13x36 - Writing on the Wall

[bunniefuu]

Up next... a woman
is brutally att*cked.

But before she dies, the victim
provides a clue.

Written on the wall is the
word r-o-c... roc.

The trail leads
investigators to an escort

service and a sh**t-out between
two rivals.

It's something that you would
expect out of a Hollywood movie,

not out of real life.

But a tiny clue
found in an unlikely place

exposes the real k*ller.

Airline customer-service
representatives deal with

hundreds of complaints each day.

Karen pannell enjoyed working
for an airline.

But when she learned she had
multiple sclerosis, she wondered

how long she could continue.

I think Karen was afraid that
she would be in a situation

where she couldn't enjoy life
the way she did.

One Saturday
morning, Karen's boyfriend,

Tim permenter, became concerned
when he couldn't get in touch

with her.

He was worried about her
because she had m.S. In early

stages and that she could have
blackouts and she wouldn't

answer the phone.

So Tim drove to
Karen's apartment in

tampa, Florida, to
check up on her.

He found the door ajar,
became more concerned, went in

just a few feet to where he saw
her lying on the floor.

Just a few feet to where he saw
her lying on the floor.

Karen was
pronounced dead at the scene.

Inside the apartment,
investigators found a pizza box

on the counter.

A receipt indicated it was
delivered at 8:48 P.M. the night

before.

Investigators also noticed blood
on the wall next to Karen's

body and blood on the fingers of
her right hand.

Written on the wall was three
letters that spelled r-o-c.

Investigators
learned that roc was Karen's

former live-in boyfriend,
roc herpich.

I've been a reporter now for
over 20 years, and this is the

first case that I can ever
remember of, actually, someone

writing a name on a wall in
their own blood, maybe trying to

give authorities a clue.

It's something that you would
expect out of a Hollywood movie,

not out of real life.

Karen pannell and
roc herpich had a bitter breakup

a year earlier.

Family members also told police
herpich had, at one time, a

serious drug addiction, which
led to the breakup.

They had several incidents
where the sheriff's office had

been called to their house for
domestic-related incidents.

They had a very rocky
relationship.

Police questioned
roc herpich the day after

Karen's body was found.

The entire beginning of the
conversation was, "a friend of

yours has a problem."

I said, "who would that be?"
They said, "Karen pannell."

And I said, "what did she do
now?"

They said, "well, it's not what
she did... she's dead."

Herpich denied any
involvement in Karen's m*rder.

Roc was surprised to see us.

Roc told us he had not seen
Karen in six months.

They said, "we did find your
name written in the kitchen in

Karen's blood."

And it wasn't a question...
It was a statement.

They didn't ask for a comment.

They didn't ask for a comment.

So I gave none.

Herpich said he
resented the questioning.

And from there, it was kind
of like, "where were you on

October 11th?"
Well, what do you say?

"I don't... oh, well...

Let's see, I was..."

I don't know where I was on that
day.

I'd have to go look at the
calendar for god's sakes.

With the lack of
forced entry into Karen's

apartment and roc's name in
blood next to Karen's body, it

was easy to see why police
considered him a viable suspect.

Nothing was stolen inside the
home.

What's the motive in this case?

And they figure it's got to be
definite hatred towards Karen.

My prints were everywhere in
there.

I lived with Karen pannell for a
year... lived in every room

together in that entire
condominium.

So they're gonna be there... and
understandably.

He knew Karen.

He knew what her habits would
be.

He would certainly know the
house.

He would know how to get in the
house.

Karen probably wouldn't be too
startled to see him.

So, you know, that all kind of
adds up as though, "hmm, okay.

Maybe this is somebody that we
would need to take a look at."

In the search for
Karen pannell's k*ller,

investigators hoped her autopsy
would shed some light on who was

responsible.

The medical examiner determined
Karen had been stabbed 17 times.

The unusual level of v*olence
pointed to a personal

relationship between Karen and
her k*ller.

Stabbing is a very personal
type of way of k*lling people,

then usually, that s*ab victims,
especially when it's such a high

number, it's somebody that's
close to the person.

Scientists found
skin cells under Karen's

fingernails.

Unfortunately, a DNA test was
inconclusive.

I can't think of any worse
news that you could get.

Karen was an amazing little
girl.

She was always active in
something... vivacious, very,

very intelligent.

She just had this bubbly nature
that, you know, you couldn't

help but love the girl.

Karen pannell's
autopsy did provide a curious

inconsistency.

There were three slices missing
from the pizza delivered to

Karen's apartment the night she
was m*rder*d.

But the medical examiner
couldn't find them.

She did not have pizza in her
stomach.

The delivery man
said he handed the box to Karen

just before 9:00 P.M. at the
door.

So the k*ller may have been
inside when the pizza was

delivered or arrived shortly
afterwards.

Karen's boyfriend,
Tim permenter, who discovered

her body, had an alibi for this
time period.

He was with a friend in a cabin
at moon lake, 25 miles away...

An alibi that checked out.

The person of most interest to
police was roc herpich, whose

name was written in blood next
to Karen's body.

I kept my mouth shut.

But it does... it's disturbing.

It's very disturbing.

It really is.

But a closer look
at the autopsy findings started

to cast doubts on the letters
written on the wall.

Karen had suffered a severe
injury to her spinal column.

One of the s*ab wounds goes
and partially severs the spinal

cord at the level of the eighth
thoracic vertebral body.

Which meant she
would have been partially

paralyzed.

And s*ab wounds to her pectoral
muscles and her aorta led the

medical examiner to conclude she
was unable to write anything on

the wall.

She would not have had enough
blood pressure and enough blood

volume to repeatedly dip her
finger in repeatedly, because

her fingers aren't a fountain
pen.

Her finger wasn't bleeding.

So she's got to repeatedly dip
it.

She was already dead when those
were written.

And blood-spatter
experts found evidence that

whoever wrote on the wall did so
long after the attack.

There are some pieces of the
letters that are actually

written over impact spatter.

And the impact spatter that is
underneath the letters is not

disturbed.

That's because the
blood which spattered on the

wall during the attack was dry
before the letters were

written.

And Karen's family pointed out
the last inconsistency...

The blood was on Karen's right
hand.

We found out from talking to
Karen's family that Karen was

exclusively left-handed.

We did not find any blood of any
volume on her left hand.

She never would have written
any clue on the wall using her

right hand.

And that is a big, big reason
authorities know that this is a

ruse.

But if Karen didn't
write the name on the wall, who

did?

It had to be someone who knew
the name of Karen's

ex-boyfriend and wanted to frame
him.

But to do the handwriting on
the wall and to get somebody to

think somebody did this... that
just shows you that is not his

first rodeo.

That was not his first rodeo.

So...

Cops knew it.

These detectives knew what the
heck they were doing.

One possible
suspect was Karen's ex-husband,

Jeff paine.

Karen was petitioning for higher
alimony payments because of her

recent diagnosis of multiple
sclerosis.

Karen was concerned that her
health insurance was not gonna

be sufficient to address all of
her medical needs.

But paine had an alibi.

He was 300 miles away in Miami
when Karen was k*lled.

And police discovered that Karen
was dating a number of men at

the time of her death.

Karen was seeing a British
airline pilot.

We learned of this pilot through
some text-messaging that we

found on Karen's phone.

The pilot had an
alibi for the time of the

m*rder... he was out of the
country and was not considered a

suspect.

But someone else Karen was
dating had a violent past...

News Karen learned just days
before her m*rder.

When police did a
background check on the man who

found Karen pannell's body,


they discovered he had an
interesting past.

Karen and Tim had only been
dating for a couple of months.

The two met when Karen was
buying a new car and Tim was the

salesman.

Very intelligent... he was
knowledgeable on current events,

history.

In fact, we played several games
of an online trivia.

And I hate to say it, but he
beat me a couple of times.

But a few days
before her death, Karen told

friends she learned some
disturbing information about

permenter.

They're watching a TV show,
and it's kind of about people

and their hidden pasts, secrets,
skeletons in their closets, if

you will.

And while this show is on, Karen
says to Tim... we're told...

That, "how can that happen...
That people can keep secrets

- like that?"
- Tim turned to her

and said he had been keeping a
secret.

He switched on his computer and
went to the website for the

Florida department of
corrections.

There was his mug shot.

He'd been released from prison
just a year earlier and was

still on probation.

Tim says, "I'm a convicted
felon."

His rap sheet includes 16
felonies, including one for

attempted m*rder.

He's been involved in a
sh**t-out with g*ns.

I mean, this is a bad guy.

Permenter told
Karen he had a criminal history

going back to when he was in
college.

In one instance, he'd been
arrested for running an illegal

prostitution ring.

He supposedly was running an
escort agency out of

gainesville, Florida, which is
where the university of Florida

is.

The escort service obviously was
a front for prostitution.

While running his
escort service, permenter got

angry when a rival escort
service took some of his

business.

So he and another gentleman
went to Tallahassee with g*ns,

and they hired one of these
rival escorts.

And once they had her in their
presence, they pulled g*ns on

her, told her to take them to
her boss.

A sh**t-out
followed.

Permenter shot and wounded his
rival and was, himself, shot

twice.

He went straight from the
hospital...

To a 12-year prison sentence.

This is not somebody that you
want to be messing around with.

Of course, Karen, when she
begins dating Tim, has no clue

about this.

When Karen learned
the truth, she ended their

relationship and started dating
other men.

Tim, who is a very jealous
guy, begins snooping around the

house looking for clues... going
through her trash, going through

things, looking for clues.

According to
Karen's friends, Tim had found a

used condom in Karen's trash
and was furious.

This was not the first time
that Karen had had problems with

Tim in regards to her
communicating with other male

friends.

I do recall one evening we
were talking, and Karen said

that Mr. permenter had tried to
choke her.

And my response was that she
needed to immediately contact

the police and initiate a
restraining order or something.

But permenter
denied any involvement in

Karen's m*rder, and he had an
alibi for the night she was

k*lled.

He told investigators he stayed
overnight with a co-worker at a

cabin on moon lake, 25 miles
away.

But permenter's cellphone
records showed he called this

co-worker at 9:32 P.M...
An indication he wasn't yet

there... and made that call from
a suspicious location.

That cellphone call was made
from a cell tower by

Karen pannell's apartment.

He wasn't being truthful about
where that phone call was made.

He wasn't being truthful about
where that phone call was made.

Police now looked
more closely at the pizza

delivered to Karen's apartment
at 8:48 P.M.

Three pieces were missing, yet
no pizza was found in Karen's

stomach.

The pizza box was sprayed with
ninhydrin, which reacts with

the amino acids in sweat and
exposes fingerprints.

They actually develop into a
purple stain.

And so you'll see purple
fingerprints, or reddish-purple,

developing on paper and boxes
and other absorbent surfaces.

Many people had
handled the box, which created

potential problems.

It's very difficult to
backtrack and find everybody who

had access to the pizza box when
it was on the shelf and the

pizza delivery boy and all of
these other people.

The prints were
compared to people known or

thought to be involved in the
case... Karen, Tim permenter,

and Karen's ex-boyfriend,
roc herpich.

Roc's prints weren't found,
but Tim permenter's were.

Roc's prints weren't found,
but Tim permenter's were.

It contradicted his story.

Simply, the fact that his prints
were on that box... he must have

touched it after it was
delivered, unless he comes up

with some explanation that, "I'm
a pizza-delivery guy, and I work

at that place."

But to get a
conviction, investigators needed

more.

Eating pizza doesn't make him
a m*rder*r.

Karen pannell
decided to end her three-month

relationship with Tim permenter
when she learned he had spent 12

years in prison for kidnapping
and attempted m*rder.

She started to date other men,
and apparently, Tim permenter

found out about it.

According to prosecutors, this
was a possible motive.

He's thinking to himself,
"there's nobody that's gonna end

a relationship with me.

There's nobody that's gonna
treat me like that."

The original DNA
tests of the skin cells

underneath Karen's fingernails
were inconclusive.

So scientists turned to a more
sophisticated DNA test, hoping

it might yield results.

A y-str DNA test analyzes only
male DNA that's present.

This time, it was successful.

There's a DNA hit on the
fingernails.

It's permenter's DNA.

Prosecutors think
Tim permenter went to Karen's

home and may have tried to
rekindle their relationship.

They ordered a pizza, which
arrived shortly before 9:00 P.M.

But the evidence shows Karen
never ate any pizza.

At some point, things got
violent.

Permenter grabbed a knife from
the kitchen and stabbed her

repeatedly.

As Karen fought for her life,
she scratched him and got his

skin under her fingernails.

Permenter probably tried to
collect his thoughts and come up

with an alibi while eating some
pizza, leaving his fingerprint

on the porous cardboard.

By the time he decided to paint
Karen's ex-boyfriend's name on

the wall in her blood, the blood
spatter from the m*rder had

already dried.

The wet blood over the dry blood
told investigators this happened

much later.

When he put blood on Karen's
right hand, he forgot she was

left-handed.

He then called his friend,
trying to establish his alibi.

His call bounced off a cell
tower near Karen's apartment.

We subpoenaed the cellphone
records and found that the call

that Tim made at 9:32, which was
the first call, was made in the

neighborhood of Karen pannell's
house.

It was key because it threw
his whole story off.

The next morning,
Tim went back to Karen's house,

called 911, and put on a
performance designed to throw

off investigators.

If she was to try to sit up,
nevermind her wounds, the blood

flowing out of her aorta would
have made that very difficult,

if not impossible.

I think she would immediately
fall right back.

Tim permenter was
tried and convicted of

first-degree m*rder and
sentenced to life in prison

without parole.

Interestingly, he wasn't
grateful that the judge spared

his life.

Tim told us that he wanted to
go to the electric chair, that

he did not want to spend the
rest of his life in prison.

It was a textbook
case of someone who thought he

could outsmart investigators.

But the more he tried, the more
evidence he left.

He is a guy that thinks he's
sharper and smarter than

everybody else, and so he
actually overdid it.

This particular scene was a
wealth of forensic evidence.

However, if you don't know what
to do with that forensic

evidence, it's worthless.

Forensics...

Pretty much saved my life.

If it's not for that pizza
box, if it's not for the DNA

under Karen's fingernails, you
have a guy who, potentially,

is framed, and you have another
guy who gets away with m*rder.