Traupman died in 2016. This is for them also and freeing an innocent woman! Men who murder are conventional, women are sensational, posits the Worldwide Womens Criminal Justice Network. Kidnapped and killed? Joann had been shot once and then bludgeoned in the head. See Commonwealth v. Rorrer, CP-39- CR-0002176-1997 (C.C.P. I also communicated with Patricia via email to get her input on some matters. Patricia L. Rorrer was taken into custody from the Linwood home she shared with her boyfriend and 1-year-old daughter on June 24, 1997. TV-14. Patricia Rorrer was tried and convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping in March 1998, in Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, for the murder of Joanne Katrinak and her infant son. Advocates for her innocence complain of hype surrounding the case. But defense lawyer Robert Pfeiffer said that plenty of evidence supported Patricias innocence. Walmart woe. . Rachael Ray Ending After 17 Seasons: Its Time for Me to Move On. Perhaps police couldn't get a warrant for a sample of Patricia's hair, the color being inconsistent with the latent hairs found in the car and at the murder scene. Select "match all" to require all fields. Tribute Archive When I gave samples of my hair, the doctor took a total of 39 hairs, but only 35 can be accounted for. Media galore. Murder victim. When their bodies were found four months later, police sought the clues to find their killer. Joann was fun, likable, beautiful, always happy, said her sister-in-law Cindy Wiard. He would be alive today if it were not for Patricia Rorrer. The mild-mannered Sarah died in 2019 at the age of 83. 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. In 2015, I discovered an FBI report that states the hair used to convict me had "No Roots Attached." Culture Editor Tony Sokol cut his teeth on the wire services and also wrote and produced New York CitysVampyr Theatreand the rock operaAssassiNation: We Killed JFK. Of course she did--because all that was out there on me was fake news. Patricia Rorrer is serving a life sentence, convicted of driving 500 miles to kill her ex-boyfriend's new wife and his baby. TV-14 Information Genre Documentary Released 2022 Run Time 42 min Rated TV-14 Languages Original Audio English . Around April 1995, the cold and badly decomposed remains of 26-year-old Joann Katrinak and her 3.5-month-old toddler Alex Katrinak were recovered from the woods in Heidelberg Township, Pennsylvania. Murder in Lehigh Valley: Keith Morrison Investigates | Apple TV Tapps lawyer saidWrong Mans in-depth investigation into the Tapp conviction helped free an innocent man.. She does not have a lawyer, her last lawyer was sued by the prosecutor. With Lynnanne Zager, Joann Katrinak, Alex Katrinak, Patricia Rorrer. This was further disproved when her bank reported there'd been no activity on Joann's credit cards since her disappearance. I didn't see other potential suspects highlighted. Well, that really caught our attention of course.". Or was it? And yikes, he discovered someone had cut one of the houses phone lines and pried the hinge on the basement door. Dial-a-problem. Episode 7. It's been more than 20 years since Patricia Rorrer was convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend . By the mid-1990s, Patricia was known for being both warm and caring as well as aggressive and loud. After watching the latest Starz episode of Wrong Man (a great investigative show), I started thinking about the Patricia Rorrer case again.. Rorrer was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Joann Katrinak and her 3-4 month old son Alex in 1994 by forcing them our of their home and driving them to a wooded area where they were shot and killed. Ex-boyfriend Walter Blalock said that Patricia wanted him to be more like Andrew. Really? There is still an appeal coming up (I believe) but everything else has failed so far to get Patricia another trial. Very true - I can't remember if the show went through that. Patricia Rorrer: An Update - Forensic Files Now We need to know who killed them! 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. Inside the locked 1992 vehicle, police discovered some strands of blond hair stained with dried blood. . (A good point. This was my thought (I'm behind and just caught the 2nd half yesterday). She was bubbly and likable, not disgruntled, according to friend Kathy Barber, who visited her friend in jail. She had dropped out of school at the age of 17 to marry her partner and subsequently worked long graveyard shifts at a textile factory to provide for their family. Tragedy also touched Patricias life. Great communicator. However, a former boyfriend stated that she did own a .22 caliber chrome-plated semi-automatic weapon. Rorrer claims the DNA evidence used to send her away is junk science., read more: Why Netflixs Ted Bundy Movie Avoids Violence, The third inmate whose case is under examination is Kenneth Clair. To really understand this case, you need to sit down and read this book called Convenient Suspect written by Tammy Mal. The episode made a special point about locating the photograph of Patricia Rorrer with dyed blonde hair. Murder victim. After retracing the prosecutor's claim of Patricia breaking into the basement door, private investigators found it highly unlikely someone like Patricia would have all the tools and know-how to unscrew all the bolts and then navigate through a very long, confusing dark basement to cut a phone line. Prosecutors said Rorrer beat Katrinak, shot her and left her and her baby for dead in the woods in Heidelberg Township. Sad discovery. Please read her story. I was convicted on microscopic hair comparison and DNA testing that rendered a "match" of 1 in 37,000. Knowing that they were not killed the day they were kidnapped, but instead held for potentially months, blows the fact that she didn't make a phone call for a few days out of the water. Flaw in reasoning. Today, Rorrer's attorney says not only is his client innocent, but she was framed. Com v. Rorrer, P. (memorandum) - Justia Law 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. Weak wages. I most definitely will not personally afford Patricia a platform, Michael said in an email to ForensicFilesNow.com She had her chance to answer my questions and tell her story in court over 20 years ago. Congratulations to all four of you, especially Rell and Phill, who are both co-founding members of R2R and CADBI. 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. Patricia Rorrer has been in prison since 1998, convicted of the horrific murder of a young mother, Joann Katrinak, and her 16-week old son, in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. No show. The main one of course was committing murder of a young woman and her infant son over an argument. 'Dateline NBC' Correspondent Keith Morrison Explores Claims of a But thats just some of the ammo on Team Patricias battleship. Testimony from Walter Blalock contradicted Patricias claim that she never had a gun. Watch Wrong Man - S2:E204 Patricia Rorrer: Under the Microscope (2020 And it certainly didn't make me mad enough to jump in my car, drive 500 miles one way and kill two people I'd never met--one an infant child. She got 12 months of probation for shoplifting at a Walmart in Lexington, North Carolina. It was never tested. For example, the weight of each organ was listed, it was clear they were not very decomposed. Patricia Rorrer Brutal Killing of Joanne Katrinak & Baby - FFF After six hours of deliberations, in March 1998, a jury found Patricia guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of kidnapping. New state, new man. 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. She was also no stranger to law enforcement because she had a history of violence which included an arrest for getting into a bar brawl with another patron over a guy. Yet, everything changed when they lost their 3-month-old son to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). On December 15, 1994, Joann Katrinak and her three-month-old son Alex disappeared without a trace from their home in Catasauqua, Pa. Patricia Rorrer, the ex-girlfriend of Katrinak's husband, was convicted of the murders and has maintained her innocence for 20 years while serving life behind bars. Wrong Man investigators interrogated a confidential informant, the main witness against Evaristo Salas, and he recanted his testimony. But other things Patricia did also seemed strange, especially according to prosecutor Michael McIntyre. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lo9AIFM_vc&fbclid=IwAR28Mf5rKuUyaq1N-vBqirZM_382D69Zy42uONlU3Qf0eNEnJ1w_kYRYKIM. 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. The footage was quite old and filmed well before the show and theory so it caught my notice after the show stated his percentiles being nearly off the chart. Combine keywords and attributes to find specific items. Convenient Suspect on Apple Books Another witness, Walter Traupman, who never testified, had told state troopers that on the day of Joanns disappearance, he saw a couple who looked like Joann and Andrew arguing about the paternity of a baby. For this week, I looked into the defenders reasoning as well as Patricias whereabouts today. And even prosecutor Michael McIntyre, who wrote the book Hair Trigger about the case, acknowledged to Keith Morrison that it was a little odd that the police found blood on the hairs in Joanns car but nowhere else in the vehicle. My husband passed away of a broken heart, Sarah OConnor said on the Montel Williams Show in 2001. MEMORANDUM BY BOWES, J.: Patricia Lynne Rorrer appeals the PCRA court's dismissal of her fourth PCRA petition as untimely filed. He will never be able to speak if this case! Convicted murderer seeks new DNA tests in '94 murder case One on one? The woman (who owned the salon) stated that they were closed that day and that she and her husband were out of town celebrating his birthday. In 1995 DNA testing was brand new. Theyd been missing for four months, but their discovery only gave rise to more questions than answers, especially as the young mother had been shot once in the face before being struck on the head 19 times. She made an effort to look perfectly groomed even when she took out the trash, according to her mother, who appeared on Forensic Files. Joann answered that night, told me that Andy was married and they had baby and not to call her house again .I honestly didn't think too much about it. I wasn't hung up on Andy, and I didn't want him back. I cant lose them, he told the media. They had a son, Alex Martin, in August of 1994. 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. Obviously her husband Andy would be the main suspect (and his smirking after Patricia was found guilty was galling) but the Wrong Man team spoke to him and seem convinced that he was being truthful. Patricia Rorrer's Story. !) and detractors (This is another bs attempt to free a psycho). Patricia Rorrer was wrongfully convicted of Murder. ", "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. S5 E7: Patricia Rorrer sits in prison for brutally murdering her ex-boyfriend's wife and baby out of spite. Appeal from the PCRA Order May 26, 2016. Murder in Lehigh Valley: Keith Morrison Investigates Patricia seemed like the girl next door but all of a sudden, something snapped, Katrinak later told Wrong Man investigators. And James Pfeiffer and Jim Burke have remained on her side. During Patricias hours-long turn in the witness chair, Michael McIntyre grilled her relentlessly. Share Memories & Support the Family. When Andrew was told of the location of his young family's remains, he offered investigators a lead. An early childhood introd As a result, Salas, who did not have legal representation at the time of filming, was offered pro bono representation by a Washington State attorney, who believes in his innocence. I can't recall if the long distance calls were talked about in the show. Back in March of 2017, Investigation Discovery ran Murder in Lehigh Valley: Keith Morrison Investigates which questioned the conviction of . Lehigh Cty.) FILED DECEMBER 13, 2013 Patricia Lynne Rorrer appeals from the order entered in the . It was conceivable that Andrew believed they were still out. After Joann Katrinak, the wife of Patricias former flame, turned up dead along with her infant son, prosecutors suspected Patricia. Because when she did, she quickly began to realize that there was a lot more to the story than the public ever knew. In addition to her . Meanwhile, interest in Patricias plight continues on social media. Convenient Suspect: A Double Murder, a Flawed Investigation, and the On Alexs diaper bag, police found strands of the same type of hair from the car. Thank God she decided to investigate these crimes on her own. The witness said he would sign in as Richard Nixon or not sign in at all quite often. Read and download theDen of Geek Lost in Space Special Edition Magazineright here! The state made a case fueled by circumstantial evidence and public outrage over the deaths of a modern-day madonna and child. No comments yet - start the conversation above. Regard a similar case where too much detail signaled investigators to look closer at their suspect in Bagging a Killer (s06e25). Lawyer: New evidence in 1994 killings of woman, infant Irelands husband buried it in the yard because he didnt feel comfortable with a firearm inside, she said. Damning for Patricia was that this field was only a couple miles from a horse farm that she used to have access to. Joann Katrinak and her infant son were brutally murdered. On December 7, 1994 I called Andy to let him know that me and my team had won the National Championship at a team penning competition in Oklahoma. The media love the femme fatale., FBI lab blunder. Right to Redemption Starz Renews WRONG MAN for a Second Season - BroadwayWorld Over 200 people were convicted using this science ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-overstated-forensic-hair-matches-in-nearly-all-criminal-trials-for-decades/2015/04/18/39c8d8c6-e515-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html). Movies/Documentaries Murder in Lehigh Valley Forensic Files: A Woman Scorned Deadly Women: Green-Eyed Monsters. According to court papers from Patricia 2017 appeal, DNA on the cigarette butt found near the two bodies belonged to Appellant. (Prosecutor Michael McIntyre, however, told ForensicFilesNow.com that that the cigarette butt was never actually tested). State police and the Philadelphia division of the FBI appealed to the public for leads. Most convictions were procured through microscopic hair comparison which has been debunked as junk science today. Mizgerd said she is convinced Rorrer is innocent. The 5-foot-9-inch-tall Patricia was physically strong, no match for 5-foot-4-inch Joann. Some who still believe in Patricia Rorrer's innocence say it was long enough for him to stage the scene. Rorrer v. Nicholas, Civil Action 19-cv-01398-GEKP - Casetext Free Patricia Rorrer - Facebook It all gave jurors a lot to think about but only for six hours. Prosecutor pounds away. Startling new allegations surround one of Lehigh County's most notorious murder cases. But none of those charges ever stuck. Andy also failed at least 2 lie detector tests, and before an arrest was made in the murders, moved almost all the way across the country without telling the police. While the police are still investigating the murder of your wife and child? After Tapp served nearly 21 years of his sentence, the real killer was finally found through forensic genealogy, according to Time. for the sole purpose of building a stronger case against Andy, their main suspect at the time. Convenient Suspect: A Wrongful Conviction In The Murder In Lehigh Mizgerd said Rorrer is aware the show is airing and is hopeful it may bring new attention to her case. Rorrer claims the DNA evidence used to send . We take wrongful convictions to heart. Artificial intelligence and machine learning education and literacy: teacher training for primary and secondary education teachers; Chapter 2. No one is safe if the justice system is broken and they are putting innocent people in prison. Berlingers landmark HBO documentary Paradise Lost Trilogy helped lead to the release of the wrongfully convicted West Memphis Three after 18 years of incarceration. And Patricia wasnt all edges. Aside from the hair, there was almost zero forensic evidence. And because some of Patricias advocates have suggested Andrew Katrinak had a motive for murder, I checked into whether he had a life insurance payout to gain upon Joanns demise. Somebody has to. Still, no good leads materialized. After one bullet didnt kill Joann, the gun locked up, so Patricia had to beat her to death, according to the prosecution. Wrong Man says she had normally signed in for her line dancing class but didn't on the day Joann and Alex disappeared. This state is corrupt as in every state! She was also accused of breaking into barns, stealing horses, and underfeeding the ones she owned. Felix (Phil) Rosado and Terrell (Rell) Woolfolk-Carter, WELCOME HOME!!!!! 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. Police identified the pair as Joann and Alex Katrinak. Her book tells the truth and the real story of this case. Any ideas why the fact that their bodies didnt appear to have been in the woods as long as previously thought wasnt brought up in court? In November 2005, she shoots Keith in the head while he . I dont think she was ever scared until we put the cuffs on her.. Prosecutor hiding something? I dont even know its Christmas.. It's as if she had left with young Alex as planned but then somehow simply vanished. Bio by: Karen Valentine Since then, Patricia has appealed her case and fought for exoneration, only to always be denied. Detectives from the Davidson County sheriff's office took the witness stand to recall the morning of June 24, 1997, when they knocked on the door of Rorrer's Linwood, N.C., home and told her she . Forensic tests suggested the hair found in the car and at the murder scene came from Patricia. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. As noted earlier, there was hair found in the victims hand, fingernail fragments found on her body, and also a cigarette butt. Today, Patricia Lynne Rorrer resides in State Correctional Institute at Muncy, a medium and maximum security facility that has the highest rate of cancer of all prisons in Pennsylvania, according to a story from northcentralpa.com. She had money put aside. Season 9 | Deadly Women Wiki | Fandom To commit the murders, Rorrer took her victims out to a location that was familiar and significant. Its proximity to the stable she'd managed made an undeniable association to her. To my knowledge these items have never been DNA tested but the prosecutor stipulated that the hair in Joann's hand does not belong to me, and Dr. Tom Jensen, the PSP forensic scientist noted that the fingernail is to large to belong to me.. Who does this evidence belong to? More importantly, the 3 month old baby was the size of a 6 month old, including to have a cranial diameter bigger than 99.99% of all 3 month olds. They released a poster of Joann and Alex, noting that the baby had "almond-shaped blue eyes," weighed 18 . In TV clips, Andrew didnt come off as anguished. 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. Another case is Patricia Rorrer, who has been in prison since 1998, convicted of the murder of a young mother and her 16-week old son in Pennsylvania. 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. There was an error processing your request. Patricia is and has been fighting that she is innocent from the very beginning. Rorrer has filed a petition to get new evidence admissible that he said could set her free. I knew when Andy got married and I was happy for him. TV-MA | Mar 1, 2020 | 53m. There is another question, though: Can anyone say . 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. Please watch the show Wrong Man which also found new evidence that supports my innocence. A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. I was able to email with Patricia via the PrisonConnect platform around Christmastime. "Wrong Man" Patricia Rorrer: Under the Microscope (TV Episode 2020 Rorrer has appealed her conviction several times and her supporters believe additional DNA evidence testing may be the key to proving her innocence. ", "I think she gave us something like four or five alibis as to where she was at. Starring Keith Morrison. Patty Rorrer is convicted of the kidnapping and murder of her ex-boyfriends wife and infant son, but Wrong Man investigators discover that the case is not so clear cut. Documentary, Drama 2020-2020. Sounds like prosecutors made the right call based on this. Every time you take your infant to the Dr., they take measurements, so I'm wondering if records exist that show the baby was always in the higher percentile, or if he was say, 60-70th percentile, then suddenly BAM! Patricia Rorrer was convicted of both deaths in the mid-90's and is serving a life sentence. Meanwhile, the case of the missing mother and baby turned into colossal news across the U.S. and internationally.