Criminals leave something behind at a crime scene. They also take part of the crime scene away with them. The detective’s job is to find that evidence. It’s always there.

Deputies search the dead woman’s house. A pathologist says she bled to death from a stab wound that severed her aorta. She’d also been raped. Evidence is processed and taken to the SLED Crime Lab.

Suspicion points toward Bernard, the victim’s ex-boyfriend. He has no solid alibi, but neither have they found any hard evidence placing him at the crime scene.

Years pass. Then one day the case officer reads that a man in Florida was convicted of raping a blind woman. This is the very first case in the U.S. in which DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is used to convict. The DNA pattern of the semen collected from the victim matched the DNA from the suspect’s blood sample.

Here in Lexington County the five year old case is reopened. Now there is enough probable cause for a circuit judge to sign a search warrant, authorizing deputies to take Bernard to a hospital and have a blood sample drawn.

The suspect’s blood, and the fluid from the crime scene, are sent to Lifecodes Corp. in Stamford, Connecticut, the lab that pioneered the science of identification by DNA matching.

It takes months, but when the lab report comes back, the DNA patterns match. There’s a margin of error of one out of 96 million.

As the trial date approaches, the prosecutor says this will be a first in South Carolina. Bernard’s arrogance is surpassed only by his ignorance-until lawyers explain about the DNA case in Florida.

"We’re going to strap you in the electric chair," the prosecutor tells Bernard, days before the trial.

Defense lawyers tell the defendant that if he goes to trial he risks execution. But if he pleads guilty, he can get no more than a life sentence.

Less than one hour before the trial-and with a vision of a sparking electric chair looming in his mind-Bernard’s cocky attitude vanishes. He enters a plea of "guilty," and is sentenced to "life without parole."

Still, that’s a better deal than his victim got.