were relatively and mercifully swift, mitigating their conscious pain and suffering.. Andrew described his existence with Joanne and Alex as a little Camelot., Ex-spouse off list. Flaw in reasoning. One she was at a tanning salon. More hairs there. Charles Robert, the 3-month-old son she had with Gary Gabard, died of sudden infant death syndrome; Patricia found him blue in his crib. AWoman And Her Baby Walkinto a Trap memorial page for Joann Marie O'Connor Katrinak (11 Oct 1968-15 Dec 1994), Find a Grave . "Testimony ended Monday with Pfeiffer taking Rorrer up to October 1994 when she came to Pennsylvania from North Carolina to try to sell four of her horses. !) and detractors (This is another bs attempt to free a psycho). The boy died either from suffocation or exposure.Although by 1994 she was living in North Carolina, Ms. Rorrer phoned Katrinak occasionally. Unicorns and getting really buff can be equally fantastical. 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. It was conceivable that Andrew believed they were still out. She walked into a kids clothing store where a young man working the cash register just happened to be a fantasy-gamesuperfan seething with thoughts of criminal perversion. the couple had moved in together, married, and become the proud parents of a new baby boy they named Alex. "Do you understand?" 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. Patricia knew her gun tended to jam, but she used it anyway. "I'm never going to see my daughter again. When Rorrer was initially granted the right to do post conviction testing, the first thing she wanted tested was the butt. State police and the Philadelphia division of the FBI appealed to the public for leads. Fairley has not found prison life agreeable. But when did he find the evidence of the break-in? The authorities charged her with two counts of murder. The circumstances of Lisa Manderachs murder, the subject of todays post, seem even more improbable. 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. ``There was no rush to judgment. The Generation Why Podcast Episode 349. 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. However, the only record of any call made from Rorrer to the Katrinak household was on Dec 7th. 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. As usual, Rebecca at Forensic Files Now has a thoroughly researched article about the Patricia Rorrer case and events since her conviction. Joann was shot once, then the gun jammed. 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. USA. But none of those charges ever stuck. Submit an open records request to the Catasauqua Police Department, the Pennsylvania State police, and the FBI. MAC: Thanks. Traupman died in 2016. Try to do some REAL digging into this case. Nailed? 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 . Scorned ex lover etc. 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. During the investigation, police took hair samples from several individuals, including Andrew Katrinak, but none matched the headrest hairs. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Joanns first husband, New Jersey construction worker Michael Jack, who had reportedly abused her during their marriage, also had a solid alibi. After his wife disappeared, she made no attempt to be with him or to see him. Katrinak and Alex were the wife and child of Andrew Katrinak. The mullet-wearing Fairleykilledboth Devon and Lisa via strangulation and most likelysexually assaulted Lisa. 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. Wouldn't he have tried to call his mother recall it was with her Joann had planned to go Christmas shopping. 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 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. Patricia Rorrer: An Update - Forensic Files Now 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. She received 12 months' probation.Rorrer was 18 when she lost her 3-1/2-month-old son on Nov. 20, 1982. During Rorrers 18-day trial in February1998, prosecutors pushed the circumstantialmotive of a fatal-attractionmurder. Daughter of George & Margaret Panik and wife of Andrew Katrinak. Before getting into the most recent information on Fairley, heres a recap of the episode along with some additional facts culled from internet sources: Quick jaunt. Try sending something like that to a lab for paternity testing and see how far you get. The prosecution alleged that after the murder, Patricia drove Joanns car to McCartys parking lot and backed it into a parking space. Autopsy 6: Secrets of the Dead (TV Movie 1999) - IMDb In short, I can guarantee you will encounter nothing but resistance. The couple had known each other since Lisa was 10 and Jimmy was friends with her brothers. Their bodies were found in April 1995.Pfeiffer earlier told jurors that the prosecution's theory on a motive makes no sense.Rorrer, who is charged with kidnapping and homicide, will continue testifying today and will be cross-examined by McIntyre, who has grilled some defense witnesses, firing question after question.Before Rorrer began testifying, she stood in front of the judge's bench as Pfeiffer put on the record that Rorrer was advised of her constitutional right not to testify and was told that if she chose to exercise it, it couldn't be used against her. And fire hydrant of a man. 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. Andrew Katrinak - YouTube He had worked as a semi-pro boxer in Las Vegas in his youth and later settled . She appears a rather better fit than Fairley, particularly when we remember that in the great majority of murders, victim and perp are known to each-other, per Katrinak-Rorrer. The autopsy indicated that Joann fought hard for her life. By: Robert S. In 1994, Joann Katrinak called her mother-in-law and made plans to go holiday shopping. Three days later, Joann had plans to pick up her mother-in-law, Veronica Katrinak, to go Christmas shopping. As to Andrew being the killer, I thought the police acknowledged his cast-iron alibi (but correct me if Im wrong). View the profiles of people named Andrew Katrinak. PICTURES: Patricia Rorrer and the murders of Joann and Alex Katrinak He was a little surprised when she approached him as though they were old friends last fall at a county barbecue.He was selling T-shirts for the department. But some insects found on the bodies revealed a vital clue, as did a long blonde hair found on the victims which has something uniquely in common with the brunette hair of the husbands former love interest, Patricia Rorrer. "I guess she thought she wasn't going to get caught. And James Pfeiffer and Jim Burke have remained on her side. Hi Marcus, The prosecution alleged that Patricia called the Katrinaks house from a pay phone in Pennsylvania. 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. I do rejoice when I learn of someone particularly on death row exonerated. Combination locks. . The jacket also fit the description of the blue-black synthetic fibers police found in Joann Katrinaks watchband.Neither witness testified during the trial because the prosecution deemed them unimportant and never revealed the information to the defense, despite legal rules compelling the government to disclose any potentially exculpatory evidence. Lenient system? Woman Held in Catasauqua Killings * Andrew Katrinak'S Ex-girlfriend Despite the new evidence and hypotheses, the courts have rejected all of Patricias bids for a new trial. It'd be plausible to reason some deniability in Patricia's role if there weren't so many indicators of her involvement. 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. Prosecutors claimed Rorrer manufactured an alibi for the day the victims disappeared. Nothing Ive read by her supporters goes to the heart of the case against her unless perjury. But Rorrer said she didn't ride on the trails and wasn't familiar with the area. She had been beaten and shot in the face. Aside from the hair, there was almost zero forensic evidence. Patricia Rorrer was a cold woman. Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. 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. It was conceivable that Andrew believed they were still out. One she was at a private club. 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. http://articles.mcall.com/1998-03-06/news/3183202_1_mcintyre-defense-lawyer-killed/2, Unreliable Chain: Questionable Hair Evidence Condemns Woman to Prison, FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades - The Washington Post. Fairleytook Lisas body to a wooded spotin an industrial area near his health club. 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. Andrew languished for weeks and then months as investigators failed to suppl any explanation for his wife's and son's mysterious disappearance. Even though no gun wasever tied to the killing, a firearms experttestified that Joann Katrinaks injuriescould have come from such a weapon.Andrew Katrinak testified that he hadan amicable breakup with Rorrer, but healso told a jury she had knowledge of thelayout of his home. Traupman claimed that when he reported the dispute, trooper Robert V. Egan III got mad and practically kicked him out of his office. By all accounts, Rorrer has never been a smoker. Still, no good leads materialized. "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. Police couldnt determine whether the baby died of exposure or suffocation. Suzanne Pearson testified about Rorrer's reaction to the news that she was being charged and about incriminating statements she allegedly made.Those statements were made shortly after 6 a.m. while Rorrer, still in bed clothes, held her 1-1/2-year-old daughter, Nicole, and talked to the wailing baby, according to the witnesses.Coble said Rorrer was crying and trying to comfort her child. They broke up in 1993. ""She was cool," Hege said of the 33-year-old mother, about the same time Rorrer was being arraigned. 157K views, 2.2K likes, 116 loves, 110 comments, 285 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from The FBI Files: The December 1994 kidnappings of Joann Katrinak and her 4-month-old son, Alex. Her alibi about going to the club, called Cowboys Nitelife, got fuzzy when investigators discovered she hadnt signed the guest book on that day. 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. Inside the locked 1992 vehicle, police discovered some strands of blond hair stained with dried blood. Search is on. 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?" "A Fatal Attraction" when a wife and her baby disappear hair found . The series was produced by Joe Berlinger, who made the Paradise Lost documentaries, which garnered actor Johnny Depps attention and ultimately helped free the West Memphis Three. Patricia supposedly still cared for Andrew Katrinak, but murdering his son contradicts this notion. For more on the Katrinak murder case, you can watch Autopsy Six: A Fatal Attraction for free on YouTube. It's not often there's a laundry list of clear signals, but it's fun to iterate them when there are so many. 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. 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. "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. 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. But considering that Joann was found with her jeans unzipped and unbuttoned, it stands to reason that her death was sexually motivated. It houses 2,114 inmates but has bed capacity for just 1,826. 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. Chain of custodyScientists from the Pennsylvania StatePolice tried to perform mitochondrialDNA tests on the six hairs from the Toyota,which were immediately collectedand logged. . The episode made a special point about locating the photograph of Patricia Rorrer with dyed blonde hair. Rorrer said she had spoken once to Joann before she and Katrinak were married and that Joann seemed friendly when she put Katrinak on the phone.Rorrer said that years ago, she rented a barn in Washington Township for her horses. 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. 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. At first, a broad-daylight abduction of a mother and her infant seemed unlikely. But if Andrew wanted to find his wife and his son, why on Earth did he wait until 10:30pm before notifying authorities? One final thought about those hairs: they were described as dirty blond and approximately 8 inches in length. No comments yet - start the conversation above. Sir I would not kill somebody and I definitely wouldnt kill somebody I never met, Rorrer said. People . Together they had a baby girl, Nicole. Curiously, he immediately implicated Rorrer, his ex-girlfriend, even though they hadnt spoken in months and she was living in North Carolina. They returned with a guilty verdict and a sentence of two life terms. I used to shop at Redners. Weak wages. 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. Forensic Files didnt mention it, but the hairs were actually brown at the top and the rest dyed blond, according to the show Autopsy Six: A Fatal Attraction. Posted: June 22, 2022 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 Katrinak was suspected because he failed two polygraph tests when asked if he had lied to police and hid evidence. 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. Sponsored by Ancestry. The Generation Why Podcast: E349: Joann Katrinak I cant lose them, he told the media. 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. Andrew Katrinak Profiles | Facebook Despite previous testimony that said all of the hair was destroyed or untestable, the latest test results revealed a hair discovered on the drivers side seatback of the car matched Rorrer. Today, more than two years later, that woman awaited extradition from North Carolina to face charges she kidnapped and killed her ex-boyfriend's family in December 1994.Authorities said Tuesday it took two years to build a tight forensic case against Patricia L. Rorrer, 33, partly through blond hairs found in Mrs. Katrinak's car a day after she disappeared.``We wanted to make sure that the hairs found at the scene were also consistent with the hairs found at the car,'' said Lehigh County District Attorney Robert Steinberg. But its small argument on her side. Andrew Katrinak, was the husband of Joann Katrinak and Alex's father. Its appalling where deliberate. Enter memorial Id . Marcus, I respect your opinion and understand why you and others feel the way you do. Both sides agree Joann hung up on Patricia. ''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. 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. Perusing the claims made by her supporters, I find many are Aunt Sallies: points that claimants suggest are probative of innocence but are no such thing. 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. Three of them were mountedon slides and sealed in adhesive. . It's as if she had left with young Alex as planned but then somehow simply vanished. Burke said the prosecution brought no one from North Carolina to testify that Rorrer wasn't home for several days..McIntyre said Rorrer tried to conceal her guilt by concocting phony alibis, which shows consciousness of guilt. Im certainly aware police lie but this would require a conspiracy. Court papers allege he asked the customer for sex in return for the drug. At 17, Patricia dropped out of high school and married landscaper Gary Gabard. They had a son, Alex Martin, in August of 1994. In fact, she had moved 500 miles away and was in a new relationship herself. Despite the troubling evidence from Joann's car, detectives considered whether or not Joann had taken baby Alex and simply left. 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). Still, Shopping Spree,theForensic Filesepisode about the murders, left me curious about an epilogue for Fairley. One thing is for certain though: regardless of what color one would describe her hair, it was unequivocally a lot longer than 8 inches. 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. Autopsy examines how forensic examiners can help solve crimes. In TV clips, Andrew didnt come off as anguished. Victims Joann Katrinak Alex Katrinak, 3 months Find-A-Grave: Joann M. Katrinak Woman Held In Catasauqua Killings Man Recalls Day His Wife, Baby Vanished As Katrinak Double-murder Trial Opens . I would say that its only since the advent of forensic porn that wholly circumstantial cases are disparaged. Regard a similar case where too much detail signaled investigators to look closer at their suspect in Bagging a Killer (s06e25). This was part of Rorrer's defense strategy it seemed like an unrealistic motive to commit murder.