CA - Janet Kovacich, 27, Auburn, 8 Sept 1982

[MagicRose99]

It was Wednesday morning around 8 a.m. when Krch arrived at the Kovacich’s home to pick up their two children for their second day of school at St. Joseph’s.
Krch said she remembered Janet Kovacich was wearing a nightgown as she approached the front door to hand her the carpool schedule for the school year.

That was the last time she saw or heard from Janet Kovacich, Krch said.

When she dropped the children off at the house after school around 3 p.m., she said Paul Kovacich was in the driveway washing his truck. As the kids left the car, he walked over in what Krch said was one of the first and only exchanges she could remember having with Janet Kovacich’s husband.

“He said, ‘Is Janet with you? Oh no, she wouldn’t be. That’s right she’s with her mother,’” Krch said as she recalled the conversation for prosecutor Suzanne Gazzaniga.

http://www.auburnjournal.com/detail...der_sort=&content_class=1&sub_type=&town_id=6

 

[MagicRose99]

On Monday, Buttes and former Auburn Police Chief Nick Willick described the initial days and weeks of the search for Janet Kovacich.

On Sept. 9, 1982, Buttes said he received a call from dispatch asking him to contact the Placer County Jail supervisor.

He went to the jail where he met with supervisor at the time, Paul Kovacich.

Kovacich, who appeared calm, said his wife was missing, Buttes said.
“He told me the previous day he and her had a discussion about removing the children from St. Joseph’s to Forest Lake Christian school,” Buttes said. “He said they had a minor altercation and his wife was thinking of leaving him.”

When asked what Paul Kovacich’s reaction was to transferring his children to a different school, Buttes said he recalled the defendant saying “he barely listened” to his wife and left to go shopping at Kmart.

Paul Kovacich told Buttes that when he returned home after his shopping trip, his wife was not there. He then called his mother-in-law around noon that day.

Paul Kovacich said his wife was “depressed” after her surgery, and he initially thought she had committed suicide, Buttes said. In the following days, Paul Kovacich would call Buttes and say he thought his wife was in an accident. Later he would say he thought she “met with foul play,” Buttes said through the course of his testimony.

While referring to the report he wrote the afternoon of Sept. 9, 1982, Buttes said Paul Kovacich told him when he last saw his wife, she was wearing yellow pants, a violet, pink and green blouse, brown open-toe lift shoes, gave the exact measurements of the purse she was using and noted a tear under its handle.

Buttes said Kovacich asked to hold off on taking action. The then-sergeant said he did nothing more until Paul Kovacich called two days later.

http://www.auburnjournal.com/detail...der_sort=&content_class=1&sub_type=&town_id=6

 

[MagicRose99]

A 1982 tape recording played in a Roseville courtroom Thursday gave jurors a glimpse of murder suspect Paul Kovacich’s version of life with his wife, Janet, his hot temper and his admitted infidelity.

On the tape he discussed meeting a young Janet on the ski slopes, the immediate hostile exchanges between him and Janet’s mother, and the couple’s eventual divorce conversations.

Paul Kovacich is charged with murder with the enhancement of using a firearm in the Sept. 8, 1982 disappearance and murder of his wife. Paul Kovacich has pleaded not guilty.

Since his trial began last month, the defendant has remained silent and attentive during court proceedings. On Thursday, his voice echoed from a speaker in the courtroom as prosecutors played a three-and-a-half hour taped interview conducted on Sept. 15, 1982. The interview included Paul Kovacich and two local law enforcement officials.

At times, Prosecutor Suzanne Gazzaniga would stop the tape to question witness Johnnie Smith. Smith was an inspector with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office in September 1982 and was one of the two officials interviewing Paul Kovacich Sept. 15, 1982, the day of Janet Kovacich’s 28th birthday.

The interview began with Paul Kovacich calm and ended with a heated and ominous exchange between the accused and Auburn Police officer Dan Boone about the possible reasons for Janet Kovacich’s disappearance.

http://www.auburnjournal.com/detail...der_sort=&content_class=1&sub_type=&town_id=6

Wow... what a slimeball! You really have to read the whole article to see what a creep this guy is!

 

[chicoliving]

Auburn resident recalls day she and her husband found human remains

For a few hours Thursday, a physical piece of Janet Kovacich was in the same room as her husband, who is charged with her murder 26 years ago.

~snip~

Prosecutors called forward a witness who found a skull in 1995 that DNA tests would confirm in October 2006 belonged to Janet Kovacich. They also had the patrolman who collected the skull bring it into the courtroom on Thursday.

Auburn resident Susan Satterlee told the jury that she and her husband found an unusual object when they were taking a casual walk along Lake Rollins in October 1995.

“My husband was very astonished to find a round orb in the mud,” Satterlee said. “He recognized it right away as a skull.”

Satterlee said the couple immediately returned to their home to call the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.

http://www.auburnjournal.com/detail/100358.html

 

[MagicRose99]

There you are Chico! Thanks for the update! Everytime I go look there hasn't been much of anything....

 

[chicoliving]

Forensic anthropologist Patrick Willey said he’s not really a gambling man, but admitted to making a modest, informal bet back in 1995 when he was examining an “unnatural” hole in Janet Kovacich’s skull.

~snip~

In response to questions from prosecutor Suzanne Gazzaniga, Willey said in 1995 he determined the skull belonged to a white female who had died between the ages of 25 and 50. He qualified the statement by saying that analyzing age by the skull is still considered an “irregular” and “unpredictable” method.

He also discussed his analysis of a hole in the right side of the skull. He told the jury that the hole was “unnatural” as was the fracture line that radiates from it.

“Skulls have lots of holes in them, but this is one most skulls don’t have,” Willey said.

He added that the fracture line indicated that something happened to the skull while it was “still fresh and vital.”

Thirteen years ago, Willey said he had an opinion about what caused the “circular defect.”

“It appeared to be an entrance gunshot wound entering from the person’s right side,” Willey said.

http://www.auburnjournal.com/detail...der_sort=&content_class=1&sub_type=&town_id=6

 

[MagicRose99]

Diane Marie Ambrose burst out in tears and could hardly finish a sentence when a family portrait of a young Kovacich clan was displayed on a large television screen in a Placer County courtroom Tuesday.

“I just want to breathe for a minute,” Ambrose said between tears. “This picture has got to go.”

After the prosecution rested Tuesday afternoon, Ambrose was the first witness called by defense attorney John Spurling for the trial of his client, Paul Kovacich.

Kovacich, a former Placer County Sheriff’s sergeant, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder with the use of a firearm in the Sept. 8, 1982 death and disappearance of his wife, Janet Kovacich.

Ambrose was asked about her relationship with Janet Kovacich. Ambrose said she met the mother of two about eight weeks before her disappearance. Janet Kovacich had signed up her son, John, to play soccer on the team Ambrose was going to coach.

Spurling asked Ambrose to review a police report of her interview with a detective a few days after Janet Kovacich’s disappearance. In the report, Ambrose told police she had been friends with Janet Kovacich since Aug. 12, 1982.

Ambrose said she couldn’t remember the exact time they met.

http://www.auburnjournal.com/detail...der_sort=&content_class=1&sub_type=&town_id=6

 

[MagicRose99]

Week of 1/20 will be closing arguments for this case. (Small mention of it in an article on a different topic)

 

[ohiogirl]

Hard to tell from the articles, but it doesn't sound like they have very much to convict on. What does anyone else think?

 

[Wildcat]

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/103892.html

Paul Kovacich is the only person who stood to lose so much from his wife starting a new life and in turn, could gain so much from her death, the prosecution in Paul Kovacich’s trial said in its closing arguments.

The defense, however, said Paul Kovacich was nothing more than a loving husband and father who is not capable of killing his wife.

 

[Wildcat]

http://www.theunion.com/article/20090122/NEWS/901229983/1053

In closing arguments Tuesday, Placer County prosecutor Dave Tellman painted a picture of Kovacich as abusive and controlling. Kovacich’s attorney, John Spurling, characterized Janet Kovacich as a “troubled young woman” who sought to paint her husband in an unflattering light.

 

[Niner]

Hard to tell from the articles, but it doesn't sound like they have very much to convict on. What does anyone else think?

Hey ohiogirl! Sounds to me - from the articles that I have read - that the prosecution has enough to convict... I guess the jury is deliberating as I type??? or do they start on Monday? anyone?

 

[Niner]

:Welcome-12-june:

to WS ohiogirl and wildcat!!

urplebananna:

 

[Wildcat]

Hey ohiogirl! Sounds to me - from the articles that I have read - that the prosecution has enough to convict... I guess the jury is deliberating as I type??? or do they start on Monday? anyone?

The trial went to the jury before lunch last Wednesday. They don't deliberate on Fridays. Possibly a verdict late this coming week... (?)

The prosecution did a very good job. However, a lot of time has elapsed since Janet disappeared.

 

[ohiogirl]

No word yet, hung jury?

 

[Wildcat]

No word yet, hung jury?

I am sure they needed some time.. It was a 4 month trial with a huge number (can't remember maybe 750) of exhibits and ~ 75 witnesses. I believe that some of the exhibits (like a ~marriage diary~) were not completely read in court, so the jury might need to review.

If I were to guess (and a complete guess)... verdict on Thursday (so the jury can get on with there lives next week).

 

[Wildcat]

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/104379.html

Attorneys for the prosecution and defense are convening in a Roseville courtroom this afternoon to hear the jury's verdict.

More information will be posted when available.

 

[Wildcat]

http://www.theunion.com/article/20090127/NEWS/901279968

After 26 years of speculation and doubt, the verdict finally is in — Paul Kovacich was found guilty of murder with the use of a firearm in the Sept. 8, 1982 death and disappearance of his wife, Janet Kovacich.

I will try to post links to some good summary articles when available.

 

[chicoliving]

Good to hear!

 

[Wildcat]

http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1578187.html

Paul R. Kovacich Jr., a former Placer County sheriff's sergeant, was convicted this afternoon of first-degree murder in the slaying of his wife 26 years ago.

A Placer County jury that had been out since Thursday convicted Kovacich, who now faces 25 years to life in Janet Kovacich's murder.

Note: The jury actually went out late Wednesday and evidently deliberated Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, Monday, and part of Tuesday.

Suzanne Gazzaniga and Dave Tellman of the Placer County's District Attorney's Office put on a very good prosecution. Dave Tellman did a great job on Closing Arguments. It was a challenging case because of the passage of so much time.

John Spurling with the Placer County mounted a very effective and aggressive defense.

The jury appeared to be very conscientious and engaged through the four month trial.