Patricia demonstrated a consistent habit of long-distance calls from home, then had an obvious gap while claiming she. I dont have any reason to believe that Fairley might have been in the Catasauqua area in December of 1994. Image credit: Episode screen capture from, - Sarah OConnor: Joann Katrinaks Mother, - Det. How would an intruder find it? 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. Frankly, Im astonished anyone would question her guilt (except those who can make money by writing books doing so)! Not sure if i shopped here ever. But were it not for Rorrer, yes, Id look at Fairley. The trio were all dark and striking. For nine hours on the witness stand, Rorrer denied having anything to do with the killing. And James Pfeiffer and Jim Burke have remained on her side. If the Commonwealths chain of custody is correct, then the hair on the seatback is Rorrers.Now, he and Rorrer wonder if they ever will be able to recreate the controversial chain of custody to prove her innocence. 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. Meanwhile, interest in Patricias plight continues on social media. A CLUMP of hair would be more significant as if pulled out. 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. To commit the murders, Rorrer took her victims out to a location that was familiar and significant. She said she did not give the hang up by Joann Katrinak a second thought. How could I explain to my daughter years later that I took a plea for something I didnt do? she said. It was conceivable that Andrew believed they were still out. While he said there was no animosity between them, he claimed Rorrer may have snapped three days earlier when she called him, at which point his wife told her to leave them alone and abruptly hung upthe telephone.Rorrer said she was almost 500 miles away in North Carolina on the day of the disappearance. 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. Why do mitochondrial testing when you have a root, a valid source of nuclear testing? In TV clips, Andrew didnt come off as anguished. She is a tough one, Sheriff Gerald Hege would later tell the Morning Call in a June 29, 1997 interview. The article also notes that most inmates earn around 19 cent an hour at their jobs and must pay $5 each time they need medical attention or medicine. Prayers to the family. When it was only able to fire once, Rorrer had to resort to bludgeoning her victim. A young mother and her infant son suddenly went missing just before Christmas in 1994. Deal refused. His wife's Toyota Corolla wasn't parked in back of their house at 740 F During the investigation, police took hair samples from several individuals, including Andrew Katrinak, but none matched the headrest hairs. Scorned ex lover etc. Joann Katrinak - Generation Why Podcast The murders initially made James,calledJimmy, a suspect because, as we know from countless otherForensic Files, the spouse did it. She had been beaten and shot in the face. Lets consider these statements Rorrer is alleged to have made in the presence of a police officer. In addition to the Facebook page, there are Reddit threads on her case. 25, 1997. As to Andrew being the killer, I thought the police acknowledged his cast-iron alibi (but correct me if Im wrong). Pennsylvania prison inmate is asking for new D-N-A tests in a 13-year-old murder case. (To me, its not a spreeunless it starts in the morning and doesnt end until its too dark to find your car.). He washed off the foundation at their request, uncoveringscratch marks that looked as though they came from someonesfingernails. On a happier note, in 1998, the Limerick Township Park System built the Manderach Memorial Playground in honor of Lisa and Devon. One on one? And their phone line had been cut someone had not wanted the Katrinaks to be able to call for help. Kidnapped and killed? Someone with a life sentence has nothing to lose throwing any spanner in the works that might, as they see it, cast doubt even if the spanner has the opposite effect! She worked at restaurants and later sold insurance and real estate and worked at a car dealership in Reading.She met Katrinak in May 1984, she said, when he was a regular at a restaurant where she worked.They dated, lived together and bought a home in Salisbury Township. As for an epilogue on ex-flame Andrew Katrinak, he has moved to Colorado and kept a low profile since the trial ended. Patricia had won a prize at an out-of-state horse-riding competition less than two weeks before the murders, and she allowed herself to be photographed. S2E02: The Murders of Joann and Alex Katrinak - Part 01 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. Police treated Joann's car as a potential crime scene, and their investigation turned up several blonde hairs on the head rest. With Marlene Sanders, Jeffrey J. Lewis, Michael Baden, Andrew Katrinak. The Free Patricia Rorrer page points to a sliver of a fingernail found at the murder site that didnt come from either Patricia or Joann. Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. Andrew Katrinak - Forensic Files Now She was a 23-year-old beauty just coming out of a bad marriage, and he a handsome and successful business owner 14 years her senior. 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. However, the only record of any call made from Rorrer to the Katrinak household was on Dec 7th. "I'm not worried about my clothes," Rorrer said. Murder in Lehigh Valley: Keith Morrison Reports is also available on YouTube, but it costs $1.99 to view (Keith comes off as an advocate for Patricias innocence on the episode). It is currently unknown if the Patricia's case was one of these. As of at least 2012, he was trying to have his convictions vacated and get a new trial following a Supreme Court decision that deemed life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders unconstitutional. Imake it a practice not to look too hard for up-to-date information about victims family members because, unless they show up onDr. PhilorDateline, theyre probably not looking for media attention. According to a Morning Call account from March 5, 1998: McIntyre leaned forward conspiratorially like someone trying to persuade another to tell a secret, lowered his voice and said: Heres what I want to know: After you killed Joann Katrinak, did you kill that baby or just leave it to die?. I really never thought of it again.. 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? As for the murder weapon, police didnt find a .22 caliber pistol on Patricias property, but an ex-boyfriend claimed that she owned one and it would always jam after one shot. Daughter of George & Margaret Panik and wife of Andrew Katrinak. "Do you understand?" So begins a case that features a missing wife, a missing baby, and the husband who gave news interviews repeatedly asking for the return of his wife and son. Ideally we would achieve certainty; practically we must settle for the exclusion of all reasonable doubt: problematic cos its circular. Joann Katrinak, and her baby, had planned to go Christmas shopping with her mother-in-law but she never arrived to pick her up despite calling to say that she was on her way there. (Shopping Spree,Forensic Files). She Faces Prosecutor Tomorrow.March 03, 1998by DEBBIE GARLICKIThe Morning Call, Double-murder trial defendant Patricia Rorrer took the witness stand in her own defense Monday, giving jurors a Cliff Notes version of her life up until the time a Catasauqua woman and her baby disappeared in 1994.Rorrer, 34, testified in a soft, slow voice for an hour and 20 minutes before court adjourned on the 14th day of her Lehigh County trial.The North Carolina woman accused of killing the wife and 15-week-old baby of her former boyfriend, Andrew Katrinak, calmly answered questions from one of her lawyers, James Pfeiffer.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.She said she was happy for Katrinak when he told her in a telephone call in March or April 1994 that he had gotten married and a baby was on the way. Still, Shopping Spree,theForensic Filesepisode about the murders, left me curious about an epilogue for Fairley. Of course, its not if such forensic evidence that is or may have been exculpatory has been maladministered by accident or design. Media galore. . Patricia Rorrer's home phone record did not show her call to the Katrinak house three days prior to the kidnapping because she'd already made the trip to Pennsylvania to see Andrew. Search is on. . Patricia was arrested in North Carolina in June of 1997. The 26-year-old was recently married, and this would be four-month-old Alex's first Christmas. Convicting Factors: forensic fabrication, hidden evidence, media hysteria.Convicting Reasons: protect the real murderer. Shes far from dumb, but shes not exactly educated, either. As for Joanns parents, her father died a year after the murder. Facebook gives people the power. Here in UK juries are now being instructed to be satisfied that they are sure of guilt, with surety not being as high as certainty. Fortunately, investigators found glaring evidence of Fairleys guilt within days of the murder and built a case so solid that the attackerended up sentenced to two consecutivelife terms for two counts of second-degree murder. One she was out buying feed for horses. the couple had moved in together, married, and become the proud parents of a new baby boy they named Alex. memorial page for Joann Marie O'Connor Katrinak (11 Oct 1968-15 Dec 1994), Find a Grave . But she continued to call him occasionally.Three days before she vanished, Mrs. Katrinak angrily told Ms. Rorrer over the phone to stop calling her house, according to a police affidavit.DNA analysis showed that hair samples Ms. Rorrer submitted matched six found in the headrest of Mrs. Katrinak's car and two found near the bodies. Patricia Rorrer: An Update - Forensic Files Now The episode made a special point about locating the photograph of Patricia Rorrer with dyed blonde hair. Your email address will not be published. (We didnt get into the specifics.). Rorrer was a slim, auburn-haired, 30-year-old photographer and horse enthusiast.Before he called police, family members canvassed nearby neighborhoods, driving around the suburban community of about 7,000 people near Allentown, Pa. Around midnight, Joann Katrinaks father found his daughters Toyota Corolla near a tavern down the street. But we just weren't making it as a couple. Lisaleft her diaper bag at home because she planned to stay out for only an hour, which makes Shopping Spree an odd choice for the title of theForensic Filesepisode. Apparently it is universally agreed by courts that any hair testing before 2000 might had yieled an incorrect reading. Rorrer was identified early on as a possible suspect. I do rejoice when I learn of someone particularly on death row exonerated. They allege that she drove the victims to Heidelberg Township woods where they were murdered and abandoned. In the warm NC climate, Rorrer was dressed in shorts and a short sleeved T-shirt and had absolutely sign of injury. 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. She said she had no animosity toward the Katrinaks and she had never met the dead woman. Christopher Coble and Sgt. The township invested an additional $50,000 for new equipment for the playground in 2012. Hair we go. I would say that its only since the advent of forensic porn that wholly circumstantial cases are disparaged. And, I was quite angry with the police, that they accused Andy. Great communicator. Rorrer maintains her innocence to this day and argues that someone either negligently or intentionally put her hair on the slide. Andrew's second look in and around their home revealed some disturbing clues. He allegedly pressured one of those friends,Christopher Lefler, to perjure himself bycorroborating the dance alibi in court; Lefler refused. As usual, Rebecca at Forensic Files Now has a thoroughly researched article about the Patricia Rorrer case and events since her conviction. Theres been some debate with regard to a picture of Rorrer shortly before the murders and the color of her hair. 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. Weak wages. Despite the new evidence and hypotheses, the courts have rejected all of Patricias bids for a new trial. Woman Held in Catasauqua Killings * Andrew Katrinak'S Ex-girlfriend Her alibi about going to the club, called Cowboys Nitelife, got fuzzy when investigators discovered she hadnt signed the guest book on that day. While not promising to allow the tests, a judge says he will allow an expert to examine evidence from the deaths in 1994 of 26-year-old Joann Katrinak and her three-month-old son, Alex. But by all accounts, Rorrer only spoke to Andrew Katrinak once or twice a year. Patricia had of course not registered that night. Combination locks. BETHLEHEM, PA. BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) _ Joann Katrinak was shot in the face in woods not far from where her 3-month-old son, Alex, suffocated or was left to die.Investigators believed early on they had a good idea who the killer was. Victims Joann Katrinak Alex - Bonnie's Blog of Crime | Facebook Patricia Rorrer | Worldwide Womens Criminal Justice Network - WCJN Background details that you might want to know about Andrew include: ethnicity is Caucasian, whose political affiliation is unknown; and religious views are listed as unknown. She moved to North Carolina after her relationship with Katrinak ended in 1991. Of course, if this matter was related to the inflicting of (non-consensual) pain or worse, and/or minors, thats a different matter but thats not the impression given. And the kidnapping scenario became more plausible when you factor in the privacy of the alleyway behind the Katrinak house. She turned a flushed face and red nose away from the visitors' section.Her demeanor during testimony about her baby, who turned 2 last month, was far different from that during the rest of the Lehigh County trial.Earlier, she was dry-eyed as witnesses described the numerous wounds to Joann Katrinak, who had been shot and beaten, and the baby's death from exposure to cold or suffocation. There were no love letters, cards, gifts, or any other indication that she still had a romantic interest in him. Why? Andrew told investigators that the unpleasant phone call between Joann and Patricia happened just three days before his wifes disappearance. Supposedly it was the relationship to this trail and Patricia's managing of the Silver Shadow Farms horse stable just a mile away that first brought Rorrer to detectives' attention. Andrew Katrinak - Historical records and family trees - MyHeritage The fact she no longer has that gun "is almost as good as having the weapon," McIntyre said..To believe Rorrer's testimony, he said, jurors would have to reject testimony of 22 prosecution witnesses, whom she said were mistaken in their recollections of events.."Either she's guilty or she's the most unlucky person who's ever walked on this Earth," McIntyre said..The killer, he said, would have to have the same DNA as Rorrer, the same color and length of hair, the same gun, the same knowledge of the Katrinak home and the woods, and have a reason to kill Joann Katrinak. Suspicion initially fell on Joanns husband, Andy, when their bodies were found in woods in Apr 95. Forensic tests suggested the hair found in the car and at the murder scene came from Patricia. Marcus, I respect your opinion and understand why you and others feel the way you do. 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. Those hairs would ultimately send Rorrer to prison for life, even though she claims she never was in the car, and the evidence collection and preservation practices have been attacked.The next day, Andrew Katrinak told police that a gut instinct made him think Rorrer was involved. No disagreements, but maybe D and D and health club membership arent so far apart. "She had a reputation of, `You don't mess with me,'" Fonda Kay Eggers told a reporter for the Dispatch of Lexington, N.C. Eggers, a Humane Society investigator and distant relative of Rorrer, filed animal cruelty charges against Rorrer in 1994 after checking on Rorrer's horses. They produced a photo of her with dyed hair, implicating her because the hairs found in the Toyota were dyed. Until next time, cheers. ); Your last point is hardly conclusive: as she used a weapon I wouldnt necessarily expect her to be injured, merely that she MIGHT. Flaw in reasoning. There are myriad issues surrounding this case and conviction. Patricias phone bill showed no record of a call to Catasauqua that day, but police noticed she didnt make any calls at all from her house in North Carolina that day either suggesting she could have been out of state and used a pay phone to dial up the Katrinaks. Nothing Ive read by her supporters goes to the heart of the case against her unless perjury. Despite the troubling evidence from Joann's car, detectives considered whether or not Joann had taken baby Alex and simply left. Enter memorial Id . Andrew Katrinak was suspected because he failed two polygraph tests when asked if he had lied to police and hid evidence.If it wasnt for the DNA, I wouldhave had a hard time saying guilty. GEORGE JAMES GATANISJUROR, DISCUSSING AFTER THE RORRER TRIAL THE FACTORS THAT LED TO HIS DECISION.27During the investigation, police took hair samples from several individuals, including Andrew Katrinak, but none matched the headrest hairs.

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