GA - Katherine Janness, 40, fatally stabbed and dog killed, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, 28 July 2021 #2

[PrairieWind]

It is possible Katie first encountered her killer elsewhere besides the park. Someone may have seen her out walking and followed her or perhaps she even had an encounter with the person and that made them want to follow her until she was in a more secluded area where they could attack her. If this happened, I have to imagine they were pictured on the same camera she was or at the very least on the entrance cam to the park (though I suppose they could have entered another way).

I guess it's possible LE has seen a person on one of the cameras that they believe to be suspicious and just haven't released that to the media. At some point, you think if they can't locate them, they'd want the public's help in IDing them though. MOO

I would think it is almost likely that the killer was on camera somewhere around the park.

 

[PrairieWind]

It is possible Katie first encountered her killer elsewhere besides the park. Someone may have seen her out walking and followed her or perhaps she even had an encounter with the person and that made them want to follow her until she was in a more secluded area where they could attack her. If this happened, I have to imagine they were pictured on the same camera she was or at the very least on the entrance cam to the park (though I suppose they could have entered another way).

I guess it's possible LE has seen a person on one of the cameras that they believe to be suspicious and just haven't released that to the media. At some point, you think if they can't locate them, they'd want the public's help in IDing them though. MOO

I would think it is almost likely that the killer was on camera somewhere around the park.

 

[Counttrarian]

A few points:
A) As to why her Emma's father has been speaking etc., given his profession he is probably better versed at public speaking than most:
"After finding the two at Piedmont Park, Clark called 911 and her brother, who called her father. Joe Clark, a Fayetteville city councilman, drove immediately to Atlanta, a place he had previously called home for many years, he said."
B) If you look at the views of the approx. location the body was found its possible that unless you walked PAST the bathroom via the Charles Allen entrance you would not see the body (since it might be blocked from bathroom). Once you did however it might be somewhat clearer since it appears there is a park variety street lamp nearby.
(It also leads to the possibility that Katie was trying to go towards that lamp)
C) I have not heard of a different 911 caller finding the body prior to Emma.
D) The entrance Katie took is a little confusing since we don't see her crossing Piedmont at 10th st (rainbow), nor entering at the 12th street entrance. I had suspected the small entrance at 10th 50 yards or so from from the sidewalk, and it would have put her in a one of the 'shadiest' areas of the park, but then I'd expect a photo of her crossing Piedmont @ rainbow again in that case.
E) We don't know if the dog was on leash or off of if Katies was attacked prior or after it. It is believed there was some DNA evidence to collect via the canine.
F) Multiple stab wounds. Police described the murder as "gruesome", and Emma's father put it the following way, "It was a very violent end for her,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind, she did not go down without a fight.”
G) To date of the witnesses in photos we have been told only that the jogger has spoken/cooperated with authorities.

(Much conjecture, all IMO)

 

[GeorgiaPeach1]

From what I’ve read, Emma seems to get worried about Katie an hour after she last saw her. So that would be approximately 12:30am. We know Katie was alive at 12:09am in the crosswalk.

It takes approximately 10 minutes to walk from the crosswalk to the Charles Allen gate. If she went straight to the Charles Allen entrance from the crosswalk, that would put her there around 12:20am. If she was attacked as soon as she got there, it would explain why she wasn’t answering the phone at 12:30am. Also, LE has not released any video or pics of the Charles Allen entrance between 11:56pm and 12:46am…so could that mean there were no potential witnesses in the area during that timeframe? Might explain why nobody heard anything or found her body prior to Emma. Perhaps they feel the killer was lurking in the area around 11:55pm and want to know if the group of women saw anyone suspicious.
The other pics released at the 12th st. entrance are around 12:25am and would be right during the time she was being murdered if she was attacked as soon as she reached the CA entrance. Also, based on what Emma said, the phone location wasn’t moving…so more than likely the spot where Katie was found, is the spot she was at when she died. She may have very well been lying there for 40+ minutes. If that is the case, then the jogger should have definitely seen her and/or Bowie when he went in that entrance briefly.

 

[Dub64]

Can you provide a link for this? thanks, I have brain fog.

Was there a response to this?

 

[Peaches96]

I would think it is almost likely that the killer was on camera somewhere around the park.

Agree!

 

[googlethis04]

Ahh but I did not say the dog was hung, nor that were he hung that that would be how he died. I am also keenly aware that LE need not report everything, nor that the things they do report be 100% accurate.

Per APD, they actually did not say the dog was stabbed - good point:

“On July 28, 2021 the Katherine Janness’ body was discovered inside Piedmont Park. She was last seen walking her dog in Midtown Atlanta. (Photo on flyer was at 12:09am July 28, 2021) The victim and her dog were killed inside the park.”

“On Wednesday July 28, 2021, at around 1:10am officers responded to Piedmont Park, 1073 Piedmont Ave, on a report of a person stabbed. On scene officers found a deceased adult female with multiple stab wounds. Atlanta Police Homicide Unit detectives responded and are investigating the incident.”

“The timeframe for review should be between 10:30 PM on Tuesday July 27, to 1:30 AM on Wednesday July 28.”

News List | Atlanta Police Department

 

[Razz]

Does it seem like things have been quiet lately? It seems that way to me. Could be they've located all the people in the video and are making headway in this case. They don't have to update us re the status of the witnesses. They'd probably like to keep things quiet so they can go about their investigation unimpeded. I can't help but think they are on to someone or something.

 

[googlethis04]

Does it seem like things have been quiet lately? It seems that way to me. Could be they've located all the people in the video and are making headway in this case. They don't have to update us re the status of the witnesses. They'd probably like to keep things quiet so they can go about their investigation unimpeded. I can't help but think they are on to someone or something.

I was just saying this to my friends. Very quiet the last 3-4 days. And quiet about the missing teen too … despite the FBI being involved there as well. Fox5 was reporting almost 1-2x/day on Katie’s case and then over the weekend went very quiet. Either lack of intel from APD or lack of sources speaking up to talk (Emma not wanting to talk anymore?). This is all that had come out (aside from Nancy Grace):

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/calls-for-more-cameras-better-lighting-after-piedmont-park-murder

The news came out with updates today on older incidents in Atlanta, though, which thought was interesting.

 

[googlethis04]

Per APD, they actually did not say the dog was stabbed - good point:

“On July 28, 2021 the Katherine Janness’ body was discovered inside Piedmont Park. She was last seen walking her dog in Midtown Atlanta. (Photo on flyer was at 12:09am July 28, 2021) The victim and her dog were killed inside the park.”

“On Wednesday July 28, 2021, at around 1:10am officers responded to Piedmont Park, 1073 Piedmont Ave, on a report of a person stabbed. On scene officers found a deceased adult female with multiple stab wounds. Atlanta Police Homicide Unit detectives responded and are investigating the incident.”

“The timeframe for review should be between 10:30 PM on Tuesday July 27, to 1:30 AM on Wednesday July 28.”

News List | Atlanta Police Department

I don’t remember Emma mentioning in her 911 call that Katie was stabbed, so someone else must have called 911 for them to respond to “on a report of a person stabbed”? Emma’s call was she was dead, not stabbed?

 

[Atlmom]

<rsbm>

It would not surprise me if there weren't any noises that would stand out to people in the area. If Bowie growled, nobody would hear. If he barked, it may have gone unnoticed because people don't pay much attention to a dog barking.

If Bowie was attacked first, I believe Katie would have been screaming and people would pay attention to a woman's screams. I strongly suspect Katie was attacked first and swiftly and was unable to make a sound. Dogs growl or bark as warnings but Bowie would have bypassed warning mode and gone to silent, instant attack.

No expert, but 30 years of owning GSDs and MOO

Not only potential noise from Katie and Bowie, but I think the perp would have hollered out if Bowie got a few good bites in. Somebody must have heard something.

 

[LotusPawprint]

Was there a response to this?

NO

 

[LotusPawprint]

I don’t remember Emma mentioning in her 911 call that Katie was stabbed, so someone else must have called 911 for them to respond to “on a report of a person stabbed”? Emma’s call was she was dead, not stabbed?

Parts of the call were redacted. Probably containing information that deals with details that are important to investigation.
Imo

 

[everybodhi]

This is perplexing. There were people in and out of the park. Emma walked in and immediately saw Bowie, and pretty quickly saw Katie. Did no one else see them? It makes me think maybe she was killed closer to the time she was found. Or maybe she was killed in a more hidden area and her body drug to where it was found. Although that doesn't seem too likely I admit. Just some of the location/timeline things aren't making sense to me yet. Unless some people did see her and just kept walking and have since kept their mouths shut. Or maybe they have spoken to police and it just isn't public yet. I would be interested to know if the police have good idea of the time she was killed.

I can't imagine why they would divulge to the public that there
are witnesses, so many people are in fear from what happened, imagine the fear being felt by any witnesses who also may live nearby.

 

[Atlmom]

This is perplexing. There were people in and out of the park. Emma walked in and immediately saw Bowie, and pretty quickly saw Katie. Did no one else see them? It makes me think maybe she was killed closer to the time she was found. Or maybe she was killed in a more hidden area and her body drug to where it was found. Although that doesn't seem too likely I admit. Just some of the location/timeline things aren't making sense to me yet. Unless some people did see her and just kept walking and have since kept their mouths shut. Or maybe they have spoken to police and it just isn't public yet. I would be interested to know if the police have good idea of the time she was killed.

Interesting, I didn’t know that…maybe the first person saw or heard something. A witness???

 

[Counttrarian]

NO

I can take a guess as to why the person who posted this may have thought they read it. Early reports (7/28) stated that "Atlanta Police said they got the call that her body was found at the Charles Allen entrance around 1:00 a.m."
This was before that person was identified as Emma Clark, so someone recollecting that may think they were diff persons not have associated the two.
As for Katie entering the Charles Allen gate, two issues with that, she is not seen crossing the rainbow sidewalk towards the park on 10th st, and more importantly she is not shown on video entering via Charles Allen when we know that video exists there, and LE multiple times has said that the rainbow sidewalk is last time Katie was seen alive.
(And it this point it would make little sense to withhold any video/photo of her entering via Charles Allen)

 

[Galadriel]

I agree, I think that's why he went in, too. But if Emma could see Bowie from the gate, so could the jogger, which is why I question if Bowie was even there yet when the jogger went in.

That's an interesting angle to consider. It makes me wonder where Bowie and/or Katie were at 12:46am if not already in their eventual locations. My assumption has been that they were killed within less than a minute of encountering the attacker, but as you said earlier, @TL4S, we don't have all the facts. It's not impossible that the interaction started elsewhere, and that where they ended up is not where they started.

 

[Shellinaya]

I think people are getting the "returned to walk Emma home" thing from this article (and possibly others?)

"Late Tuesday, Janness had stopped by Henry’s Midtown Tavern, where Clark was working. After Janness and Bowie walked, they planned to return to meet Clark and walk home together. But when Clark was ready to head home, Janness didn’t answer her phone. And she wasn’t at home."

Woman killed at Piedmont Park remembered as intelligent, gentle, kind

Now I don't think I've seen a direct quote from Emma stating this, so it's possible this reporter/writer got it mixed up. But I knew I had read this before, so I went searching and found this article from back in thread 1.

OK, I hadn't seen that specific claim before. However, Emma directly contradicts this in her interview and talks about being late at work and mentions training someone and then leaving work very late and discovering Emma was not at home where she expected her to be. And from what she said in the interview it did not sound like there was a set time for her to get off work that night, but she said it was about an hour later that she got home from when she had seen Katie.

The AJC reporter probably got that meeting later to walk home item from Emma's father:

(from the article)
"Joe Clark said his daughter isn’t ready to talk publicly about her ordeal, but she has shared those details with family and investigators. He provided the AJC with information about the final evening Janness was alive."

Then the article continued with that bit about them meeting up later, so I guess that came from Mr. Clark, who by now we have seen is full of opinions that aren't necessarily reliable. I don't think we should rely on what he said about that night, since he wasn't there.

 

[Shellinaya]

I think people are getting the "returned to walk Emma home" thing from this article (and possibly others?)

"Late Tuesday, Janness had stopped by Henry’s Midtown Tavern, where Clark was working. After Janness and Bowie walked, they planned to return to meet Clark and walk home together. But when Clark was ready to head home, Janness didn’t answer her phone. And she wasn’t at home."

Woman killed at Piedmont Park remembered as intelligent, gentle, kind

Now I don't think I've seen a direct quote from Emma stating this, so it's possible this reporter/writer got it mixed up. But I knew I had read this before, so I went searching and found this article from back in thread 1.

OK, I hadn't seen that specific claim before. However, Emma directly contradicts this in her interview and talks about being late at work and mentions training someone and then leaving work very late and discovering Emma was not at home where she expected her to be. And from what she said in the interview it did not sound like there was a set time for her to get off work that night, but she said it was about an hour later that she got home from when she had seen Katie.

The AJC reporter probably got that meeting later to walk home item from Emma's father:

(from the article)
"Joe Clark said his daughter isn’t ready to talk publicly about her ordeal, but she has shared those details with family and investigators. He provided the AJC with information about the final evening Janness was alive."

Then the article continued with that bit about them meeting up later, so I guess that came from Mr. Clark, who by now we have seen is full of opinions that aren't necessarily reliable. I don't think we should rely on what he said about that night, since he wasn't there.

I find this odd/interesting as well. Thats why a few posts back I asked why Emma would be following Katie via the iPhone app though I think I'm satisfied on this point now.

Still, I just can't get my head around the fact that the first person who discovers them and calls 911 is also the significant other. I mean, what are the odds of that? The surveillance video shows any number of people walking thru or by the scene.

Emma was specifically looking for Katie and Bowie, and following the phone ping, which is probably why she saw them so quickly. She did say in her second interview that at first glance she thought Bowie was a trash bag or something. Then she realized it was him. Katie was farther in, maybe in deeper shadows where it was harder to see.

I didn't know about a first 911 call other than Emma's either. If there is an article or link about that I haven't seen it yet.....

 

[Counttrarian]

That's an interesting angle to consider. It makes me wonder where Bowie and/or Katie were at 12:46am if not already in their eventual locations. My assumption has been that they were killed within less than a minute of encountering the attacker, but as you said earlier, @TL4S, we don't have all the facts. It's not impossible that the interaction started elsewhere, and that where they ended up is not where they started.

Possibly, and I do think the interaction started elsewhere as well.
My thought fwiw, as to jogger seeing bodies. Katie's makes sense not to see since it was closer to a tree (off the path) and as I mentioned might have been hidden by bathroom, As for Bowie which Emma said was around 50ft in and visible by the gate. It's possible that the jogger didn't see them because he wasn't looking for them and was pretty myopic due to the headlamp and his routine. In other words if you're doing something athletic and have done so for some time you're not going to be distracted by things not in your field of vision. (Emma was looking for them, he was not)
Interestingly LE has talked to him and not released anything information other than his being cooperative, so the public will have to wait and see.
Also we knew at least one other person saw the body and before police arrived and that there were others in the park nearby around that time.