Pfeiffer and Burke claimed that police Sgt. And dance instructor William Jarrett couldnt remember whether she attended his dance class at the club the night of Joanns disappearance. Prior to the trial, a local man named Walter Traupman told Pennsylvania State Police he saw a couple matching the Katrinaks descriptions engaging in a heated argument near where the Toyota was found the day of the disappearance. And the alibi she used at trial -- that she was in a country music club with her fiance and his friend -- isn't credible, according to the prosecution. Even though Joanne was supposed to take her mother-in-law for Christmas shopping, she never showed up. 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. In December 1994, Andrew Katrinak arrives home to an empty house. Enter numeric value. 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. The nail was not consistent with Joann or Rorrer with regard to size and grooming. 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. Try to do some REAL digging into this case. Later, they both worked 12-hour graveyard shifts at a textile factory. The boy died either from suffocation or exposure.Although by 1994 she was living in North Carolina, Ms. Rorrer phoned Katrinak occasionally. 24, 1997. After Joann Katrinak, the wife of Patricia's former flame, turned up dead along with her infant son, prosecutors suspected Patricia. Im certainly aware police lie but this would require a conspiracy. Facebook gives people the power. . ", "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. "The Case of the Severed Hand" examines a case where a waterlogged hand leads to a defiled corpse and a practitioner of black magic. Joann was fun, likable, beautiful, always happy, said her sister-in-law Cindy Wiard. While theres no evidence to suggest he was unfaithful to Joann, within 6 months of her death Andrew and this woman were openly seeing each other. Joann bore a strong resemblance to Lisa Manderach. 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. Of course Fairley could have committed other murders but there was no sexual assault in the Katrinak case, which appeared motiveless except in attributing Rorrers jealousy. As usual, Rebecca at Forensic Files Now has a thoroughly researched article about the Patricia Rorrer case and events since her conviction. The autopsy indicated that Joann fought hard for her life. 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. I also take into consideration the fact that Rorrer simply doesnt speak that way. Because it was parallel parked in a tight spot something his daughter was unable to do he concluded his daughter could not have put it there.While there was no trace of violence, police would find six hairs on the passenger headrest of the Corolla. As soon as she steppedinto Your Kidz &Mine, Fairley, who had a passion for vampire lore, reportedly recognized her ashaving theidealizedlook of the womenportrayed in vampire-relatedliterature. The investigation that led to her identification and then turned up enough evidence to arrest and convict Patricia Rorrer was interesting. Police found Lisasbody after Fairley agreed to disclose its location in exchange for a promise that they wouldnt pursue the death penalty. Shes far from dumb, but shes not exactly educated, either. Fairleysargument:The court should have rendered him a minor for sentencing purposes. And, I was quite angry with the police, that they accused Andy. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. The Innocence Project has declined to take her case. "Investigators allege Rorrer "in a fit of irrational rage" drove from Linwood, N.C., to Catasauqua, to abduct Joann Katrinak and her baby, Alex, at gunpoint. Hasty assumption. Traupman claimed that when he reported the dispute, trooper Robert V. Egan III got mad and practically kicked him out of his office. After relocating to Pennsylvania, Patricia met the 6-foot-2-inch Andrew in a restaurant. In 1991, she returned to North Carolina after the relationship with Katrinak was over and she had defaulted on a mortgage loan.She briefly held a job as a saleswoman for a Salisbury, N.C., car dealership, where she is remembered as an outgoing, friendly person. And she would just call out of the blue., According to the Free Patricia Rorrer page on Facebook:I called him to let him know that I was going to the USA finals for a horse show. 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. The missing items included Joann's purse, car, both her and Alex's winter jackets, and the diaper bag. Frank J. Hearn Michael J. Brady Antonio Verrelli B Stephen Zahornasky Hugh H. Taulty. An infant was lying face down on her stomach. The second round of testing came back as a 100% match, raising the question of a mistake. Rorrer, a photographer with an 18-month-old child, was arrested in Linwood, N.C., and jailed without bail pending an extradition hearing.She was born in Phillipsburg, N.J., and in 1978 moved to North Carolina with her family. To her infant daughter, she supposedly said, If I had known I would get caught, I would never have brought you into this world. To me, those words sound overly dramatic. Convicting Factors: forensic fabrication, hidden evidence, media hysteria.Convicting Reasons: protect the real murderer. She had a suitcase packed, Devine said. Autopsy examines how forensic examiners can help solve crimes. Puny policy. The same source indicates Patricia Rorrer has repeatedly appealed for a retrial and exoneration, but each request has been denied. The main one of course was committing murder of a young woman and her infant son over an argument. It wasnt until post-conviction DNA testing that those hairs suddenly, inexplicably had roots. One she was out buying feed for horses. Watch Forensic Files: Season 5, Episode 3A Woman Scorned. If it could reasonably have affected the outcome a retrial is necessary. PUBLISHED: April 13, 1995 at 4:00 a.m. | UPDATED: October 3, 2021 at 11:51 p.m. Andrew Katrinak buried his wife and infant son yesterday, four months after he began a frantic, nationwide search . 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. After his wife disappeared, she made no attempt to be with him or to see him. In fact, she had moved 500 miles away and was in a new relationship herself. Prior to the trial, a local man named Walter Traupman told Pennsylvania State Police he saw a couple matching the Katrinaks descriptions engaging in a heated argument near where the Toyota was found the day of the disappearance. Image credit: Episode screen capture from, - Sarah OConnor: Joann Katrinaks Mother, - Det. At the states request, the instructor wore a wire during a phone conversation with Patricia. 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. ``She stabled her horses and rode her horses there. But Patricia had moved from Pennsylvania years ago, and she'd started her own family in North Carolina. Highly charged case. Rorrer had never actually met Katrinak. 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. But I remember them finding that poor baby in Valley Forge Park. Dance defense. View the profiles of people named Andrew Katrinak. ''FBI examiners concluded there was a DNA match.Ms. But Rorrer said she didn't ride on the trails and wasn't familiar with the area. 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. He disposed of the little girls body in Valley Forge National Park, where hikers soon discovered it. When Joann failed to arrive, her mother-in-law tried calling, but there was no answer at the Katrinak's. Police found her 1988 Firebird in the shopping plazas parking lot and located a witness who remembered seeing Lisa in Your Kidz & Mine. Also, Rorrer was interviewed by police within a week of Joann and Alex going missing. MAC: Thanks. According to legal documents reported on in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1998, the Fairleys contended: While the circumstances were indeed horrific, the deaths . Unlike Mr. . She said she did not give the hang up by Joann Katrinak a second thought. If Rorrer beat her to death with a .22 caliber pistol like the prosecution claimed, she would have to have been up close and personal, but yet she came away without so much as a scratch? 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. . Why would someone want to kidnap and murder the young mother? (To me, its not a spreeunless it starts in the morning and doesnt end until its too dark to find your car.). That day I was at the Dunkin Donuts too. Finally, four months after that dreadful day in December, a farmer plowing his fields found what at first seemed to be a pile of discarded clothing. During Rorrers 18-day trial in February1998, prosecutors pushed the circumstantialmotive of a fatal-attractionmurder. 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. There was a piece of a fingernail found attached to Joanns chest. Watch enough true crime shows and you're bound to hear one of these gems. The father of her son is not known.In 1993, Rorrer called Katrinak, who told her he was married. Great catch. Join Facebook to connect with Andrew Katrinak and others you may know. Nailed? She produced phone records showing a call to Andrew Katrinak two weeks before the abduction not three days before it to tell him she had won a national horse competition in Oklahoma. That same year, police arrested Calebs father, James Fairley, who owned a pharmacy in Phoenixville, for allegedly providing a customer with the painkiller Darvon illegally. I do rejoice when I learn of someone particularly on death row exonerated. They also found a photo of Patricia taken 11 days before the homicide. They married in 1992. He wanted to move to Colorado and she was against it.. That may be true, in that Alex may have died of exposure, not intentional killing. Men who murder are conventional, women are sensational, posits the Worldwide Womens Criminal Justice Network. They had a son, Alex Martin, in August of 1994. 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. Police identified the pair as Joann and Alex Katrinak. Daughter of George & Margaret Panik and wife of Andrew Katrinak. But her reputation wasnt exactly sleek and shiny. How could I explain to my daughter years later that I took a plea for something I didnt do? she said. Jaime: Thanks. When it was only able to fire once, Rorrer had to resort to bludgeoning her victim. The killer was Patricia Rorrer, the jealous ex-girlfriend of Joann's husband, Andrew. They moved into her house in Salisbury County, staying together for about two years. Is the system THAT rotten? "The testimony appeared to strike an emotional chord in the woman whom prosecution witnesses have portrayed as a tough cowgirl. From the looks ofits Facebook page, the place isstill going strong. 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. Joann grabbed her purse, the diaper bag, and their coats against the December chill in Pennsylvania. Rorrer, who is Katrinak's former girlfriend, was convicted of abducting Joann Katrinak and her son from their home, shooting Katrinak in the face, and leaving her and the child in the woods, where their bodies were found nearly four months later. What IS reasonable doubt and what is it to be at or beyond that threshold? 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. Her mother, Patricia Chambers, provided day care for their baby son, Charles. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4438028/com-v-rorrer-p/. No one else from the club testified she was there. Unicorns and getting really buff can be equally fantastical. Further, an early FBI report said the hairs found in the car had no roots which contain the DNA suggesting an evidence switcheroo. Catasauqua and the PSP will tell you in no uncertain terms that they dont intend to give you squat, and that they dont want anyone digging into this case. Call the court house in Allentown and tell them youd like to request trial transcripts. And the kidnapping scenario became more plausible when you factor in the privacy of the alleyway behind the Katrinak house. December 15th, 1994. They produced a photo of her with dyed hair, implicating her because the hairs found in the Toyota were dyed. Then her tone will change to icy and you will be informed that since its an old case, someone will have to take the time to search through the archives. How about the phone line being cut? During the investigation, police took hair samples from several individuals, including Andrew Katrinak, but none matched the headrest hairs. Fairley also killed Devon, thebaby daughter Lisa shared with husband James Manderach. She failed miserably to convince me, or anyone else who mattered, of her innocence. Then, in what has to be everyones favorite part of the episode, police noticed Fairley was wearing beige makeup on his face when they brought him in for questioning. Andrew languished for weeks and then months as investigators failed to suppl any explanation for his wife's and son's mysterious disappearance. I used to have a crush on Lucy Lawless, from Xena the Warrior Princess. Her family moved to North Carolina in 1978 but returned to the area in 1984. Along with Rorrer, Joann Katrinaks ex-husband, Michael Jack, and Andrew Katrinak were suspects for a time. !) and detractors (This is another bs attempt to free a psycho). No show. . Family members found Joanns tan Toyota sitting vacant in the parking lot of McCartys, a nearby bar. I do not just blindly accept whatever the courts decide. 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! But thats just some of the ammo on Team Patricias battleship. Lets consider these statements Rorrer is alleged to have made in the presence of a police officer. They allege that the North Carolina resident stealthily drove 500 miles to Pennsylvania and killed out of a sense of deadly indignation. ""She was cool," Hege said of the 33-year-old mother, about the same time Rorrer was being arraigned. 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. You couldnt fire a second shot. Andrew Katrinak speaking after his wife's alleged murderer is convicted. It'd be plausible to reason some deniability in Patricia's role if there weren't so many indicators of her involvement. Psycho For Love: Patricia Rorrer killed her ex-boyfriend's new wife, Joann Katrinak, and their 3-month-old son, Alex to make Andrew Katrinak suffer. Her husband, Andrew, was surprised to not find his wife and child at home after arriving there after work. Fairley has not found prison life agreeable. But defense lawyer Robert Pfeiffer said that plenty of evidence supported Patricias innocence. Frankly, Im astonished anyone would question her guilt (except those who can make money by writing books doing so)! 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 all gave jurors a lot to think about but only for six hours. 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. Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. His favorite rattle, shaped like a phone, lay near the crime scene. In general, I wouldnt be so hasty to assume a link between perverted, well, whatever it was he had in his possession, and criminality. When Rorrer was initially granted the right to do post conviction testing, the first thing she wanted tested was the butt. More hairs there. "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. I would say that its only since the advent of forensic porn that wholly circumstantial cases are disparaged. 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. Regard a similar case where too much detail signaled investigators to look closer at their suspect in Bagging a Killer (s06e25). 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. I also forgot to mention the fingernail evidence. But lets say for arguments sake that she was a closet smoker and no one knew. Counsel for the 52-year-old woman convicted in 1998 argues evidence handling calls for new attention, reports say. 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.. Try sending something like that to a lab for paternity testing and see how far you get. Patricia was convicted based on her head hairs being found in the victim's car. Meanwhile, the case of the missing mother and baby turned into colossal news across the U.S. and internationally. Microscopic analyses, mitochondrial DNA testing and nuclear DNA testing showed hairs found at the crime scene and in Joann Katrinak's car matched Rorrer's hairs and DNA in her blood. The Free Patricia Rorrer page responds to comments from supporters (How is this even possible that this woman is still in jail?!? USA. It was after that round of testing that Rorrer insisted the cigarette butt be tested for DNA, as she was convinced it would exonerate her. 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. A closer examination of the hairs showed traces of dried blood. After Joann Katrinak, the wife of Patricia's former flame, turned up dead along with her infant son, prosecutors suspected Patricia. I have the same profile but had no children. I found it necessary to document each time an episode featured one of these. Pal stays true. The prosecution painted apicture of a woman so angry after herformer boyfriends wife hung up thephone on her that she drove to Pennsylvania,forced Joann Katrinak and herbaby at gunpoint into the car, then tookthem outside of town and killed them.Witnesses said Rorrer bought a.22-caliber handgun at a yard sale just beforethe murder. ~~~~~~~POLICE ARREST WOMAN IN 3-YEAR-OLD CASE OF SLAIN MOTHER AND CHILDAssociated PressJun. While the newly discovered evidence was included in her appeal, it has always focused on the contradictory hair tests and wide gaps in paperwork on the chain of custody in hair evidence. The 5-foot-9-inch-tall Patricia was physically strong, no match for 5-foot-4-inch Joann. Theremaining three were sent to the FBI.A subsequent report states the FBIcould not test the hairs because they werecontaminated by someone who touchedthem during the collection process,rendering them scientifically worthless.Despite those reports, state police without recording the chain of custody inany record that has been revealed incourt said they sent all of the evidenceback to the FBI for more testing.While three of the six hairs weredestroyed in previous tests and twoearlier reports revealed no roots fortesting could be found in the others, nowa FBI analyst not only discovered roots totest on the hair samples, but also latermatched them to Rorrer.The new DNA tests, combined withwhat prosecutors said was evidence thatshe was trying to conjure up an alibi Rorrer said she was simply trying todocument her movements in NorthCarolina that day ended with her arrestin the double murder.It was the first time she would facecriminal charges.

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