MA MA - Katharina Brow, 48, Ayer, 21 May 1980

[bessie]

Ex-Ayer chief blasts DA in Waters case
Defends department's probe, arrest of man later freed by DNA evidence
By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.com
Updated: 11/27/2009 11:27:11 AM EST

[...]
Breaking his silence, Connors, who was police chief during the investigation of the Katharina Brow murder, said even without Waters' DNA at the crime scene there was enough evidence to convict him in the murder of Brow on May 21, 1980.

"Waters should have faced retrial by the District Attorney's Office ... The failure of the District Attorney's Office to do this set up the taxpayers of Ayer, several insurance companies and others for great and unnecessary financial suffering,'' Connors wrote in a statement sent to The Sun.

As a result, justice wasn't served, Connors said.

After 19 years in prison, Waters was released March 13, 2001, by a Superior Court judge after his sister provided blood believed to have belonged to the killer, and it did not match her brother's DNA. The Middlesex District Attorney's Office declined to retry Waters.

[...]
The Middlesex District Attorney's Office did provide a comment by press deadline.

Waters, 47, died six months after his release when he fell 15 feet off a brick wall onto his head.

"I am very angry that in all the hysteria that the media has presented about Kenneth Waters so little has been said about the victim ... and how little has been said about her family's suffering,'' Connors wrote.

[...]
Brow was found murdered -- stabbed 30 times and beaten -- in her Rosewood Avenue mobile home. Her purse, which contained a large amount of money, and some jewelry were missing. Waters was in possession of a piece of that jewelry. Brow had frequented the diner where Waters worked.

Two of Waters' former girlfriends provided statements that incriminated him in the murder. Waters also admitted he hated Brow because she had sent him to reform school at 10 years old after he broke into her house.

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_13873011#ixzz3YA9TC2Rr

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'Conviction' Movie Gets a New Victim
Oct. 14,2010
By COELI CARR

In the new movie "Conviction," two-time Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank portrays real-life Betty Anne Waters, whose brother Kenny was convicted of murdering a Massachusetts woman, Katharina Brow, in 1980.

[...]
Allred described Katharina Brow as a loving mother and grandmother, and victim of "a cold, heartless and brutal murder." Kenneth Waters spent 18 years in prison while his sister, who did not have a college degree, put herself through law school so that she could fight for his freedom.

Although the movie, said Allred, had reportedly been in development for about 10 years – and that the events in the movie would never have occurred had it not been for Brow's murder – "the film's producers, including Ms. Swank, have never bothered to contact the victim's family" during that time. "In fact, to this day, the children of the murder victim have never been contacted by Hilary Swank…or by anyone connected to the film," she said.

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[bessie]

Sister of Mercy
By Bill Hewitt
April 09, 2001

[...]
The crime her brother had been convicted of was especially brutal. On May 21, 1980, Katharina Brow, 48, had been found murdered in the home that she shared with her husband, Charles, in Ayer, Mass., 35 miles northwest of Boston. She had been stabbed 30 times and robbed of $1,800 in cash that she kept in a linen closet. The crime scene was splashed with blood, some of which investigators believed had come from the killer as Brow fought for her life. The next day police questioned Kenny Waters, then 26, who at the time was already facing charges of assaulting a police officer. Kenny worked at a diner frequented by Brow, who openly talked about the money she had. But investigators had nothing concrete to link the crime to Kenny, who subsequently moved away for two years before returning to Rhode Island. It was then that two ex-girlfriends, one of whom is the mother of his daughter Mandy Marsh, now 22, claimed he had admitted to them that he killed Brow. Another witness testified that Kenny hated Brow because she had helped send him to reform school after he was caught breaking into her house at age 10.

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Other links:

http://www.ccri.edu/marketing/news_events/2011/april/waters.html

http://katharinasjustice.blogspot.com/

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

The ID channel aired an episode of Did He Do It that focused on this case. Prior to that, my only exposure was through that film Conviction although that had more to do with Betty Anne Waters.

I'm pretty sure the murder was committed by someone who was familiar with Katharina. He waited for her husband to leave for work and knew there was money in her house. It's just so weird that no other person has really been tied with this murder, at least from reports. If it was someone in the same town, surely they would have been seen with scars and cuts that could have resulted from the attack. It also happened during the day, easier to be seen unless you live close by and can quickly clean up.

Additionally, there are still strong claims that Kenneth Waters could have committed the murder. However because the trial, evidence and testimony all were handled poorly, it's hard to believe that he was responsible, imo.

I hope Katharina's daughter and the rest of her family are able to find closure.