LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The parents of the television anchorwoman who was beaten to death said Monday there is evidence their daughter also was sexually assaulted, and that she broke her hand fighting her attacker.
Five days after a suspect was arrested in the Oct. 20 beating of KATV anchorwoman Anne Pressly, Guy and Patti Cannady said on NBC's "Today" that the family still has many questions about the killing.
Guy Cannady said that while the police theory is that Pressly interrupted a random robbery, he isn't convinced of that.
"Well, it's just unbelievable that a random robbery like this would involve the brutal slaying of Anne in this way. There just seems to be a lot more to the whole story than just a robbery gone bad," he said. "I think he could have been a stalker."
They said there was evidence of sexual assault.
"This monster stole my daughter's innocence," Patti Cannady said. "He took her life. He took her identity. He took our lives. Our lives have radically changed as a result of what's happened to Anne."
Police have refused to answer questions about whether the anchorwoman was sexually assaulted. Police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings did not return telephone calls Monday seeking comment on the arrest report.
The suspect, Curtis Lavelle Vance, was linked to the slaying via DNA evidence. Vance has been charged with capital murder and is being held without bail. He also is accused of raping an east Arkansas school teacher in April.
Police detective Tommy Hudson wrote in an affidavit filed Monday that Pressly died after suffering "blunt force trauma" during the attack. He wrote that Vance denied being in Little Rock the day of the attack and allowed detectives to swab a DNA sample from his saliva.
"It was confirmed with all scientific certainty that Mr. Vance is the DNA contributor of the suspect in Ms. Pressly's murder," the affidavit reads.
The affidavit shows police believe several items belonging to Pressly were taken.
In Marianna, police Sgt. Carl McCree said Vance is a suspect in several burglaries in the eastern Arkansas city about 90 miles from Little Rock. He said Vance became a suspect in the burglaries after his girlfriend allegedly sold stolen items7 to a pawn shop. She faces theft charges.
Pressly worked as a morning anchorwoman and had a small role as a conservative commentator in the Oliver Stone movie "W." She lived alone in the city's Pulaski Heights section, a mix of mansions and bungalows near a country club.
Patti Cannady, visiting from out of town, went to her daughter's Little Rock home because she didn't answer a wake-up call and found the 26-year-old woman had been beaten beyond recognition. Every bone in her face had been broken, Cannady said.
"Her jaw, pulverized so badly that the bone had come out of it," she said. "I actually thought that her throat, it possibly been cut, but that was possibly the first knockout punch. Her entire skull had numerous fractures from which she suffered a massive stroke."
Pressly died in a hospital five days later without regaining consciousness. Her left hand was broken, her mother said.
"She fought for her life, she fought her attacker," Patti Cannady said.
Guy Cannady said they had mixed feelings about Vance's arrest.
"Obviously, good news for us, but bittersweet," he said, adding that the next part of the ordeal will be the trial. |