When the cops started investigating, they couldn’t escape the fact that the early case against Robert Hansen involved bodily fluids. After five hours in Hansen’s basement, Cindy Paulson eventually had to relieve herself. But Hansen was asleep. Had warned her not to wake him. And, of course, she was in chains. She did what she could. She peed on a towel. That towel had the potential to become evidence.
Then there was the fact that Hansen had unprotected sex with Cindy. And had ejaculated. Cindy kept her tampon as potential evidence, thinking it a semen catcher. To some extent, it was. Cindy also had other ideas. Desperate ideas.
Robert Hansen Confession (Feb 22, 1984)
FRANK ROTHSCHILD: Was there a towel?
for Hansen sentencing
ROBERT HANSEN (RH): Yeah, okay a towel, I threw that with some other dirty laundry I had and I threw that in my washing machine, put some soap with it, pushed the button and just forgot about that…
RH: Uh, that… there was a towel there that she uh, uh, gone to, pee. Or peed on the floor and that she’d wiped it up with that and uh, and uh, I was moving that couch back when I come back to my home there from… Uh, I seen the towel in there and I seen what was on it right away. And I uh put that in the washing machine to get it clean. And get rid of it to you know, so it wouldn’t be around there.
Cindy Paulson Interview with Sgt. Flothe (Sep 27, 1983)
FLOTHE: It’s 9:17 pm. We ran out on the other tape and we just put another tape in. I was asking you the question, Cindy, did you leave anything in the house?
CINDY: Um… Just a towel that I had peed on. I was scared to pee… I wasn’t too scared I was just…
FLOTHE: Why was the towel there to begin with?
CINDY: I don’t know. It was laying on the couch. You see, I couldn’t reach it very good. I had to reach up with my leg and my arm and stretch, ‘cause it was choking me. But I was gonna hit him with a pool stick but then I figured if I killed him, I would be left for dead. And if I didn’t kill him, he would kill me.
FLOTHE: Where was the pool stick?
CINDY: Laying on the pool table. (sniffles)
FLOTHE: OK.
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