Woman Dismembers 'Other Woman' With Chainsaw

[bloodrayne]

Saws And Chainsaw Oil Found

Search in suspect's home also leads to some of victim's mail and marijuana

Iowa - Investigators found saws and chainsaw oil at the home of a Sioux Falls woman suspected of killing and dismembering another woman.

Search warrant affidavits filed Wednesday list an inventory of items removed from the house where Daphne Wright was living.

"There was a wide variety of items taken from the house," said Dave Nelson, state's attorney for Minnehaha County.

Authorities asked for a search warrant for the house after determining Wright was the last person known to see Darlene VanderGiesen. The two had a conversation in the parking lot of a Pizza Hut where police later found the victim's truck abandoned, according to court documents.

Wright is accused of killing VanderGiesen because she thought VanderGiesen had a romantic relationship with her girlfriend.

Authorities found pieces of VanderGiesen's body in the city landfill last weekend and said the body was at least partially dismembered before it was dumped in a trash bin.

The investigation began as a missing person case reported Feb. 3. Most of the investigation has focused on the house. A roommate told police she saw Wright removing carpet and a large black trash bag the night VanderGiesen was last seen.

A search of VanderGiesen's computer revealed a "demeaning and profane" message sent by Wright to VanderGiesen.

A judge authorized officers to examine Wright's house for cell phones, computers, disks, a wallet, hair, blood and other evidence. Police entered the house Feb. 7 and confiscated a paint brush, a computer, paint scraps and a small amount of marijuana.

Officers also noticed a partially bloody shoe print in the basement, along with small pieces of matter on the walls that later were determined to be human fat, bone and muscle tissue.

The odor of fresh paint was present, and "random areas" of the basement had been painted blue, according to court documents.

The next day a judge approved searching the computer hard drive and expanding the search at the house to include "tools used to dismember a body" and "materials used to clean up a crime scene."

During the next several days, detectives documented and removed store receipts, painting supplies, a hack saw and a skill saw, as well as other items that had blood or paint on them. They found clothing, handwritten notes and mail addressed to VanderGiesen.

Nelson said the search took several days because of efforts to carefully document and photograph the location of any items that could prove significant as evidence.

"It was a pretty methodical process," he said.

A significant number of items collected already have been shipped to the state forensic laboratory in Pierre and others soon will be sent. The searches included a detached garage on the property and an SUV driven by Wright.

Wright's publicly appointed defense lawyer, Traci Smith, said she had not seen the search warrant documents as of late Wednesday afternoon and was unable to comment.

Wright pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 28.