Her husband Andrew's mother expected Joann to arrive quickly, since they only lived a few minutes away. As for an epilogue on ex-flame Andrew Katrinak, he has moved to Colorado and kept a low profile since the trial ended. (We didnt get into the specifics.). With 400 (and 6) episodes, this progress bar indicates my progress toward finishing all of them. According to a Morning Call account from March 5, 1998: McIntyre leaned forward conspiratorially like someone trying to persuade another to tell a secret, lowered his voice and said: Heres what I want to know: After you killed Joann Katrinak, did you kill that baby or just leave it to die?. Tragedy also touched Patricias life. Plus, two men, her babys father and his friend, testified they saw Patricia at the line-dancing club the night of the homicide. . It was later believed that his recollection was keen, since he'd been the one to dress her posthumously. The only eyewitness to the murder a five-year-old child told police officers that a white man did it, reads the statement. Detective Barry Grube found it odd that Andrew fixed the severed phone line before police examined it in essence tampering with evidence. The main one of course was committing murder of a young woman and her infant son over an argument. But if Rorrer was a genuine suspect, it's likely investigators would have attempted the mitochondrial DNA match on the hair anyway. They moved into her house in Salisbury County, staying together for about two years. 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. In a million years, she wouldnt do anything to harm that.. 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. He framed this woman who has been in prison 23 years! Starz announces premiere date for Joe Berlinger's Wrong Man Season 2. 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. - 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 . Andrew's second look in and around their home revealed some disturbing clues. Rorrer was tried and convicted in 1994 for the brutal killing of Katrinak and her three-month-old son. She claimed to have been home during this period how did her defense team justify such a departure from Patricia's norm? Patricia was arrested on June 24, 1997. . The phone wire was located at the opposite end of the basement, which was dark. 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. Starting at. Joann Katrinak and her infant son were brutally murdered. But Patricia had moved from Pennsylvania years ago, and she'd started her own family in North Carolina. Documentary, Drama 2020-2020. Keith Morrison investigates the horrific 1994 murders of Joann Katrinak and her infant son Alex, the tangled relationships surrounding the crime, and the ongoing claims that Patricia Rorrer was wrongfully convicted. The state of the bodies suggested the victims had likely been killed the day very they were abducted. How to do some spring cleaning on your smartphone, What the Tech? Her alibi about going to the club, called Cowboys Nitelife, got fuzzy when investigators discovered she hadnt signed the guest book on that day. Although the prosecution used it as evidence that she was trying to create a false alibi, it actually sounded more like Patricia was simply trying to nail down the facts he had already asserted to her. Her hair color in the picture matched hairs found at two of the crime scenes. Why did the police not look into these things? Chris and Fatima investigate the case of Patricia Rorrer, who is in prison for brutally murdering her former boyfriend's wife and baby out of spite; her lawyers claim that she was . On a secret recording, Patricia asked Jarrett to vouch for her attendance or she might go to the electric char. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Born on January 24, 1964, in eastern Pennsylvania, Patricia Rorrer spent most of her life going back and forth between the Keystone State and North Carolina. I dont think she was ever scared until we put the cuffs on her.. The prosecution alleged that after the murder, Patricia drove Joanns car to McCartys parking lot and backed it into a parking space. Unseasonably warm weather in late December suggested that the victims were there since they were killed. Patricias phone bill showed no record of a call to Catasauqua that day, but police noticed she didnt make any calls at all from her house in North Carolina that day either suggesting she could have been out of state and used a pay phone to dial up the Katrinaks. So, this pointed to a theory that Joann had either left on her own or encountered foul play within her home. 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. Episode Info. Sounds like prosecutors made the right call based on this. So now, lets find out everything there is to know about her, shall we? Patricia Rorrer being escorted by the police | Photo Credits: People Magazine. Many of these are circumstantial, so investigators were grateful for their DNA match from the hair. !) and detractors (This is another bs attempt to free a psycho). McIntyre said a conspiracy theory is preposterous and he's surprised Rorrer is making another attempt to get out of prison. Patricia Rorrer, an ex-girlfriend of Joann's husband, was found guilty of the crimes and sentenced to life in prison. 1919 EDA 2016 Appeal from the PCRA Order May 26, 2016 In the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-39-CR-0002176-1997 BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., BOWES AND SHOGAN, J. Appeal from the PCRA Order May 26, 2016. 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. Really? Murder victim. Andrew told investigators that the unpleasant phone call between Joann and Patricia happened just three days before his wifes disappearance. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. It's sad looking back at those Forensic Files episodes where the science was junk but they portray it as a solid case. Watch enough true crime shows and you're bound to hear one of these gems. The farmer's remote field bordered an isolated horseback riding trail. After one bullet didnt kill Joann, the gun locked up, so Patricia had to beat her to death, according to the prosecution. With Lynnanne Zager, Joann Katrinak, Alex Katrinak, Patricia Rorrer. Also Rorrer had a history of run-ins with the law, including being charged with breaking and entering. She did buy a .22 before. Back in March of 2017, Investigation Discovery ran Murder in Lehigh Valley: Keith Morrison Investigates which questioned the conviction of . By that time, we had both moved on and I had no romantic feelings for him. (QUIZ), RAW: FILE: CHRIS ROCK IS SET TO MAKE NETFLIX HISTORY, Outlast Forces Lone Wolf Contestants to Embrace Team Dynamics for Netflix Competition, Diego Luna: Andor Ending With Season 2 Is Really Important for My Mental Health. It's not often there's a laundry list of clear signals, but it's fun to iterate them when there are so many. . Other defense claims and recent updates include: Two separate witnesses claim to have seen an unhappy Joann with a man on the day of her disappearance. Two-Part Special Premieres Sunday, March 5 at 8/7c; Features Exclusive First-Ever Interview with Inmate Patricia Rorrer (Silver Spring, Md.) Despite the new evidence and hypotheses, the courts have rejected all of Patricias bids for a new trial. Rorrer has appealed her conviction several times and her supporters believe additional DNA evidence . Prosecutors said Rorrer beat Katrinak, shot her and left her and her baby for dead in the woods in Heidelberg Township. If Rorrer used to live in the area, then I expect any place in the county was probably within a couple of miles of someplace she used to have access to. There was also a 2017 Dateline Keith Morrison episode which covered some of these facts. The state made a case fueled by circumstantial evidence and public outrage over the deaths of a modern-day madonna and child. July 16, 1932 - September 10, 2020, Dr. Edward E. "Gene" Rorrer, Sr. passed away on September 10, 2020 in Abingdon, Virg. This is the hard part. Please walk thru her website and see for yourself how easy it is to be convicted of something you had nothing to do with. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Patricia Rorrer was a cold woman. Patricia defaulted on her mortgage and then returned to North Carolina, where she eventually moved in with a boyfriend named Brian Ward. Image Title Airdate Season Episode Series Episode "Sleeping with the Enemy" August 7, 2015: 1: 120 Texan Darlene Gentry is a self-centered former beauty queen who enjoys the party girl lifestyle and whose marriage to husband Keith is collapsing under the debt she has incurred. Rorrer was convicted at trial in March 1998 of kidnapping Joann Katrinak, 26, and her 3-month-old son, Alex, on Dec. 15, 1994, from their Catasauqua home . Another thing never presented at trial was the fact that they found flower petals in the soles of Joann's shoes,. . When she stood trial that same year, she maintained her innocence and alleged that she and Andrew Katrinak had continued to stay in touch as good friends, so she wouldn't do anything to hurt him. As for the words exchanged on the call between the two big-haired women, Joann told Andrew that Patricia had used profanity; Patricia said it was the other way around. Further, an early FBI report said the hairs found in the car had no roots which contain the DNA suggesting an evidence switcheroo. She made an effort to look perfectly groomed even when she took out the trash, according to her mother, who appeared on Forensic Files. 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). Rorrer was the ex-girlfriend of Joann's husband . Police converged on the scene and soon realized it was not only the remains of Joann Katrinak, but sadly of Alex too. Does anyone see motive in this scenario? Movies/Documentaries Murder in Lehigh Valley Forensic Files: A Woman Scorned Deadly Women: Green-Eyed Monsters. 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.