Investigator says alleged attacker's DNA found on hiker's backpack

FORT COLLINS - James Jud Bondsteel will stand trial on charges he attacked two female hikers Sept. 13.

Larimer County Sheriff's investigator Bob Heffernen testified that the two women, who are sisters-in-law, both picked Bondsteel out during a live lineup.

Bondsteel's DNA also was found on the face of a Camelbak backpack that contains water that one of the hikers was wearing.

At an Oct. 22 bond hearing, the women testified that Bondsteel attacked them and attempted to sexually assault them before they were able to fight him off.

"He held me with a knife to my throat. He cut my arm to try and control (my sister-in-law)," one woman testified. "I truly felt we were going to die... It is only because we took a chance and fought back that we are standing before you today."

This story written by Nate Taylor, Fort Collins Coloradoan.