!) and detractors (This is another bs attempt to free a psycho). Unlike Mr. Having said that, to simply answer your question why? Police and FBI being under pressure to solve this highly publicized case, it had already been two years before they arrested Rorrer and case had gone cold. Meticulous primping. Perusing the claims made by her supporters, I find many are Aunt Sallies: points that claimants suggest are probative of innocence but are no such thing. Well, that really caught our attention of course.". After Joann Katrinak, the wife of Patricia's former flame, turned up dead along with her infant son, prosecutors suspected Patricia. TENTH DISTRICT. Image credit: Episode screen capture from, - Sarah OConnor: Joann Katrinaks Mother, - Det. I find THAT to be incredible. Mrs. Katrinak had been shot in the face and beaten, and Alex is believed to have died from suffocation and exposure.Ms. Counsel for the 52-year-old woman convicted in 1998 argues evidence handling calls for new attention, reports say. The boy died either from suffocation or exposure.Although by 1994 she was living in North Carolina, Ms. Rorrer phoned Katrinak occasionally. But its not implausible that Joann Katrinak may have been in Fairleys area during that time period. ", "I can remember till this day, seeing that infant being lifted off the abdomen of his mother. They were married 62 years. Joann Katrinaks Killer Still Has Innocence Advocates(A Woman Scorned, Forensic Files). The first round of testing done on the hair (pre-trial) indicated only that Rorrer was a potential source of the hair (odds of 1 in 37,000not exactly proof positive). The Irish-Italian girl had full, fluffy dark hair, olive skin, and a pretty face. Her name is not on a Dec. 15, 1994, sign-in sheet for the private club..Police never found the murder weapon, a .22-caliber gun.."Where's the gun, Patty?" Tests show the hairs are definitely a woman's..Rorrer is a cunning woman who almost committed the perfect crime and thought she had outsmarted police, McIntyre said. On closer inspection, he saw it was the body of a woman. If Patricia drove it back from the murder scene after she shot Joann and then beat her to death, luminal would have lit up the interior. By all accounts, Rorrer has never been a smoker. Lieutenant Christopher Coble and Sergeant Suzanne Pearson would later testify that Patricia cried and apologized to 18-month-old Nicole, telling the baby, Im sorry for doing this to you and lamenting to the officers that she would never see little Nicole again. Joann Katrinak - 349. 24, 1997. There are myriad issues surrounding this case and conviction. And there were dirty blond hairs, approximately 8 inches long, found at the scene. The baby had been smothered or left to freeze to death. A newspaper account described Patricia as a soft-spoken, demure woman who had a sweet Southern accent and wore feminine clothes in court. Frank J. Hearn Michael J. Brady Antonio Verrelli B Stephen Zahornasky Hugh H. Taulty. That may be true, in that Alex may have died of exposure, not intentional killing. When Andrew Katrinak arrived home from work shortly after 6 p.m. on Dec. 15, 1994, he noticed two unusual things. Some lawyers call microscopic hair analysis junk science that today wouldnt qualify as evidence in a trial like Rorrers. . Hair we go. Her husband, Andrew, was surprised to not find his wife and child at home after arriving there after work. Andrew Katrinak said that Rorrercalled three days before his wife disappeared, but the phone records do not confirm this call.With little objection, prosecutors used the second FBI analysts description of the hair evidence to put Rorrer at the crime scene. North America. Strands of the accuseds dyed-blond hair at two crime scenes proved it. She also said that she was in North Carolina on the day of the abduction, where she was involved in a committed relationship with the father of her daughter. I was so excited that I called everyone, and Joanne picked up the phone and she said Andy is married, and I said I know, then she said we have a baby, and I said yea I know, then she said dont ever call here again. They noted houses near the murder scene would have heard a gunshot in December, when no farm equipment is making noise, and question why the murderer didnt just kill Joann inside her house instead of risking being seen in public in her car. TWELFTH DISTRICT. were relatively and mercifully swift, mitigating their conscious pain and suffering.. She was born on Jan. 24, 1964, in eastern Pennsylvania and moved back and forth between there and Davidson County, North Carolina. He gave an audio interview to the Wrong Man investigators when they made a surprise visit to his house, but he declined to appear on camera. It was love at first sight when Joann O'Connor met Andy Katrinak in the spring of 1992. Prosecutors claimed Rorrer manufactured an alibi for the day the victims disappeared. The forensic reports indicate that there was a significant amount of blood and tissue clinging to this fingernail, which would have been an excellent source of nuclear DNA testing. Rorrer is incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution Muncy, a prison for women in Clinton Township, Pennsylvania. Andrew had an ex-girlfriend, Patricia Rorrer, who'd been familiar with the trail, and she'd previously managed a horse stable just a mile from the scene. The episode indicated that Andrew Katrinak informed police that Patricia Rorrer had made the phone call to his home three days before Joann's disappearance. Irelands husband buried it in the yard because he didnt feel comfortable with a firearm inside, she said. "I guess she thought she wasn't going to get caught. Plus, he had only a minimal life insurance policy on Joann and he passed polygraphs, according to The FBI Files: Family Secrets. Rorrer said she was almost 500 miles away in North Carolina on the day of the disappearance. One final thought about those hairs: they were described as dirty blond and approximately 8 inches in length. Incriminating words. On Oct. 5, 2007, the District Attorney of Lehigh County agreed to allow the testing of the hair found in the Toyota at Orchid Cellmark Laboratories in Dallas. http://articles.mcall.com/1998-03-06/news/3183202_1_mcintyre-defense-lawyer-killed/2, Unreliable Chain: Questionable Hair Evidence Condemns Woman to Prison, FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades - The Washington Post. ", "An unusual feature about the gun, he [Rorrers ex-boyfriend] stated was the fact that you fire one shot out of the gun, and the gun would jam. As usual, Rebecca at Forensic Files Now has a thoroughly researched article about the Patricia Rorrer case and events since her conviction. It seems strange that Patricia would just pick up and drive 500 miles to see and ex-boyfriend from years ago on a whim, leaving her own one-year-old daughter at home in North Carolina. Pretrial and trial reporting is listed below: Rorrer's Reputation: `Don't Mess With Me'. . Kidnapped and killed? Along with Rorrer, Joann Katrinaks ex-husband, Michael Jack, and Andrew Katrinak were suspects for a time. The same source indicates Patricia Rorrer has repeatedly appealed for a retrial and exoneration, but each request has been denied. Theres also the matter of a woman who suddenly remembered she saw Joann with another man at a Food Mart store five days after the disappearance. AWoman And Her Baby Walkinto a Trap Murder Suspect Breaks Down As Detectives Tell Of Her Arrest: `I'm Sorry For Doing This To You,' Patricia Rorrer Allegedly Told Her Infant Daughter.February 18, 1998by DEBBIE GARLICKI The Morning Call. Fairleysargument:The court should have rendered him a minor for sentencing purposes. I dont think she was ever scared until we put the cuffs on her.. Region. Convicting Factors: forensic fabrication, hidden evidence, media hysteria.Convicting Reasons: protect the real murderer. Even though he committed the double murder at age 21,a persons biological process is typically incomplete until the person reaches his or her mid-twenties.. That same year Limerick was hit by a night tornado which killed a mother, father and baby. However, the only record of any call made from Rorrer to the Katrinak household was on Dec 7th. Lets consider these statements Rorrer is alleged to have made in the presence of a police officer. We found out that he was a real pervert, all kinds of sexual devices and various perverted stuff, District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. told Forensic Files rather triumphantly. But defense lawyer Robert Pfeiffer said that plenty of evidence supported Patricias innocence. You couldnt fire a second shot. Highly charged case. (Media sources vary as to whether she actually worked at the stable or just rented a stall there for her own horse.). With 400 (and 6) episodes, this progress bar indicates my progress toward finishing all of them. Lisa Agostinelli Manderachlost her life because the aforementioned Dungeons and Dragonsenthusiast, one Caleb Fairley, age 21, reportedly considered her the embodiment of beauty hed been wantingto seize. An autopsy revealed Joann Katrinak was shot in the face with a small-caliber handgun and suffered 19 blows to the head. That barn is about two miles from where the bodies were discovered along a trail in the woods, where a prosecution witness said she rode horses with Rorrer. The episode claimed the jury required just two hours to deliberate, but other sources indicate it took six. DNA tests In 13-year-old Murder Case Could Be Reexamined. The indications of Patricia's involvement in Joann's and young Alex's disappearance were numerous. Are we to believe that Rorrer was still in such a rage 8 days later that she hopped into her van (with a bad universal joint), drove 500+ miles and killed a woman and baby she had never met, without anyone either seeing her in PA or missing her from NC? She said she had no animosity toward the Katrinaks and she had never met the dead woman. Rorrer offered her attendance at a private club in North Carolina as one of her alibies, but the club (per a state regulation) required members to sign in. Some who still believe in Patricia Rorrer's innocence say it was long enough for him to stage the scene. Rorrer said she purchased grain for her horses that day, brought it home and then later went to a bar for western dance lessons with her fianc and another man. Rorrer, who owned horses, excelled at the sport of cattle-penning, loved to drive far and fast, remodeled her own home, and shot guns for the fun of it.Rorrer, when Coble talked about her baby, started discreetly wiping the corners of her eyes, her lower lashes and her nose. . Nothing Ive read by her supporters goes to the heart of the case against her unless perjury. (Jimmy Manderach did not appear on theForensic Filesepisode.). Thanks for responding, Marcus. On September 15, 1995, she and Devon headed to Your Kidz &Mine, a new clothing store in the Collegeville Shopping Center, 10 minutes from her house in Limerick, Pennsylvania. Family members found Joanns tan Toyota sitting vacant in the parking lot of McCartys, a nearby bar. Possession/viewing of porn and sexual devices would condemn millions on the basis this is meant to! The state of the bodies suggested the victims had likely been killed the day very they were abducted. Everything about that statement rings false, but it sure worked out for Officer Suzanne Pearson; she was promoted to Sergeant after sharing this bombshell confession with her superiors. Her husband, Andrew, was surprised to not find his wife and child at home . Then, despite her multiple alibis, she has an inexplicable five-day gap in this pattern. Oddly, the test results on the DNA from the cigarette butt was the deciding factor for me: thats when I KNEW the evidence had been compromised. Andrew's involvement in the latter theory was dismissed when his alibi checked out. Four months later, investigators found the bodies of Joann Katrinak and her baby 15 miles away from the Katrinak home at the edge of a field. Rorrer said she had spoken once to Joann before she and Katrinak were married and that Joann seemed friendly when she put Katrinak on the phone.Rorrer said that years ago, she rented a barn in Washington Township for her horses. During the investigation, police took hair samples from several individuals, including Andrew Katrinak, but none matched the headrest hairs. Her defense was essentially that she and Andrew Katrinak had remained friendly, so she wouldn't want to hurt him. Patricia was convicted based on her head hairs being found in the victim's car. His favorite rattle, shaped like a phone, lay near the crime scene. Advertisement. Fairley, a blond, heavy, powerful-looking fire hydrant of a man who lived with his parents, was described by a friend as adevotee ofDungeons and Dragons, a role-playing game that allows peopleto act out story linesinvolving medieval warrior heroes, dragons, wicked monarchs, you name it. Suzanne Pearson testified about Rorrer's reaction to the news that she was being charged and about incriminating statements she allegedly made.Those statements were made shortly after 6 a.m. while Rorrer, still in bed clothes, held her 1-1/2-year-old daughter, Nicole, and talked to the wailing baby, according to the witnesses.Coble said Rorrer was crying and trying to comfort her child. I wish someone would look into the possibility that Caleb Fairley may have murdered Joann Katrinak and her infant son Alex in Catasauqua, PA, in December of 1994. "I would never of dreamed it in a million years," said Joy Deal, manager of the dealership.After leaving the car dealership, Rorrer worked sparingly as a photographer and lived with her mother and 1-1/2-year-old son in a remote home outside of Linwood. 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. Joann was shot once, then the gun jammed. Until WCJN has thought that the hair was planted but the FBI has just released a report detailing unscientific and fraudulent analysis of hair samples in criminal cases. The farmer's remote field bordered an isolated horseback riding trail. There was a piece of a fingernail found attached to Joanns chest. Traupman claimed that when he reported the dispute, trooper Robert V. Egan III got mad and practically kicked him out of his office. Its not clear whether Fairleys interest in vampires was part of D&D or a separate pastime. Should reasonable doubt be defined for the jury or is that to nudge them some unintended direction by lawmakers? Find a typo or issue with the details of this case? Most of all, Patricia said, she would like a rematch with prosecutor Michael McIntyre. I used to have a crush on Lucy Lawless, from Xena the Warrior Princess. How could I explain to my daughter years later that I took a plea for something I didnt do? she said. Scorned ex lover etc. Under cross-examination, she said she didnt believe it was her hair in the Toyota.It took a jury of eight men and four women five hours to find her guilty on counts of kidnapping and first-degree murder. Shouldn't Andrew have mentioned this suspicious, out-of-the-blue phone call from his ex-girlfriend sooner? To commit the murders, Rorrer took her victims out to a location that was familiar and significant. Patricia Rorrer is formerly from Linwood, North Carolina, and serving a life sentence in the state prison for women at Muncy, Pennsylvania. But Patricia had moved from Pennsylvania years ago, and she'd started her own family in North Carolina. Andrew languished for weeks and then months as investigators failed to suppl any explanation for his wife's and son's mysterious disappearance. Rorrer, who had a five-year relationship with Katrinak that ended in 1989, testified that she and Katrinak remained good friends after the breakup, writing letters occasionally and calling each other. Then 31 years old, she had lived a rocky existence. In fact, she had moved 500 miles away and was in a new relationship herself. Please research the Katrinak case a little when you have some time. Joann was fun, likable, beautiful, always happy, said her sister-in-law Cindy Wiard. Testimony from Walter Blalock contradicted Patricias claim that she never had a gun. The guy was banging at the door and yelling open this door. And then, he yelled something like What do you mean its not my kid? Traupman said in a sworn statement.A neighbor of the Katrinaks told police she saw Joann Katrinak that afternoon, clad in a black, furry jacket that matched Traupmans description. Leave a comment below, or contact us! Plus, two men, her babys father and his friend, testified they saw Patricia at the line-dancing club the night of the homicide. It's shocking to think that Patricia Rorrer, being a mother, could end the life of an infant. Rorrer had never actually met Katrinak. Marcus, dont you find it interesting that a hair inconsistent with both the victim and the accused was found clutched in the dead womans HAND, and was never tested? The victims were the wife and son of Rorrer's ex-boyfriend, Andrew Katrinak.Lt. McIntyre didn't address that issue in his closing argument..Burke said soil in the woods didn't match soil in and on the car and questioned why there was no blood in the car if the killer drove the car back to Catasauqua where it was found..He also wondered how the victims could have been kidnapped at gunpoint from their home at 740 Front St. in the afternoon without anyone seeing anything..Prosecutors claim that Rorrer planned the killing and even might have been in the area before Dec. 15, 1994. 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. His wife's vehicle was discovered in a parking lot 100 yards away from their house.The bodies of the mother and son were found in April 1995 in a rural, wooded area 15 miles from home. They lived together in Salisbury Township, Pa., for about two years, but they . It was conceivable that Andrew believed they were still out. Anyhow, all together this rather is not a cut and dry trial and a convinction. He disposed of the little girls body in Valley Forge National Park, where hikers soon discovered it. Try to do some REAL digging into this case. The phone wire was located at the opposite end of the basement, which was dark. The killer was Patricia Rorrer, the jealous ex-girlfriend of Joann's husband, Andrew. When their bodies were found four months later, police sought the clues to find their killer. Once, when a gun-wielding farmer and his buddy caught Patricia and Gary riding motorcycles on his field, Patricia walked up and got in their faces and argued, Gary recalled to the Morning Call. At first, a broad-daylight abduction of a mother and her infant seemed unlikely.
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