Happy Halloween! Roc Herpich was alarmed to find his former lover, Karen Pannell, was murdered and “ROC” had been written on the wall in blood. It appeared she had written the letter with her bloodied right hand. Fortunately, forensic work identified her killer. -Karen was exclusively left-handed and she had no blood on her left hand. -Further, she had been stabbed 16 times, including being stabbed through the spinal cord, which would have left her unable to write. Stabbing is a very aggressive type of murder often suggesting rage toward the victim. -Blood splatter from the stabbing had dried on the wall below where the name was written, suggesting the letters “ROC” were written after she was dead. Karen Ann, 39, of Oldsmar, Florida, died on Saturday, October 11, 2003 at her home. Karen was a graduate of Northside High School in Warner Robins, Georgia. She was a former Model and Flight Attendant. Since age 27, she worked for American Airlines as a Customer Service Agent in Tampa, Florida. The investigators knew Karen hadn’t written the letters, and now knew the killer knew her intimately enough to know the name of her former boyfriend. Karen had recently petitioned for higher child support, but her ex-husband was out of state at the time of her murder. She had been recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Tim Permenter found her body. Tim was an ex-boyfriend who had dated Karen until she found out he had previously served 12 years in prison for pimping out women and she dumped him. (Tim went to a competitor’s home and stood outside, shooting up his home. The man responded by shooting back and hit Tim two times. After being released from the hospital Tim went to prison). Tim stated he had stopped by to visit the day after her murder, and found her lying dead in the home. His 911 call was suspicious as he had declared her dead, but suggested he hadn’t approached her body. Tim’s mother, Donna Finch, gave birth to him as a teenager. She divorced Tim’s father after 2 years. He left the state and never contacted his son again. Donna said she raised Tim with her father Alex Finch (former Clearwater mayor and lawyer). Alex was murdered in his office in 1989 when Tim was in his early 20’s. The psychologist who testified at the trial suggested Tim was raised primarily by Donna Finch’s grandparents. A pizza had been ordered to Karen’s home that evening, and Karen answered the door and paid for it. 3 slices of pizza were missing from the pizza delivered to her home, yet Karen had no pizza in her stomach. Investigators sprayed the pizza box with ninhdrin. (When a protein reacts with copper sulfate, it forms a violet colored print). In this case, it revealed a violet finger print belonging to Tim Permenter. Further, The pizza delivery man and two neighbors had noticed Tim’s car in the driveway. He claimed he was at a cabin that night and didn’t arrive until the next day. And finally, Tim’s cell phone had used a tower in Karen’s neighborhood on the night of the murder, when he claimed he wasn’t in the area. Karen had helped convict her killer by scratching the killer. A DNA analysis first suggested there wasn’t enough DNA to get a reading. A new form of testing was able to use the DNA under Karen’s fingernails. The testing revealed Tim Permenter’s DNA. On October 24, 2007, a jury convicted Timothy Permenter of the first-degree murder of Karen Pannell. The jury voted seven to five in favor of the death penalty, but the trial court sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In the Halloween theme, lets listen to some Blue Oyster Cult. The last time we flew into San Jose, Brenda and I, Branden and Nicolette, and Preston and Olivia all went to watch Blue Oyster Cult perform “Burnin For You” and “Don’t Fear the Reaper” on Santa Cruz beach. Great Time! Christopher Walken was right though, it could have used more cowbell! Thanks for listening, Frank Pierz headed for another section championship in football.
Jake and Carissa Andres are headed to state in Cross Country.
1 Comment
Lois Marie Bieganek
11/5/2018 03:05:39 pm
Did you see the huge orb in picture 10? 😎 Did You see it Frank? Very interesting
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AuthorFrank F. Weber is a forensic psychologist specializing in homicide and sexual and physical assault cases. He uses his unique understanding of how predator’s think, knowledge of victim trauma, actual court cases, and passion for writing true crime thrillers. His Award Winning books include "Murder Book" (2017) "The I-94 Murders" (2018) "Last Call" (2019) and "Lying Close" (September 2020). Archives
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