David Kofoed was the chief of the Crime Scene Investigation Division at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Omaha, Nebraska, until he was convicted in 2010 of felony evidence tampering for planting blood during a double murder investigation. His fabrication sent two innocent men to jail for months, cost public insurers and agencies millions in settlements and judgments, and left a shadow over other homicide cases he had worked.
The 2006 Murders That Exposed Him
On April 17, 2006, Wayne Stock, 58, and Sharmon Stock, 55, were shot and killed at their farmhouse in Murdock, Nebraska. The actual killers were two Wisconsin teenagers, Gregory Fester II and Jessica Reid, who were on a thrill-driven crime spree. Fester later told a probation officer that he and Reid “really didn’t need any money, we were just there for the thrill I guess.”1Justia Law. State v. Fester Both were arrested in Wisconsin within a week on car theft charges, pleaded guilty to reduced counts of second-degree murder, and were sentenced on March 19, 2007, to consecutive life terms.2Los Angeles Times. Sentencing in Nebraska Slayings
Before investigators identified Reid and Fester, suspicion fell on two of the victims’ relatives: Matthew Livers, a nephew with a learning disability, and his cousin Nicholas Sampson. On April 25, 2006, Cass County Investigator Earl Schenck and Nebraska State Patrol Investigator William Lambert interrogated Livers for roughly six and a half hours. Livers denied involvement more than 80 times. Schenck told him he would “do my level best to hang” him and would “go after the death penalty.” Lambert told Livers he could not leave. Livers eventually confessed and implicated Sampson, then recanted the next day.3FindLaw. Livers v. Tim Dunning Sampson was arrested the same day without a warrant, based solely on that confession. Both men were charged with murder and faced possible death sentences.4Criminal Legal News. $16.5 Million Settlement in Nebraska Wrongful Arrest Case
How Kofoed Planted the Blood
As the CSI supervisor, Kofoed had access to victim DNA samples. Initial forensic testing of items tied to Livers and Sampson produced no link to the killings, and Schenck and Lambert went to the CSI lab and pressured staff to find something.3FindLaw. Livers v. Tim Dunning On April 27, 2006, Kofoed announced he had recovered a swab of Wayne Stock’s blood from under the dashboard of a car belonging to Sampson’s brother. Another forensic investigator had already examined the car and found nothing, and Kofoed’s claimed discovery came the day after Livers retracted his confession.5Death Penalty Information Center. CSI Director Convicted of Planting Evidence in Murder Investigation That blood became a central piece of the case against both men.
The frame fell apart when DNA from a ring found at the scene led police to Reid and Fester, already in Wisconsin custody. Charges against Sampson were dismissed on October 6, 2006, after about five and a half months in jail. Charges against Livers were dismissed on December 5, 2006, after roughly seven and a half months, with the Cass County Attorney acknowledging the case had rested on the coerced confession and the planted blood.3FindLaw. Livers v. Tim Dunning
Conviction and Sentence
Kofoed was charged with tampering with evidence, a Class IV felony. He waived a jury and was tried before Judge Randall L. Rehmeier in the District Court for Cass County. The defense argued that the blood in the car came from a contaminated testing kit. Judge Rehmeier rejected that account, finding “no credible evidence that contamination was a factor in the case.”6Innocence Project. Nebraska Forensics Chief Convicted of Evidence Tampering
Kofoed’s credibility took another hit on cross-examination when he admitted that he had testified under oath on three occasions that he held a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He actually held a general studies degree in political science.7Justia Law. State v. Kofoed, 283 Neb. 767
Judge Rehmeier found him guilty in March 2010. On May 31, 2010, Kofoed was sentenced to 20 months to four years in state prison.8Nebraska Public Media. Ex-CSI Chief Kofoed Sentenced to Prison On May 4, 2012, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the conviction. Justice William Connolly wrote that Kofoed was “tangled in his own web of deceit.”9Nebraska Public Media. Former CSI Kofoed Dogged by Legal Challenges as Jailtime Ends Kofoed served about 18 months and was released on May 31, 2012. He continued to deny the charge, saying, “I didn’t plant evidence in any case I have ever done,” and told reporters he planned to move to California to “disappear.”10Nebraska Public Media. Former CSI Kofoed Dogged by Legal Challenges as Jailtime Ends
A Pattern Prosecutors Showed at Trial
Prosecutors argued the Stock case was not an isolated act. They introduced evidence from the 2003 murder of four-year-old Brendan Gonzalez in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, where Kofoed claimed to have collected DNA matching the victim from debris in a dumpster six months after the killing. FBI analysts and the Serological Research Institute testified that it was “highly unlikely” such non-degraded DNA could survive six months of weather and garbage exposure.7Justia Law. State v. Kofoed, 283 Neb. 767 The court admitted the evidence under the rules on prior bad acts, finding a shared pattern: in both cases Kofoed had access to victim DNA and produced it from locations where other investigators had found nothing.
The Civil Judgments
Livers and Sampson sued the officers and agencies involved. In the fall of 2013, days before trial, both men settled with government defendants. Livers received $1.75 million.4Criminal Legal News. $16.5 Million Settlement in Nebraska Wrongful Arrest Case Sampson received $965,000, split among the Cass County Sheriff’s Office ($515,000), the Nebraska State Patrol ($375,000), and Douglas County ($75,000).11KETV. Douglas Co. Reaches Settlement With Men Falsely Accused of Murder
The two men also sued Kofoed personally under 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983. He put on no defense, and in March 2014 U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon entered a default judgment against him totaling roughly $6.6 million. Livers was awarded $1.66 million in compensatory damages, $1.65 million in punitive damages, and nearly $1 million in attorney’s fees. Sampson received $1.1 million in compensatory damages, $965,000 in punitive damages, and about $200,000 in fees, plus costs.12North Platte Post. Ex-CSI Official Ordered to Pay $6.6 Million to Neb. Men
Kofoed claimed he had no assets. The plaintiffs then went after Douglas County’s insurer, St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. The district court ordered the insurer to pay the $5 million policy cap.13Omaha World-Herald. Men Wrongfully Arrested in 2006 Murder Win $5 Million Judgment Against Douglas County’s Insurer On September 11, 2018, the Eighth Circuit reversed, holding that the policy excluded intentional criminal acts and that evidence tampering fell within that exclusion. The appellate court also found the plaintiffs had not properly pleaded a malicious prosecution claim that might have been covered.14U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Sampson v. Kofoed The $6.6 million judgment against Kofoed personally remained intact.
Doubts in Other Homicide Cases
Kofoed’s conviction prompted challenges in two other homicides where he had handled the key forensic evidence.
In the Brendan Gonzalez case, Ivan Henk, who had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder of his young son, sought a new trial based on the pattern revealed in the Stock case. The Nebraska Supreme Court denied relief in 2018, finding “ample evidence” that Henk would have taken the plea deal regardless of the dumpster blood, pointing to multiple confessions and his open-court admission of guilt.15FindLaw. State v. Henk
In the 2006 Jessica O’Grady case, Christopher Edwards, convicted of second-degree murder, filed for postconviction relief alleging Kofoed had planted a small blood spot found in his car trunk. The Nebraska Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing. The district court rejected the claim, and the Supreme Court affirmed in 2016, finding Edwards had not proved fabrication and citing substantial other evidence against him.16FindLaw. State v. Edwards
Sam Walker, professor emeritus of criminology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, called for “a one-time, top-to-bottom review” of all cases handled under Kofoed’s leadership. No independent systematic audit was ever conducted.6Innocence Project. Nebraska Forensics Chief Convicted of Evidence Tampering
Changes at the Sheriff’s Office
Douglas County restructured the unit Kofoed had run. The CSI division was renamed the Forensic Science Unit and placed under a new director, Tracey Ray, hired to rebuild it and reduce the risk of bias. An electronically locked door was installed to separate the investigators who collect evidence from the specialists who analyze it, ending the arrangement under which one person could handle a sample from scene to conclusion. The unit moved into a new $4 million facility paid for entirely with drug seizure money.17Nebraska Public Media. After CSI Scandal, Douglas County Hopes to Overhaul Unit’s Image The department set accreditation from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors as a priority, targeting 2013. Sheriff Tim Dunning said the office “completely revised evidence handling policies” after the conviction and removed all evidence associated with Kofoed from its possession.10Nebraska Public Media. Former CSI Kofoed Dogged by Legal Challenges as Jailtime Ends Dunning called Kofoed’s fall “a dark day for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.”6Innocence Project. Nebraska Forensics Chief Convicted of Evidence Tampering