analysis.
Johnson went on to explain how finding the criminal’s DNA profile was severely hampered by the state of the remains and their extensive exposure to the elements, according to officials. Also, he added that DNA testing had been done and that, in his opinion, additional DNA testing was inconclusive, according to officials.
At the hearing, district attorney representatives compelled the immediate handover of Debbie Hawke’s body to her family for burial or cremation. As well as signing the court order, Minier granted the request. A future court date is not scheduled.