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Since 4 months elapsed between her disappearance and the discovery of the bodies, the medical examiner could not verify whether or not a sexual assault took place. It showed her usually all-brown hair haphazardly highlighted blond. ", "I think she gave us something like four or five alibis as to where she was at. But that shed never been known to smoke, I grant you (unless she placed it to suggest the perp was a smoker and knew she could claim she wasnt, and simply didnt know DNA could be extracted? (A good point. She seemed like quite an unlikely suspect at least at first. They produced a photo of her with dyed hair, implicating her because the hairs found in the Toyota were dyed. 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.. Jimmy had reported Lisa missing when she failed to return home from shopping by dinner time. Then 31 years old, she had lived a rocky existence. If you subscribe to Hulu and upgrade to Starz (theres a free one-week trial offer), you can stream the Wrong Man episodes about Patricia Rorrer. It was later believed that his recollection was keen, since he'd been the one to dress her posthumously. She made an effort to look perfectly groomed even when she took out the trash, according to her mother, who appeared on Forensic Files. Nothing Ive read by her supporters goes to the heart of the case against her unless perjury. It was conceivable that Andrew believed they were still out. Andrew languished for weeks and then months as investigators failed to suppl any explanation for his wife's and son's mysterious disappearance. The victims' families wept at the sight of photographs of the bodies and cried when Andrew Katrinak identified objects found at the scene -- his son's diaper bag, his favorite rattle and a bottle with a dinosaur cap. Irelands husband buried it in the yard because he didnt feel comfortable with a firearm inside, she said. Having read this recent appeal document (worth a perusal its not too long), which seems to address the fundamental issues at stake, I see no merit in the claim of wrongful conviction, but rather a clutching at straws in the hope that some (spurious) claim may just cast sufficient doubt on the conviction. Andrew told investigators that the unpleasant phone call between Joann and Patricia happened just three days before his wifes disappearance. Media galore. "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. BETHLEHEM, PA. BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) _ A woman was arrested in North Carolina on Tuesday and charged in the 1994 slaying of her ex-boyfriend's wife and infant son in Pennsylvania.Patricia L. Rorrer was charged with two counts of murder and two counts of kidnapping in the deaths of Joann Katrinak, 26, and her 3 1/2-month-old son, Alex.Pennsylvania police, with the help of authorities in North Carolina, arrested Ms. Rorrer, 33, in Linwood, N.C. She was jailed without bail pending a court hearing Wednesday to face extradition.Mrs. A newspaper account described Patricia as a soft-spoken, demure woman who had a sweet Southern accent and wore feminine clothes in court. TENTH DISTRICT. The charges were later dismissed.In early 1995, Rorrer was arrested for shoplifting at a Linwood Wal-Mart, according to police records. Shes a desperate woman wed all be desperate and should be expected to say anything, even if it backfires. 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?" "I was happy he found somebody," said Rorrer, who sometimes turned in the witness chair to speak directly to the jury.Prosecutor Michael McIntyre contends that Rorrer isn't what she appears. 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. North America. The prosecution insists that Rorrer called the Katrinak household on Dec 13, 1994, two days before Katrinak went missing, and that Joann rudely told her not to call again and hung up on her. In TV clips, Andrew didnt come off as anguished. Shes far from dumb, but shes not exactly educated, either. Cop defends accused. Aside from the hair, there was almost zero forensic evidence. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4438028/com-v-rorrer-p/. Reconsidering Andrew Katrinak's potential role. ), And in another bombshell, Joanns good friend Karen Devine said Joann planned to leave Andrew after the holidays. Not gender neutral. 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. 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 media love the femme fatale., FBI lab blunder. !) and detractors (This is another bs attempt to free a psycho). I also forgot to mention the fingernail evidence. 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. Yet, Joanns husbands ex girlfriend, who lived 500 miles away and had never met the victims, was convicted of the crime on a flimsy theory and highly questionable hair evidence. She is petitioning for DNA testing on the nail fragment that was found on the victims body. Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. Some recurring themes in Forensic Files facinate me. 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. As for Joanns parents, her father died a year after the murder. Last but not least, Patricia Rorrer was not the only person in Andrew Katrinaks life who had a connection to the spot where the bodies were found. Try sending something like that to a lab for paternity testing and see how far you get. She had been beaten and shot in the face. Katrinak's husband, Andrew, reported his wife and son missing in December 1994 after they failed to show up at his mother's house.Andrew Katrinak said he found his basement door ajar and removed from its hinges, and a phone line had been cut. Even though Joanne was supposed to take her mother-in-law for Christmas shopping, she never showed up. Andrew Katrinak was suspected because he failed two polygraph tests when asked if he had lied to police and hid evidence. Seven leaky buckets hold no more water than one: that several stratums of the evidence against her MIGHT be interpreted otherwise doesnt add up to sufficient doubt (that works the other way too, of course!) She got 12 months of probation for shoplifting at a Walmart in Lexington, North Carolina. Thats my life.. Unbloody vehicle. Just a few points (not rhetorical): do we KNOW Rorrer suggested examining the butt (not that its significant anyway cos of course police would)? Thanks for writing in its the first Ive heard about another mother and child murdered in that area. But they didn't and, according to her, later went their separate ways.Rorrer said she called Katrinak in spring 1994 and learned that he was married and was going to be a father. Whose hair is it?by Bridget DiCosmo Redacted from "Unreliable Chain: Questionable Hair Evidence Condemns Woman to Prison"Justice Volume One Published by Point Park University. For this week, I looked into the defenders reasoning as well as Patricias whereabouts today. Joseph Kocevar: Criminal Investigator, - Maj. Robert Werts: Homicide Investigator, Dr. Elizabeth Murray, Forensic Anthropologist, Brad Jackson was able to describe what his daughter Valiree was wearing, Jason Funk's role in Katie Froeschle's murder, Patricia Rorrer has repeatedly appealed for a retrial and exoneration, thoroughly researched article about the Patricia Rorrer case, Donald Ruby jailed for the murder of Edna Posey, Darryl Kuehl take over murder of Paul Gruber, Earl Bramblett murder of entire Hodges family, "the police actually said that, Oh, she probably ran away with someone. In a million years, Joann would never, never have run away. Im not trying to throw shade at either one of them, but I do find it odd that when police asked Andy if he knew of anyone who lived in the area, he thought of an ex-girlfriend he hadnt been with in over 5 years, but failed to mention his friend, with whom he had much more frequent contact. My theory on Fairley is nothing more than a hunch; it could have just as easily been another random sicko who targeted her. They had a son, Alex Martin, in August of 1994. Rorrer is incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution Muncy, a prison for women in Clinton Township, Pennsylvania. Traupman died in 2016. I dont even know its Christmas.. Lets consider these statements Rorrer is alleged to have made in the presence of a police officer. She is a tough one, Sheriff Gerald Hege would later tell the Morning Call in a June 29, 1997 interview. But if Rorrer was a genuine suspect, it's likely investigators would have attempted the mitochondrial DNA match on the hair anyway. Nothing probative of innocence should be read into anything she offers viz DNA. December 15th, 1994. 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. In December 1994, Andrew Katrinak arrives home to an empty house. Pal stays true. The second round of testing came back as a 100% match, raising the question of a mistake. Forensic tests suggested the hair found in the car and at the murder scene came from Patricia. 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. 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. Leave a comment below, or contact us! Again, this vital piece of evidence was never tested prior to trial. Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. In short, I can guarantee you will encounter nothing but resistance. Frank J. Hearn Michael J. Brady Antonio Verrelli B Stephen Zahornasky Hugh H. Taulty. 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. Andrew's second look in and around their home revealed some disturbing clues. Jaime: Thanks for your thoughts. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Barbara, wife of Gary Verser of Virginia; and a . Im certainly aware police lie but this would require a conspiracy. Trash-talking ex. Katrinak and Alex were the wife and child of Andrew Katrinak. Three days later, Joann had plans to pick up her mother-in-law, Veronica Katrinak, to go Christmas shopping. "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. After Joann Katrinak, the wife of Patricia's former flame, turned up dead along with her infant son, prosecutors suspected Patricia. Three days before she vanished, Mrs. Katrinak had angrily told Ms. Rorrer to stop calling her husband. DNA tests In 13-year-old Murder Case Could Be ReexaminedMar 21, 2007. And there were dirty blond hairs, approximately 8 inches long, found at the scene. For one thing, her mother never asked Sandra Ireland to hide the gun, and she retrieved it on the way home the next day she worked as a bus driver and couldnt take it with her to school. He had worked as a semi-pro boxer in Las Vegas in his youth and later settled . Patricia and her husband broke up after the babys death. The main one of course was committing murder of a young woman and her infant son over an argument. 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. An exterior door to their basement had been wrenched open, the lock hasp's screws literally ripped from the wall. . And dance instructor William Jarrett couldnt remember whether she attended his dance class at the club the night of Joanns disappearance. . I watched both the prosecutor and the lead investigator on that case squirm when Datelines Keith Morrison posed some pretty tough questions, and their answers were less than satisfactory. Further, an early FBI report said the hairs found in the car had no roots which contain the DNA suggesting an evidence switcheroo. At first, a broad-daylight abduction of a mother and her infant seemed unlikely. 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 . Prosecutors claimed Rorrer manufactured an alibi for the day the victims disappeared. Investigators discoveredhis DNA under Lisas fingernails, some strands of long dark hairwith the roots attached (suggesting a struggle) in the vacuum cleaner bag at the store, and the babys DNA on thecarpet. During Rorrers 18-day trial in February1998, prosecutors pushed the circumstantialmotive of a fatal-attractionmurder. Juries are imperfect: what is stretched circumstantial evidence for you (or me) was evidently not so for that jury. She failed miserably to convince me, or anyone else who mattered, of her innocence. Fairleysargument:The court should have rendered him a minor for sentencing purposes. What if Lisa and Devon were not his first victims? She said she did not give the hang up by Joann Katrinak a second thought. But considering that Joann was found with her jeans unzipped and unbuttoned, it stands to reason that her death was sexually motivated. 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. At 6 a.m. on June 24, 1997, police arrested Patricia at her modest house in Linwood, North Carolina, and took her back to Pennsylvania. There were no love letters, cards, gifts, or any other indication that she still had a romantic interest in him. 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. Testimony began with her birth in January 1964 in Phillipsburg, N.J.She told jurors about the jobs she held, the men she dated, her involvement with horses, their training and competitions, and the different places she lived in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.Rorrer, dressed in a black suit and white blouse tied at the neck, cried once when she testified about being beaten by a former boyfriend in 1991. The fixation with a goth ideal is a nice touch. Along with Rorrer, Joann Katrinaks ex-husband, Michael Jack, and Andrew Katrinak were suspects for a time. And fire hydrant of a man. I lived in this area at the time of the sadly disgusting Murder in Collegeville. 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. In a million years, she wouldnt do anything to harm that.. 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. ''The two went their separate ways in 1991, but Ms. Rorrer stayed in touch with her ex-boyfriend.Katrinak married and was living in Catasauqua, Pa., with his wife and son when they failed to meet him at his mother's house, who lived nearby, on Dec. 15, 1994.Katrinak went home and said he found his basement door removed from its hinges. From the start, the Rorrer murder case was plagued with allegations of inconsistent evidence collection and testing that eventually led a judge to hold hearings on whether she deserves a new trial.Her case shows how the present system in contrast to the dictates of the Coverdell Act actually contributes to scientific confusion and has almost no automatic audit on investigations when misconduct allegations are leveled.On Dec. 15, 1994, Andrew Katrinak told police he arrived home from his construction job to find his wife, Joann, and 4-month-old baby, Alex, missing from their Catasauqua, Pa., home. Andrew's involvement in the latter theory was dismissed when his alibi checked out. Her defense was essentially that she and Andrew Katrinak had remained friendly, so she wouldn't want to hurt him. The victims were the wife and son of Rorrer's ex-boyfriend, Andrew Katrinak.Lt. And Patricia wasnt all edges. He washed off the foundation at their request, uncoveringscratch marks that looked as though they came from someonesfingernails. In December 1994, Andrew Katrinak arrives home to an empty house. Other loyal friends and associates attested to Patricias kindness toward horses and devotion to her daughter, whom she took along as she worked in stables. The township invested an additional $50,000 for new equipment for the playground in 2012. He had worked as a semi-pro boxer in Las Vegas in his youth and later settled into his own construction business. Police found Lisasbody after Fairley agreed to disclose its location in exchange for a promise that they wouldnt pursue the death penalty. Many of these are circumstantial, so investigators were grateful for their DNA match from the hair. Joann was shot once, then the gun jammed. Pfeiffer and Burke claimed that police Sgt. Four hours is a long time between Andrew getting home from work and calling the police. Those who knew Joann pointed out that she didnt like to drive in reverse and would have never parked that way. 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. During Patricias hours-long turn in the witness chair, Michael McIntyre grilled her relentlessly. Advocates for her innocence complain of hype surrounding the case. Traupman claimed that when he reported the dispute, trooper Robert V. Egan III got mad and practically kicked him out of his office. She and Andrew Katrinak shared a house in Salisbury Township in the mid-1980s, when he was a self-employed contractor and she was a real-estate agent. Detective Robert Werts stated Rorrer offered four or five alibis for the time of the incident. She moved to North Carolina after her relationship with Katrinak ended in 1991. Shes just extremely happy with Andy, her brother, Michael OConnor, told the media. Andrew's annual salary is . Facebook gives people the power. 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. . 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. Mrs. Katrinak had been shot in the face and beaten, and Alex is believed to have died from suffocation and exposure.Ms. 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. She said she did not give the hang up by Joann Katrinak a second thought. 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. An autopsy revealed Joann Katrinak was shot in the face with a small-caliber handgun and suffered 19 blows to the head. Apparently it is universally agreed by courts that any hair testing before 2000 might had yieled an incorrect reading. Finally, the evidence had been exposed to the elements for who knows how many months. 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. Joann was fun, likable, beautiful, always happy, said her sister-in-law Cindy Wiard. Andrew Katrinak, a former heavyweight boxer, quickly gathered his in-laws and said he suspected foul play. Required fields are marked *. Ex-boyfriend Walter Blalock said that Patricia wanted him to be more like Andrew. Jaime: Thanks. She attended Point Park University as a graduate student from 2005-07 and still is working on her masters degree. Lisa Manderach, two weeksshy of her 30th birthday, worked full time as a fork-lift operatorin a food warehouse and also had an entrepreneurial streak. 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. This was part of Rorrer's defense strategy it seemed like an unrealistic motive to commit murder. Prosecutor pounds away. But a hair in the hand from a third-party doesnt preclude the accused from guilt of itself, as though it must be from the perp. December 15th, 1994. Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. Convicting Factors: forensic fabrication, hidden evidence, media hysteria.Convicting Reasons: protect the real murderer. They returned with a guilty verdict and a sentence of two life terms. Is the system THAT rotten? 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. 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. 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. Meticulous primping. 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? One on one? "I'm never going to see my daughter again. Murder Suspect Breaks Down As Detectives Tell Of Her Arrest: Monday, giving jurors a Cliff Notes version of her life up until the time a Catasauqua woman and her baby disappeared in 1994. wife, because she knew no one else in the area. This was where Joann regularly parked her car and became an even more likely crime scene when the evidence of the basement break-in was discovered. However, it seems this was only after the bodies of Joann and Alex were found on the remote horse trail. Its appalling where deliberate. When it was only able to fire once, Rorrer had to resort to bludgeoning her victim. So, this pointed to a theory that Joann had either left on her own or encountered foul play within her home. The same source indicates Patricia Rorrer has repeatedly appealed for a retrial and exoneration, but each request has been denied. This questioned how prosecutors could come up with hair to conduct the second test, which helped them achieve a conviction against Rorrer.In addition, attorney Craig B. Neely of Emmaus, Pa., argued crucial DNA evidence, such as the hair found clutched in one of the victims hands and a fingernail found on Joann Katrinaks chest, were never tested.Neely also argued new DNA technology not available at the time of trial could prove Rorrer was never in the car.In March 2007, Lehigh County Common Pleas Judge William E. Ford said because the case against Rorrer was circumstantial, an effort should be made to analyze all DNA evidence, and Rorrer should be given the opportunity to show if modern science could prove her innocence. 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. They theorize that Andrew Katrinak framed Patricia and that the hostile phone call between Patricia and Joann actually took place not on Dec. 12 as Andrew said but rather on Dec. 7. It was conceivable that Andrew believed they were still out. But we just weren't making it as a couple. Wouldn't he have tried to call his mother recall it was with her Joann had planned to go Christmas shopping. 24, 1997. "Like I said, we were still friends," Rorrer said.She testified that she had met a new man and was happy that Katrinak had found someone special. 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. 25, 1997. By all accounts, Rorrer has never been a smoker. Despite the troubling evidence from Joann's car, detectives considered whether or not Joann had taken baby Alex and simply left. That same year Limerick was hit by a night tornado which killed a mother, father and baby. As to Andrew being the killer, I thought the police acknowledged his cast-iron alibi (but correct me if Im wrong). The thing about Katrinak is that she was actually found with her jeans unzipped and unbuttoned, suggesting a possible sexual assault. No activity on her bank account or credit cards took place after the day she went missing, so investigators dismissed the theory that she took her child and bolted. Shouldn't Andrew have mentioned this suspicious, out-of-the-blue phone call from his ex-girlfriend sooner? Theyd fit well in a made-for-TV movie, wouldnt they? as she was convinced it would exonerate her. Without wishing to be pedantic, it cant be said what was in her mind, as though you can see her truth. All one can say is she thought/hoped it might (without there being any realistic basis implied that it would or should). When Andrew was told of the location of his young family's remains, he offered investigators a lead. "A Fatal Attraction" when a wife and her baby disappear hair found . ''FBI examiners concluded there was a DNA match.Ms. He would be alive today if it were not for Patricia Rorrer. The mild-mannered Sarah died in 2019 at the age of 83. 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. ", "Due to the fact that she sustained one gunshot wound to the face, and then approximately 19 blows to the head led us to believe that the gun probably had jammed.
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