http://search.proquest.com/tennessean/docview/239904415/14117FD3E153F0AE459/1?accountid=33208
The victim was walking to a Thompson Lane roller rink in her Woodbine neighborhood on a cold Nov. 29 when she was bound, sexually assaulted, choked and killed by having one of her own socks stuffed down her throat.
Now, this is from an editorial writer at The Tennessean writing in 2008 in response to a question from a reader who was a friend of Kathy's and wondered what had happened with the case.
However, CHOKED. This is the first reference in print I have seen to that.
The writer here, btw, is trying to be delicate in the way he phrases things. So, it sounds less involved than it was. But, he mentions specifically that she was also choked.
So, this brings us right back to nerosleuth's question.. was her neck broken?
Did the partial sock really suffocate her or was it incidential to the fact she suffocated because her neck was broken? (The sock did not help her breathing, obviously.) I don't know if they ever intended to stick it all the way down her throat or not. Maybe they were too rough with her when they gagged her and pushed it down father than they intended or maybe she sucked it down her throat trying to draw breath. Or maybe they did intend to kill her that way. Maybe they just were hurting her all sorts of ways and she died. (yes, this is all horrible to type)
Here is what Pat Postligione (until recently head of Cold Case Homicides) wrote in an email in 2008 to the writer of The Tennessean article:
"I have personally worked on this case and clearly understand what horror this young girl must have gone through," he wrote in an e-mail. "Because of new DNA technology, which as you know is constantly evolving, there is real hope that we can solve this particular case."
The article also mentions that Micky Miller felt they had a strong suspect, but lacked the evidence to arrest him.
Regarding the "choked" part:
I
will jump in with a few thoughts I've had on this. I know there has been some discussion about how the damage to her neck/throat was done, and several types of garrottes, etc., mentioned.
What keeps popping into my mind -- and I think others may have mentioned this -- is something like a dog choke collar, made of chain.
It is horrible to write this, sorry. But, pulled very tight, I can see how how the links on such a chain might have left wounds that appeared "almond shaped" in photographs -- along with bruising, etc. He may have been tightening and releasing, etc., awful stuff, typical of a sexual sadist though, so several sets/types of wounds could have resulted.
December, from what you have heard over the years and read, etc., did you get the definite impression that these were "clean" cuts, such as from a blade, or do you think they could have been "crushing" cuts?
If the perp did have a chain or something similar, it makes it seem less likely, IMO, that this was a totally opportunistic/impulsive attack. That is, while he may not have been stalking Kathy in particular, he was looking and ready for a victim.
I don't want to go too far off on a weird tangent, but I did want to just mention Mike Debardeleben. Definitely a sexual sadist. His is a weird and long story, December -- are you familiar with him? He was never actually convicted of a murder, yet he is considered a serial killer. He wasn't tried for any murders, largely because he already had racked up forever-in-prison on counterfeiting and abduction/sexual assault convictions -- he let some victims go, but it is widely believed he killed others.
He just keeps popping into my mind for a few reasons. One being that a few other WSers and I have been looking at him as a possibility in another thread I'm active in, which I may post about here a little more later, so he is "on my mind".
But also because (1) definitely a sexual sadist, (2) he traveled widely and evidence is that he had many, many victims, (3) a presumed "kill kit" was found among his belongings that included a chain choke collar (4) he was very into bondage and exotic tying positions. One of his released victims described one that she said he called a Chinese Hog Tie, for example.
Also -- two women that he almost surely killed (though, oddly enough, did not appear to sexually assault) were left in "display" positions.
Couple things I want to check on about Mike D. a little more closely -- (1)his ties/travels in the Nashville area and (2)charges, which were later dropped, against him in 1966 (pretty early in his known life of crime) for the abduction and sexual assault of a "young girl". Most of his known victims were a bit older than Kathy -- he wasn't a pedophile, exactly -- but I have a feeling (not sure though) that early charge may have involved a younger girl -- and it would not surprise me at all if there were others.
ETA: Also just wanted to say that I am leaning toward the suffocation from the sock not being intentional. It is even possible, IMO, crazy as it sounds, that the perp may not have specifically planned to kill Kathy -- he may have been disguised, etc., he might would have left her there to live, if she could, after all he had done to her. Not sure about that, but I do tend to think her suffocating from the sock was not part of the plan -- it may have even angered the perp if she died "too early" for his liking.
Poor Kathy. RIP honey.
