Thomas J. Eoannou, the lawyer of the alleged victim in the Patrick Kane rape investigation, said Wednesday that the rape kit evidence bag was tampered with and delivered anonymously to the accuser's mother's home.
Eoannou said in a press conference in Buffalo that he will be requesting an independent investigation into how the bag was obtained and who it was obtained by.
Eoannou said he's unsure the whereabouts of the physical evidence of the rape kit, which was performed at a local hospital after the night of Aug. 2, when Kane allegedly sexually assaulted the victim at his home in Hamburg, N.Y. after a night out drinking.
[WATCH: Eoannou's complete 14-minute press conference]
Kane still has not been charged with any crime and attended the start of Blackhawks training camp last week in South Bend, Ind. He played in the Blackhawks' preseason game Tuesday night against the Red Wings.
Kane released an initial statement on the first day of training camp, saying he was confident he would be "absolved" of any wrongdoing in the matter.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Kane's attorney, Paul Cambria, downplayed the bag's significance, saying tests already showed there was no Kane DNA found below the accuser's waist.
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[WATCH: Kane's attorney responds to allegations of evidence tampering]
The Hamburg Police released a statement on their Facebook page Wednesday afternoon saying they'd "cooperate with any authorized investigation regarding the handling of evidence and the procedure of such."
The statement also said that "the Hamburg Police Department has documentaiton that unequivocally demonstrates that its handling of the evidence and the integrity of its chain of custody of evidence in this case is unassailable."
The story took another turn Wednesday afternoon when Erie County Commissioner of Central Police Services John Glascott said in a statement that all evidence from the Kane investigation was in its original bag and accounted for.
“All evidence related to this case that was given to Erie County Central Police Services by the Town of Hamburg Police Department is accounted for and remains in its original packaging in the possession of Erie County Central Police Services,” Glascott said in a written statement. “This includes the evidence in the rape kit and the packaging itself. This evidence has been analyzed and reports of that analysis sent to the appropriate agencies.”
Stay with CSNChicago.com for more updates throughout the day.
