AL - Karen Shahan, 53, murdered, Homewood, 23 July 2013 #1

[txsvicki]

Same here. Checking daily. Don't they have to eventually release the autopsy report?

 

[SmoothOperator]

No, they can withhold the autopsy report from the public for as long as they feel it necessary or choose.. As in the Karen Swift homicide case, here near me, her husband is the prime and only suspect yet, he's still free with full custody of their two minor daughters.. LE keep saying an arrest is imminent, but sadly I know exactly what the hold up is in her husband having retained one of this country's elite criminal defense attys...This DA knows what they're up against and only have one shot to get it right when they do try him...therefor they're trying to make sure they're case against him is without any cracks whatsoever, stone solid!

anyhow its been 2 years and Karen Swift's autopsy report remains sealed from the public while her husband walks free still!

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Unfortunately, there seem to be far too many cases where, unfortunately, LE is pretty darn sure they know who did it, but they end up not having enough evidence to obtain a conviction.

We can all just hope that such evidence will turn up at some point in the future.

 

[Sulamith]

No, they can withhold the autopsy report from the public for as long as they feel it necessary or choose.. As in the Karen Swift homicide case, here near me, her husband is the prime and only suspect yet, he's still free with full custody of their two minor daughters.. LE keep saying an arrest is imminent, but sadly I know exactly what the hold up is in her husband having retained one of this country's elite criminal defense attys...This DA knows what they're up against and only have one shot to get it right when they do try him...therefor they're trying to make sure they're case against him is without any cracks whatsoever, stone solid!

anyhow its been 2 years and Karen Swift's autopsy report remains sealed from the public while her husband walks free still!

I had not seen the Karen Swift thread until you mentioned it. I have been reading over there for hours and have not finished yet and I am not reading every single post. Two years since her murder and no arrest yet. I have a feeling it might go that way for Karen Shahan. Hope I am wrong.

 

[StellarBlu]

Sigh ... nothing new ... I haven't checked here for a while, and am sorry there isn't any more new information. No real updated news reports as far as I can see either. I'm sure there is a lot more going on behind the scenes to solve this -- it's just frustrating not seeing anything being shared with the public.

 

[mom23boys]

It is so frustrating that there hasn't been an arrest yet. Hoping there is one soon.

 

[ClemiFern]

Just thought I'd check in to see if I've missed something. I check local news sites daily and google her name to see if anything new comes up. So sad that it feels like nothing is being done to bring a murderer to justice. I'm sure it just feels that way and that there is actually an active investigation being done but it's just frustrating that we hear nothing at all.

 

[MissJ]

Just want swift justice for Karen.

 

[TGIRecovered]

Still nothing.

I wonder...when they finally decide to arrest the person who did this, will that person still be in this country? I assume that person is free to go and do as they please right now.

I hope police are watching closely, but I wouldn't count on it. It would probably be relatively easy to just disappear, especially if this person has close supporters who would help.

MOO

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

Still nothing.

I wonder...when they finally decide to arrest the person who did this, will that person still be in this country? I assume that person is free to go and do as they please right now.

I hope police are watching closely, but I wouldn't count on it. It would probably be relatively easy to just disappear, especially if this person has close supporters who would help.

MOO

Has there been any updates on Karen in the First Baptist Church Newsletter?

:waitasec:

 

[meanmaryjean]

The silence is deafening..............

 

[TGIRecovered]

I'm sure that the murderer is feeling more smug as each day passes. Killers like this one seem to have pretty good odds of moving on to the next potential victim...or two, or three...before someone finally makes a loud enough fuss to get a new, more thorough investigation. It could be years or even decades.

I have no doubt that someone who gets away with this type of murder will continue to leave a trail of destruction in their wake.

MOO

 

[wfgodot]

And then some uncaught murderers, as days go by, fall further and further apart - depending perhaps on what they have to lose; yes, all of them have liberty to lose and, perhaps, life, but some, from the middle and upper social classes, also have lifestyles with which they do not want to part and of which, of course, they'd instantly be deprived if convicted. These I think might be more prone to fall apart and make mistakes in judgement and thus, we would hope, get arrested for their crimes. (But then some of them too are very very cold, sociopaths who might not follow this pattern.)

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

And then some uncaught murderers, as days go by, fall further and further apart - depending perhaps on what they have to lose; yes, all of them have liberty to lose and, perhaps, life, but some, from the middle and upper social classes, also have lifestyles with which they do not want to part and of which, of course, they'd instantly be deprived if convicted. These I think might be more prone to fall apart and make mistakes in judgement and thus, we would hope, get arrested for their crimes. (But then some of them too are very very cold, sociopaths who might not follow this pattern.)

Good point...

Murderers who have more to lose... Social standing, career, etc... May break down from the strain...

As opposed to those murderers who feel they are already at the bottom of the barrel... And have nothing to lose...

But... I guess we should never underestimate a sociopath...

JMO

 

[meanmaryjean]

Good point...

Murderers who have more to lose... Social standing, career, etc... May break down from the strain...

As opposed to those murderers who feel they are already at the bottom of the barrel... And have nothing to lose...

But... I guess we should never underestimate a sociopath...

JMO

BBM: Absolutely. Which is what makes crime (apart from the awfulness of it and the human toll it takes) so incredibly fascinating.

 

[IHAVENOCLUE]

BBM: Absolutely. Which is what makes crime (apart from the awfulness of it and the human toll it takes) so incredibly fascinating.

Agreed...:thumb:

 

[oceanblueeyes]

Even years later, since the church I was working at when the Chelsea King case happened was in the neighborhood of where Amber DuBois was taken, and since I work with kids, the CK abduction/murder resurfaced the fears that were very much still underlying b/c of the questions still going on as there were no answers as to what happened to Amber.

Was she alive somewhere being held? Had she left voluntarily (not many thought that at all)? Was she dead as well?

The kids were (understandably) freaked out!

And not knowing made it SO much worse in so many ways, I think, because minds go even more directions. As much as people tried to protect their kids from hearing it, it was everywhere. Signs on street corners, ribbons, choppers, news and radio even during "kid safe" hours/shows, and the topic of conversation unless you pretty much kept to your own little house.

We stepped up security and took a lot of other steps, while trying not to let the kids really be aware of how much more was going on behind the scenes.

We dealt with the fears of the peers of Chelsea and Amber and the younger kids, some of whom didn't really (thankfully) understand what was going on, while trying to reassure the parents that additional measures were taken to keep kids/youth safe on campus.

But you guys are dealing with it on an entirely different level. Not only do you have an unexplained death, the people at the center of it were influential and visible and significant parts of the lives of many of them. I can't imagine how difficult it's been for your church, and especially, for all of you as parents.

I'm glad your kids feel safe in sharing their fears with you and that you're helping to walk through this with them, and I pray the other kids are getting the same support. And I pray for the staff, too...losing a pastor or their spouse, for any reason, is never easy. I can't imagine the feelings when so much is unknown and you love and care about the people involved and there still aren't any answers.

Though I had been referring to Karen's kids being (in my mind, surprisingly) quiet, I'm glad you posted what you did. I'm glad you realized that the last thing (I'm quite sure all of us here) want is the kids/youth of your church who care about Karen/family to be dealing with more than they are already!

As someone else said, if it were my parents, there's no way I wouldn't want every person in the country to know something had happened to my mom and we needed to find out who had done it...and even just sharing about who she was - but everyone does handle things differently.

In some ways this reminds me of the Susan Jacobsen (son?) case in NoCal right now. Although no one is sure of Susan's 'fate' (not a fan of that word but can't come up with another at the moment) we've heard nothing from her husband and very, very little from one son.

But again, everyone does handle things differently.

And do know that I mean I'm praying for you all - it's an incredibly difficult situation and I pray for God's nearness to you in all in a really powerful way as you all continue to walk through this. And I pray especially for wisdom for all of you who are trying to navigate this with your kids and as having friendships with the Shahans.

What a thoughtful post. Thank you for sharing.

In some ways this case reminds me of Sara Walker's case. I believe it may have been a Texas case.

She was found repeatedly bludgeoned and repeatedly stabbed to death in a model home. Police came out rather quickly saying the community wasn't in any danger. It was an overkill type of murder so assumptions were made quickly that it had to be done by someone very close to her.........ie......her ex-husband.

At the time I thought there had to be some kind of forensic evidence left behind because of the brutal nature of the murder itself but for two months or more we heard nothing. No suspects.....no police interviews........nothing. Just speculation that the police suspected the ex-husband even though it was known that they got along well even after divorcing.

Then one day right out of the blue a kind poster put up a new link stating an arrest had been made! The suspect was an ex-felon passing through and was from Ohio iirc. He had left a bloody fingerprint on the door knob as he was leaving. He had no ties to Sara. His motive was to rob Sara and leave no witness alive.

So I still have faith that this case will be solved. Some just take longer than others. But, imo, a scene as brutal as this one has been described has to mean the suspect was up very close to Karen when he/they murdered her...leaving the possibility of forensic evidence behind.

JMO

 

[SCHMAE]

Has LE said anything lately ? Do we even know what direction the investigation is going?
Arrest that ' random, isolated, unknown, wandering, stranger PERP " already

 

[ClemiFern]

Found this today:

http://www.myfoxal.com/story/23383457/homewood-pd-no-suspect-in-murder-of-pastors-wife?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffera8d1e&utm_medium=facebook

Doesn't really tell us anything new but says no one has been ruled out as a suspect.

 

[TGIRecovered]

Here's an idea. The murderer, ( a random suspect), needs to do the right thing and take complete responsibility for what he did. No more lies.

Waiting to see if the D.A. can prove it is the wrong thing to do. Lies make it worse. Lawyers don't tell you the right thing to do, they tell you how to avoid having to tell the truth.

Stop making it worse. Do the next right thing. Tell the whole truth .

MOO