HOUSTON – The man accused of abducting, raping and slashing a Dickinson girl's throat in 1990 confessed to the crime before committing suicide in his jail cell, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.
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KPRC Local 2 obtained a copy of the three and half hour confession tape. On it, Dennis Earl Bradford takes responsibility, in graphic detail, for the attempted capital murder of 8-year-old Jennifer Schuett.
"She was innocent. I was a sick, deranged, beat-up little punk. I took that little girl out there and I raped her and cut her throat," Bradford said.
Schuett survived the attack and over the next 19 years helped investigators piece together the evidence. In October 2009, Bradford was arrested in North Little Rock, Ark.
"I didn't get caught in 20 years, but I sure didn't get away from it," Bradford told investigators.
Earlier this month, Bradford committed suicide by hanging himself in his Galveston County Jail cell.
Schuett said she is deeply disappointed she will never have a chance to face Bradford in court, but there is one thing that makes her feel better.
"I am very relieved that he will never hurt anyone else," she said.