David Renz said he never would have killed Lori Bresnahan and raped her daughter if someone saw his electronic monitor bracelet wasn't working
A convicted murderer who killed a woman and raped her 10-year-old daughter blamed his probation officer, testifying that he would never have committed the crimes if someone realized his electronic monitoring bracelet wasn't working.
David Renz, of Syracuse, New York, told lawyers he took off his monitoring bracelet "10 to a dozen times," according to testimony recorded in April but recently released by Syracuse.com.
He said that he discovered he could remove the tag just five days after he was bailed out on federal child porn charges in January 2013.
The bracelet first came off "by accident" while he moved boxes in his mother's home, Renz testified at Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo. The next day he reported the incident to his parole officer, Steven Acquilano, and was not made to face the other way when the device was repaired or reattached in two separate instances, he said.
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Renz, now 31, started intentionally breaking off the bracelet without consequence, which made him feel he had "greater freedom," and he eventually bought zip ties, a ski gun and an air gun while roaming around bracelet-free, he said.
On March 14, 2013, Renz stabbed and strangled 47-year-old school librarian Lori Bresnahan and raped her 10-year-old daughter after they left the Great Northern Mall. He had taken off the bracelet and left it reattached at home so no one would know he left the house.
Probation received a tamper alert at 7:09 p.m. that night, one minute after Renz removed the bracelet, but ignored it, Syracuse.com reported.
Renz said he would "most likely not" have been able to kill Bresnahan and rape her daughter if authorities were monitoring him more closely.
He pleaded guilty in July 2013 to the murder and rape and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was also sentenced last year to possessing more than 11,000 images of child pornography and 1,100 child porn videos, according to news site.
The probation office's lax supervision of Renz before he committed the murder and rape left many outraged, leading to a federal investigation of the office, congressional calls for reform and the firing or demotion of the officers who were in charge of supervising Renz, Syracuse.com reported.
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