App of the Day: Poolsuite FM, What the Tech? It makes you crazy, because you challenge her with every allegation, and she acquits herself. As for an epilogue on ex-flame Andrew Katrinak, he has moved to Colorado and kept a low profile since the trial ended. Charles Robert, the 3-month-old son she had with Gary Gabard, died of sudden infant death syndrome; Patricia found him blue in his crib. Thats all for this post. Why First Republic failed. Plus: Dead Louisiana woman found fused to sofa; JonBent Ramseys father seeks governors help with DNA testing; Australian man incarcerated for killing gay American in 1988; and Pennsylvania mother shoots her two boys in the head. After her arraignment, she had to walk past a crowd of dozens of locals screeching hang her! and baby killer! Patricia clung to a Polaroid picture showing her and her own little girl. Plus, he had only a minimal life insurance policy on Joann and he passed polygraphs, according to The FBI Files: Family Secrets. Investigation Discovery (ID) is the leading mystery-and-suspense network on television. Dial-a-problem. Patricia Rorrer has been portrayed as a bully, petty thief, neglectful horse owner, and heartless killer or a sweet, caring friend railroaded by authorities desperate to solve a double-murder case that snagged worldwide interest. 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After one bullet didnt kill Joann, the gun locked up, so Patricia had to beat her to death, according to the prosecution. He would be alive today if it were not for Patricia Rorrer. The mild-mannered Sarah died in 2019 at the age of 83. Judge's Order Granting Discovery (pdf) Download. Most of all, Patricia said, she would like a rematch with prosecutor Michael McIntyre. People envied the Katrinaks rock-solid marriage and picture-perfect life; with the house, the kid, and the two cars in the drive, they seemed to be living the American dream. After six hours of deliberations, in March 1998, a jury found Patricia guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping. These are but a brief sampling of the many errors and inaccuracies contained in Superior Courts opinion. Declaration of DNA Expert on Rorrer's Behalf (pdf) Download. http://starz.tv/FB Neely said, "A very substantial question as to whether the hairs that were actually tested were in fact hairs taken from the seatback or were they part of that general pile of hairs that were taken from Patricia Rorrer in North Carolina?". She currently has an appeal pending in Pennsylvania Superior Court. The person responsible, needs to be punished. On Instagram, I found a post for a two-part Win at All Costs podcast featuring journalism professor Bill Mousheys interviews with Patricia Rorrer from prison in December 2019. A newspaper account described Patricia as a soft-spoken, demure woman who had a sweet Southern accent and wore feminine clothes in court. <>>> Superior Court states that Patricia Rorrer and Andy Katrinaks romantic relationship ended in May, 1993 only one year before the murders. Pfeiffer and Burke claimed that police Sgt. When Andy Katrinak comes home to find his wife and infant son gone, he summons the police and tells them he believes they have been abducted, and he suspects his ex-girlfriend Patty Rorrer might be involved.more. She said that shes no fan of Forensic Files and that the show had many misrepresentations about her case and that shed heard ForensicFilesNow.com mixed up some facts as well. Police couldnt determine whether the baby died of exposure or suffocation. Get local Breaking News alerts sent directly to your inbox. . The Worldwide Womens Criminal Justice Networks website also points to a bombshell: In 2015, the Justice Department acknowledged that most of the team members from an FBI microscopic hair comparison unit gave prosecutors flawed data from 1980 to 2000 that could have unjustly contributed to a number convictions including Patricia Rorrers. Z6DGgYP5`T30V;B:HI `{N v,mQxtGxrFwLS` KxL*sc ;fY. He said the court ruled it was not allowed to be tested because of a concept in the law called the law of the case, which he says basically means the evidence didn't have an impact on the case. My husband passed away of a broken heart, Sarah OConnor said on the Montel Williams Show in 2001. Her mother, Patricia Chambers, provided day care for their baby son, Charles. Investigators theorized that this action angered Patricia into a jealous rage that ended with abduction and murder. In fifty years, this is the most complicated case Ive ever been involved in, an investigator says of the search for Andrea Knabel. : Local economists weigh in after 3rd bank failure in last 2 months, Baby alligator temporarily staying in the Poconos after being found at sewage plant in Allentown, LVHN offering 2nd dose of bivalent COVID-19 booster shot for people 65 and older, immunocompromised people, Work to replace busy bridge connecting Lehigh, Northampton counties is underway; there's some good news for commuters, Allentown Service Plaza to close at night during the week as crews do paving work, High Delaware River water levels lead to additional safety requirements at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area this week, Gov. Weak wages. The state police dropped him as a suspect. ), The Wrong Man investigators Ira Todd and Joe Kennedy have some theories of their own. I dont even know its Christmas.. When she stood trial that same year, she maintained her innocence and alleged that she and Andrew Katrinak had continued to stay in touch as good friends, so she wouldnt do anything to hurt him. In 1994, a mother, Joann Katrinak, and her baby disappeared and their bodies were later found in Heidelberg Township. Meanwhile, the case of the missing mother and baby turned into colossal news across the U.S. and internationally. They released a poster of Joann and Alex, noting that the baby had almond-shaped blue eyes, weighed 18 pounds, and was circumcised. Was it just a mistake that one of the highest courts in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania got everything so wrong? Rorrer and Andrew broke off their . Four months after Joanns disappearance, farmer Paul Kovalchik reported seeing what at first looked like a pile of clothes on his land in Heidelberg Township woods, about 15 miles from the Katrinaks house. How can someone fight it and correct the record? Read more: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Patricia Lynne Rorrer. Discovery, Inc. or its subsidiaries and affiliates. Lehigh Valley: Patricia Rorrer Still A Convenient Suspect? When she stood trial that same year, she maintained her innocence and alleged that she and Andrew Katrinak had continued to stay in touch as good friends, so she wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Judges Denial of Commonwealth's Motion (pdf) Download. Patricia also pointed out that when author Tammy Mal started her research and speaking to me, she was not an advocate at all but she reversed and ended up advocating for Patricias innocence. She had dropped out of school at the age of 17 to marry her partner and subsequently worked long graveyard shifts at a textile factory to provide for their family. After a very early failed marriage, the 24-year-old Joann scored a new husband in Andrew Katrinak, 38, whom she met at a club. Katrinak's husband's ex-girlfriend was convicted of the crime, but now there's a possibility the case could be reopened. Where is Patricia Rorrer Now? - The Cinemaholic If you know anything about their case, please call or text the "In Pursuit with John Walsh" hotline: 833-378-7783 (3-PURSUE). Trash-talking ex. His favorite rattle, shaped like a phone, lay near the crime scene. DNA testing showed that Rorrer could not be excluded as the source of the hairs. On closer inspection, he saw it was the body of a woman. A three-year investigation culminated in court on March 6, 1998, with Patricia being convicted on two counts of murder and two counts of kidnapping. She had money put aside. And in a piece of salacious testimony, Patricia Rorrers half sister, Sandra Ireland, said that in May 1995, about six months after the murder, their mother, Patricia Chambers, stopped by the house and asked her to hold onto or hide a gun, or both. Therefore, today, in her late 50s, Patricia is imprisoned at the maximum-security State Correctional Institution Muncy in Clinton Township, Pennsylvania. How could I explain to my daughter years later that I took a plea for something I didnt do? she said. She was born on Jan. 24, 1964, in eastern Pennsylvania and moved back and forth between there and Davidson County, North Carolina. $Hm$5c&BRIb)iRsSI(*b|(:b|(*Plxt%|:J'i6. If I knew I was going to get caught, I never would have brought you into this world, the arresting officers testified they heard her say to Nicole. After relocating to Pennsylvania, Patricia met the 6-foot-2-inch Andrew in a restaurant. More than 20 years after her conviction, Patricia Rorrer still has advocates working to exonerate her. Patricia L. Rorrer was taken into custody from the Linwood home she shared with her boyfriend and 1-year-old daughter on June 24, 1997. Both sides agree Joann hung up on Patricia. 728 views. Neely wants another hair to be looked at as well that he says was found in the victim's hand, but does not match the defendant or the victim. The prosecution alleged that after the murder, Patricia drove Joanns car to McCartys parking lot and backed it into a parking space. If you have any information on this missing mystery, please contact the Cape Girardeau Police Department directly: 573-335-6621. % State police and the Philadelphia division of the FBI appealed to the public for leads. That's according to Craig Neely, who worked on the case for years as the defense attorney. Two-Part Special Premieres Sunday, March 5 at 8/7c; Features Exclusive First-Ever Interview with Inmate Patricia Rorrer . ), And in another bombshell, Joanns good friend Karen Devine said Joann planned to leave Andrew after the holidays. Convenient Suspect: A Wrongful Conviction In The Murder In Lehigh Valley? But investigators conceded they had no solid evidence against Andrew. They allege that the North Carolina resident stealthily drove 500 miles to Pennsylvania and killed out of a sense of deadly indignation. How could Patricia Rorrer have been convicted using DNA from a hair root that doesnt exist. Her friends say she was railroaded by the system and they want Chris and Fatima to join their fight to free her. Superior Court states that evidence was taken from Joanns. They moved into her house in Salisbury County, staying together for about two years. For more information, please visit InvestigationDiscovery.com, facebook.com/InvestigationDiscovery, or twitter.com/DiscoveryID. So now, lets find out everything there is to know about her, shall we? Barry Grube, one of the few, if not only, police officers sympathetic to Patricias cause, noted that Andrew didnt seem particularly frantic while authorities searched desperately for his wife and son. That hang-up, they said, was the last straw. Yet, everything changed when they lost their 3-month-old son to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Self - Retired Detective Sergeant Homicide Investigator Birmingham AL Police Dept. Stable situation. Someone had shot Joann in the face with a .22-caliber pistol, then beaten her about the head hitting her 19 times in all with a blunt object. The entire forensics examination from beginning to end was just awful.". Following the disappearance of Joann and Alex Katrinak, Joanns husband Andrew told police he believed someone had broken into his house, cut the telephone line and abducted his wife and son. You might think such a thing couldnt happen, but thats exactly what did happen in the Rorrer case. All of STARZ blockbuster movies, epic originals, and addictive series. Success! <> Patricia L. Rorrer was taken into custody from the Linwood home she shared with her boyfriend and 1-year-old daughter on June 24, 1997. Patricia Rorrer: An Update - Forensic Files Now Are other banks to follow? There was an error processing your request. Appeals - Patricia Rorrer How would an intruder find it? i-InD6g~v~}saG\R -(QdB]+[1xlm>Hv%} i{Fb=i~{/7=hn/JzF3XuccBb However, prosecutors contended that Patricia attacked Joann and Alex because she wanted to reconcile with her ex, and his wife had hung up the phone on her when shed called in December 1994. A few eyewitnesses who didnt testify at her initial trial also back her statements of being in North Carolina on that fateful day, but nothing has been proven. Murder victim Joann Katrinak. And dance instructor William Jarrett couldnt remember whether she attended his dance class at the club the night of Joanns disappearance. Joanns car was later found next door in the parking lot of a local tavern. Mike McIntyre was the first assistant district attorney in Lehigh County during the case and says he's surprised Rorrer is making another attempt to get out of prison. But it wasnt until the police linked Rorrer to the crime through a DNA match between her and a hair recovered from Joanns car that they finally had enough to arrest her. Her friends say she was railroaded by the system and they want Chris and Fatima to join their fight to free her.Patricia Rorrer is serving a life sentence, convicted of driving 500 miles to kill her ex-boyfriend's new wife and his baby. You have permission to edit this article. PATRICIA RORRER, : : Petitioner : v. : CIVIL ACTION NUMBER 19-01398 : WENDY K. NICHOLAS, : : Respondents : MOTION FOR DISCOVERY AND CONSOLIDATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW . Dance defense. Pick up PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: Cases That Shocked America, on sale now, for the latest on Casey Anthony, JonBent Ramsey and more. And Andrews explanation of how the intruder got in through the basement door seemed contrived, according to Grube, who gave an interview to Wrong Man, a 2020 true-crime docuseries from the Starz network, which produced two episodes called The Hang Up about the Rorrer case. And because some of Patricias advocates have suggested Andrew Katrinak had a motive for murder, I checked into whether he had a life insurance payout to gain upon Joanns demise. Or is Patricia Rorrer still just a convenient suspect? Patricia seemed like the girl next door but all of a sudden, something snapped, Katrinak later told Wrong Man investigators. Great communicator. Sundays special is the first of at least two Morrison is working on with Investigation Discovery, who he says have given me unlimited freedom to look into cases that interest me.. A five-year investigation of the case has uncovered compelling new evidence that they did not. Shes extremely, extremely happy with the baby. When police traveled to North Carolina to interview Patricia about the murders of Joann and Alex, she said that on the day of the homicides, she had visited a feed store, a tanning salon, and a country music club. She beat Katrinak, shot her and left her and her baby for dead in the woods in Heidelberg Township. Investigation Discovery on Twitter: "Patricia Rorrer sits in prison for You can read the court documents in their entirety here. Andrew described his existence with Joanne and Alex as a little Camelot., Ex-spouse off list. But defense lawyer Robert Pfeiffer said that plenty of evidence supported Patricias innocence. He said, "The only possible thing that would make any sense is to claim that the hair that was tested wasn't the hair of the case, it was somehow, some other extraneous hair that got in there. Does he think Rorrer is a killer or a victim of a miscarriage of justice? 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In addition to the Facebook page, there are Reddit threads on her case. As for Joanns parents, her father died a year after the murder. Andrew told investigators that the unpleasant phone call between Joann and Patricia happened just three days before his wifes disappearance. DNA from that and a cigarette butt linked Patricia to the offense. Back in 1994, a mother, Joann Katrinak, and her baby disappeared and their bodies were later found in Heidelberg Township. Kidnapped and killed? Or did they? Patricias accusers theorized that she resented Joanns domestic bliss with the tall, athletic Andrew Katrinak. She just stayed in touch with everybody, Kathy Barber said in her interview on NBCs Murder in Lehigh Valley: Keith Morrison Reports in 2017. Angry that Joann hung up on her, she stalked her for three days, then broke into her basement and cut the phone line, put a gun to Joanns head as she was placing Alex in the car, and forced her to drive to the rural area. And yikes, he discovered someone had cut one of the houses phone lines and pried the hinge on the basement door. Gay Bars, 1 Suspect Still at Large, Cold Cases Heat Up: How Advances in DNA Technology Are Helping to Bring Justice for Victims. Man Arrested In Connection With Disappearance Of Woman Last Seen At Seattle Mariners Game, The Search Continues For Minnesota Mother After Her Suspicious Disappearance, A Person Of Interest And Reward Established In Search For Missing Mother Heather Mae Kelley, Mystery Remains After 13-Year-Old Girl Vanished From A Minnesota Gas Station In 1989, Maybe Someday Someone Will Break: Alabama Mother Searches For Daughter Who Vanished In 2010, An Alabama Woman Disappeared After Her Boyfriend Dropped Her Off At Home, Have You Seen Semaj Goodwine? Patricia Rorrer: Guilty Or Not? - Medium (We didnt get into the specifics.). Her newest book, Convenient Suspect, is scheduled for release in the fall of 2017 and recounts the murders of Joann and Alex Katrinak and the potential wrongful conviction of Patricia Rorrer. There are claims that the cigarette butt wasnt examined and that the hair strands had no roots (which contain the DNA), suggesting that nothing truly ties Patricia to the homicides. More hairs there. (A good point. After Joann Katrinak, the wife of Patricia's former flame, turned up dead along . Suzanne Pearson fabricated quotes from Patricia including her claim that Patricia said, Im going to the electric chair upon her arrest because a conviction would boost Pearsons career. Investigators in Nashville, Tennessee are looking for help identifying a young female found deceased in 2018. Why did the police center all their attention on a hair found 15 miles from the crime scene, but ignore physical evidence left directly on the bodies? What Happened To High School Senior Erica Fraysure? Those who knew Joann pointed out that she didnt like to drive in reverse and would have never parked that way. 8GNGn`s/daUnjx OgG^{|;\(l_K -^?g&"!#{ !]uH}tgx=qCB:xN_ bxxx>)MwG@&qG}S,JCWg4f4QU4tFcT*jNjMa/nR>3[i,?R|*Drx|`|Ov 1tsFIed?r?1 (RDFoy$yYIGpc u)O2g(A((g>Igl9H=hE;n&oA?dpXKQ0[_E/OYc[,}gQn-I/02Eis|(:.z\c;.3_|;*S}h ]~+1M Medical examiners determined Katrinak had been beaten and shot. But none of those charges ever stuck. Patricia Rorrer (right) is led to her hearing in Lehigh County Courthouse Wednesday morning, August 26, 1998 by a sheriffs deputy, at left. Hair we go. Joann Katrinaks car was later found next door in the parking lot of a local tavern. Then 31 years old, she had lived a rocky existence. She is sitting in Muncey Women's Correctional Facility for over 23 years now for something. An award-winning journalist who has worked forRolling Stone and MTV News, Chris enjoys prog rock, cycling, Marvel movies, IPAs, and roller coasters. Despite the new evidence and hypotheses, the courts have rejected all of Patricias bids for a new trial. On January 11, 2021, Although the prosecution used it as evidence that she was trying to create a false alibi, it actually sounded more like Patricia was simply trying to nail down the facts he had already asserted to her. Sharon Scott is the President and General Manager. Patricia Rorrer has been portrayed as a bully, petty thief, neglectful horse owner, and heartless killer or a sweet, caring friend railroaded by authorities desperate to solve a double-murder case that snagged worldwide interest. Puny policy. The police considered the possibility that Joann ran away, a theory disputed by her family. Andrew Katrinak reported missing his wife, Joanne and 3.5-month-old son, Alex, in December 1994. Although police initially focused on Andrew as a suspect, they ruled him out and suspicion turned toward his ex-girlfriend Patricia Rorrer four months later, when Joann and Alexs bodies were discovered on a rural trail near where Patricia used to ride horses. Men who murder are conventional, women are sensational, posits the Worldwide Womens Criminal Justice Network. On December 14, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Ms. Rorrer's petition for allowance of appeal, concluding her state appellate proceedings. Back in March of 2017, Investigation Discovery ran Murder in Lehigh Valley: Keith Morrison Investigates which questioned the conviction of Patricia Rorrer for the brutal double murders of Joann Katrinak and her infant son, Alex. This all started because Rorrer filed under the Freedom of Information Act for records from the FBI. On Aug. 5, 1993, Holly Piirainen, 10, and her brother went to a neighbor's house to play with puppies. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. The case rocked Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley and resulted in the conviction of Patricia Rorrer, now 53, the ex-girlfriend of Katrinak's husband. 2 0 obj Andrew mentioned to police that his former live-in girlfriend Patricia Rorrer once managed a horse stable two miles from the bodies location and would have been familiar with the riding trails close to the murder scene. No show. Why would somebody tell you, theyre going to fry me, if they didnt do it? Jarrett told Wrong Man. It was love at first sight when Joann OConnor met Andy Katrinak in the spring of 1992. (McIntyre said that Egan ignored Traupman because he was a nut who said that the man he saw arguing with the woman in a car was Hispanic but wearing a fake mustache and a toupee. His father confirmed his alibi that they were doing construction work together, putting an addition on the house of friends Tom and Kathy Holschwander, at the time of Joanns disappearance. Smith will face charges for allegedly killing her husband, Antione Smith. My sister will get her justice, insists the 12-year-old murder victims younger sibling. Her friends say she was railroaded by the system and they want Ch Read allPatricia Rorrer is serving a life sentence, convicted of driving 500 miles to kill her ex-boyfriend's new wife and his baby. One of our nations fastest growing cable networks, ID delivers the highest-quality programming to more than 85 million U.S. households and is available in both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD). She was always looking for a fight, Gary Gabard told the Morning Call, which noted that he was a head shorter than Patricia. I was like OK, maybe she was tired, you know with a new baby. ", Neely said, "If there were no hair roots when this hair went to the FBI, where did a hair with a hair root come from?". Cop defends accused. Investigators initially keyed in on Katrinaks husband, Andrew, whod told police he thought someone broke into his house, cut the telephone line and abducted his wife and son. A hair sample that helped put Patricia Rorrer behind bars for life could be the key to set her free. For more on the Katrinak murder case, you can watch Autopsy Six: A Fatal Attraction for free on YouTube. He said, "Frankly, I was appalled at what I saw. How can this happen? Our Mission. Donna Fisher/Allentown Morning Call/TNS via Getty, Arrests Made in Connection with Deadly Druggings at N.Y.C.

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