Post by Scumhunter on Oct 24, 2014 9:22:43 GMT -5
(above photo credit: ABC News)
The case of the unknown Keri Ann Sirbaugh Killer was aired on February 8th, 1999 on America's Most Wanted. As of today, it is still unsolved. The following is a brief description of the crime from a 2000 news article:
On June 20, 1995, around 8:30 P.M., Keri Sirbaugh left a family birthday party to rendezvous with a young man she'd met two days earlier in Fells Point.
The next day Keri didn't show up for work at Louie's Bookstore Café. There was no answer at her home phone; friends and family began to worry. That evening Keri's parents went to her apartment at 6420 Everall Ave. in Hamilton to see if she was OK. Her car was locked in the driveway, a Club on the steering wheel, as Keri usually left it, but she was nowhere to be found. The Sirbaughs called the police and pager numbers they found on a wad of paper in the apartment--one belonging to Keri's date of the night before, the other to a friend of the man's. Keri's answering machine would later show that the friend returned the page; the date did not.
As police arrived outside the apartment building, Bill Sirbaugh wandered into a tangle of woods nearby. Seconds later he let out a harrowing scream. There, just steps from her front door, lay Keri, horribly battered and lifeless. Bruises covered much of her body. She had been strangled, and she had abrasions and contusions consistent with a sexual assault. David Neverdon, the Homicide detective who responded to the scene, called the attack "personal as hell."
Since that fateful night it became a huge case that captured the public's attention, at least for the first few years.
One thing noticeable was the personal nature of it. It appeared brutal of it and a 911 caller reportedly heard the killer say "shut up and be quiet" after Keri pleaded with him not to hurt her. This was baffling since at the time she had no known enemies and the murder did not involve guns which was unusual.
Despite the cold status, over the years, a few suspects or possible suspects seem to have come up despite an early investigation that Sirbaugh's parents had criticized in local articles. The following are probably the three that stand out the most :
-Once one of the original Detectives, Scott Keller inherited the case in early 1997, leads began trickling in about a 23-year-old Hamilton man. A heroin addict and high-school dropout, the young man and Keri apparently knew each other as teenagers. When police interviewed him in October 1997, he was in jail on burglary, theft, and drug charges. According to Detective, the man said things no one could have known unless they were at the apartment or crime scene. However, this 23-year old man would take any more secrets to his grave, as he hung himself soon after he was questioned. Sirbaugh's parents doubted the man could be the killer in part because he was slight and Keri was 5'9 and 160 lbs. It is believed it would have taken significant strength to subdue her. They also believed he could have known the apartment from media articles. The family also accused Keller of balking and backtracking on the suspect a year later, an accusation he denied.
-Keri's date would also naturally become a person of interest. He told police he and Keri had been at his grandparents' house in Baltimore County until about 2:30 A.M., when she left and he drove home to Anne Arundel County. On his way he got stuck in traffic caused by an accident. He gave police the correct time and location of the accident, and a friend who happened to get stuck in the same backup, vouched for him. Police verified there was an accident, but there was no way to verify if the date was caught up in it. The police stopped interviewing the date after his lawyer told them their questioning was "bordering on harassment."
-After America's Most Wanted aired the case in 1999, Keri's mother (Fran Sirbaugh) said she ran into an old acquaintance who said she had phoned in a tip: The sister had dated a man who became enraged when she mentioned her daughter, named Keri Ann, and told her never to say the name to him again. Fran Sirbaugh got in touch with the sister, who said that a month after she called the show, she heard from a Baltimore detective, who said he was very busy but would get back in touch. According to Fran Sirbaugh, he never did.
However, according to the article, the Sirbaughs had long swore off relying on the police and moved slowly on leads. The last straw came in late 1996--when, they say, a detective told them police were waiting for the killer to strike again and this time they'd be ready for him.
In December of that year, they contacted Robert "Roy" Hazelwood, a former FBI agent and a pioneer of the bureau's Behavioral Sciences Unit. Now working as a private consultant, Hazelwood is world-renowned for his work in violent crime. The Sirbaughs hired him to write a report on Keri's murder based on the autopsy, but Hazelwood needed photos of the crime scene to do anything conclusive. The Sirbaughs asked the police department to allow Hazelwood to participate as an outside consultant in the investigation, at the family's expense; the request was denied.
According to Sirbaughs, the city of Baltimore also rebuffed other attempts at outside help.
Thoughts? Sadly this case seems to have faded by the wayside for the decade or so after the AMW airing. I usually don't like to criticize investigations. This is obviously a pro law-enforcement site but I have no problem criticizing the very, very rare times police didn't seem to be doing their jobs in the cases we've discussed (such as me thinking the local police department is not doing enough in the Yaser Said case). However, the fact Keri Ann's case was not aired after that 1999 date despite some good clues (correct me if I'm wrong) tells me perhaps AMW didn't have full faith in it being solvable given who they were working with. The whole point of these AMW airings of unknown cases are to collect clues to solve the case. They get a good clue and it's completely ignored.
Thankfully, a Facebook page has popped up and seems to be getting traction and there is now a Detective assigned to the case according to it. It seems a fresh set of eyes may help and for the site to promote his help means they must have faith in him and that he cares and will do his job.
Also, despite AMW and The Hunt being my two favorite shows, and this being a big city and not small town case, I actually think this is the perfect case for Cold Justice (also a good show!) should they choose to air it. Part of Cold Justice's formula from the episodes I've seen is having three possible suspects on a white board they can look over and interview (if they're still alive), and here we have at least three good suspects. Even the man who is deceased may have friends or family they can interview.
Admin Note #1: According to Justice for Keri website, Todd Corriveau is the new Detective handling the case. If anyone has information regarding Keri Ann's death, please forward it to him at (410) 396-2121 or at todd.corriveau@baltimorepolice.org
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
www2.citypaper.com/film/story.asp?id=3619
www.facebook.com/pages/Justice-For-Keri/470362289761892
