Every Town - Unsolved Savage Murder Of Carina Saunders - Bethany, OK

Episode Date: October 28, 2022

Ghastly …sickening…savage. Anyone who knew about Carina Saunders’ back murder in October 2011 would use words like this to describe her ordeal. Carina wasn’t just shot with a bullet, or stabbed in the chest… No she endured being violently tortured and then ended up being stashed away in duffel bags. It's a terrifying case that not only gripped Bethany, Oklahoma with fear but also gained nationwide coverage.--------------------------------------------💀 Exclusive Video Content & Access https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries 🥇 Watch This Episode on Youtube!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlrnlGlWgnw&ab_channel=ScaryMysteriesSOCIAL👁 Videos not found on Youtube check us out on TikTok @andrewfitzgerald💀 Instagram @andrew.fitzg💥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficialPODCAST🎧 Scary Mysteries Podcast for more content from ushttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1235579 Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Anyone who knew about Karina Saunders' murder back in October of 2011 would use these exact words to describe her ordeal. Karina wasn't just shot with a bullet or stabbed in the chest. No, she endured being violently tortured, and then ended up being stashed away in duffel bags. It was an extraordinary case that not only gripped Bethany, Oklahoma with fear, but also gained nationwide coverage. I'm Andrew Fitzgerald, and welcome to this week's episode of Everytown, where we tackle the

unsolved savage murder of Karina Saunders. To this day, her case is still unsolved, despite witnesses coming forward and suspects having been identified. Karina and her family deserve all the justice in the world for the brutality she'd gone through. And just as a heads up, this story is great. so if you're not into that, now it would be a good time to get out. Karina was the first born among the nine children of Richard Saunders and Margie Queen lived in Mustang, Oklahoma.

Karina wasn't only stunningly beautiful, but also had a bright, sunny, and funny disposition that made everyone smile. Loving, kind, and mild mannered. Karina lit up the lives of all the people that she knew. As a student at the town's only high school, Mustang High, Karina further brought pride and joy to the family for excelling both in her academics as well as extracurricular involvement. She consistently won the school's spelling bee for three consecutive years

and became known as the region's top math fleet for bagging a gold in a statewide accounting tournament. Karina had a great singing voice as well which earned her a spot in honors choir. Her future looked promising and she had set her sides on becoming an accountant if she couldn't make it as a professional opera singer. Her school activities kept her focused and helped her stay out of trouble, while Karina's natural charm and humor made her attract many friends. In 2010, she finished high school a year earlier than expected. She decided to live independently and moved out of the family's Mustang home. An achiever, Carina was expected to continue her winning streak in the real world, but the daunting

realities of adulthood derailed her path. In 2011, 19-year-old Karina started to struggle with substance abuse and engage in illegal drugs. That summer, she actually went to rehab to get sober with the support of her family. Thankfully, she was able to bounce back, and after her release, the first thing she did was to visit her mom Margie, who was so delighted to see her. There was a sparkle in the green-gray eyes of the young lady which gave Margie hope that her daughter would be on the right track again. They attended church at Margie's local Nazarene church, which Karina posted about on social media.

The only way friends and relatives could track her activities since she didn't have a phone. It was a rare occasion for the two to hear mass together since Karina lived separately. Margie said that Karina reconnected with a higher power and that she had a lovely or around her by the end of their time together. Later that day, mother and daughter parted ways, and Karina stayed with her 22-year-old cousin and best friend, Catherine Joe Bloodworth. On the night of September 28, 2011, Karina asked Catherine to give her a ride to Taco Bell, which is off of Interstate 40 in Rockwell in Oklahoma City. Ms. Saunders was wearing a plain white mussel shirt with a pair of gray Victoria's Secret sweatpants and bows with the word.

pink on the back. But the cousins didn't hang out together as Karina met up with an acquaintance identified as 44-year-old Kenny Richards, who Karina had previously mentioned to her friends and family. Catherine watched her cousin, get into a mid-1990s model blue or gray Chevy Blazer before they headed off into town. But who was this man in Karina's life? Those familiar with this mysterious guy said their relationship was centered. on the sex trade, with Kenny pimping Karina out as a sex worker, while Karina said that Mr. Richards was going to make her an amateur porn star. In the months that followed, he would be accused of making a nude video of Karina and even soliciting her for prostitution.

According to him, they had spent the night hanging out together briefly, before he dropped Karina off at an apartment complex in Bethany, identified as the Studio 41 apartments. just when everyone thought that Carina was safe again. It actually began the mystery of Carina's whereabouts, as her Facebook post that day became her last contact to the people she knew. A man named Keegan reported Carina's location to the police more than a week after she was seen by Catherine. Keegan happened to be Carina's former high school friend,

and he was also a resident at the Studio 41 Apartments. He said he recognized her immediately, when he walked by her as she was sweeping debris off a staircase on either October 6th or October 7th. While catching up, she revealed that she was staying with the complex's handyman and his son and helping around the complex as a means of paying them back for their hospitality. It was unknown what exactly her relationship with his apartment handyman was. Later that day, Karina told Kegan she hadn't eaten for a few days, so he quickly offered a buyer some food.

Kegan also found out that Karena was living out of a small bag, which held all of her clothing and personal belongings. He then gave her a larger green duffel bag, and she was incredibly grateful for that. They met again two days later, but after that, Kegan never saw or heard from Karina again. That is, until her name was mentioned on the news. Relying on Kegan's account of seeing Karina on October 6th or 7th, police thought that it was safe. to say that on October 8th, 2011, she was most likely still alive. They found CCTV footage that day, which captured Karina outside of Newcastle Casino and Gaming Center, located about 20 miles away from Bethany. In the footage, Karina was seen entering

a red four-door truck, which appeared to be fully occupied. And then a man with complete tattoo sleeves on both arms exited the vehicle and spoke with her. The footage also caught a second dark vehicle occupied by a group of women who seemed to be pleading to Karina not to get in the red truck. But despite this subtle warning, she entered the vehicle regardless. The passengers of these trucks, including the man and the woman, never identified. Knowing these people would have helped police tie up loose ends since this was the last known place she was seen. The next day, Catherine received threatening text messages from an anonymous sender, one which stated, I'm going to bury you next to Karina.

The messages were traced from a man named Kyle Savage, who had known Karina for two years, and they've been texting each other in the preceding weeks. But on October 9th, his messages seemed to threaten the two girls with physical violence. Kyle, though, denied threatening them, and insisted his messages were misconstrued. He thought Catherine's number belonged to a man, the potential suitor of Karina,

so he felt threatened and sent menacing messages. Later on, Kyle simply stated that his messages were poorly timed but not incriminating. And Catherine shared Kyle's text messages with Karina's mother, who on October 10th reported her daughter missing officially. She set out with her three-year-old son hanging up posters about missing Karina, reaching out to family members and Karina's friends who had not heard from her for close to a month. Margie was so terrified that something had happened to her daughter, and her instinct, like most mothers,

had never been so right. Three days later on October 13th, an animal welfare crew was laying traps for feral cats along the backside of the homeland grocery store, not too far from the Taco Bell where Karina and Catherine last saw each other. The crew came across a pair of black Nike duffel bags in a small laundry bag that was emanating an awful smell. They called the police, and upon their investigation,

authorities found the dismembered remains of a female body. Every body part had been confined in plastic wrap before being stored in their respective bags. Her head and neck were in the smaller bag while the rest of her body was in the larger bag. It appeared that the victim was left in the area after being murdered and decapitated somewhere else. Investigators allege that the remains had been there for three to four days based on the state of decomposition.

The identity of the victim wasn't known, and investigators asked Karina's family on October 14th for her dental records, but didn't allow them to view the body. On October 17th, police officials wanted to meet with Karina's family, and together with a chaplain, they broke the shocking news that the identified body was Karina, and she suffered a gruesome death. Margie later said, When they told me she had been dismembered, I screamed. The FBI offered help to the Bethany Police Department,

and together they interviewed 80 witnesses over the next few months. But there were three notable people that were deemed culpable in committing the crime. On the top of their minds was Kenny Richards, whom Karina met up with that Taco Bell shortly before disappearance. Many believe their relationship revolved around sex trafficking, and he was possibly her pimp. Next was Kyle Savage, who sent the threatening text messages to Catherine, and the third suspect was Cody Perez. Karina's friend, who was also a chef at a Bethany restaurant when Karina was murdered.

On the day that she was reported missing, Cody sold his extensive knife collection to a local Bethany pawn shop before hitchhiking. his way out of town, believed to be headed to California or Arizona, since he was so eager to flee Oklahoma, investigators labeled him as a person of interest. But while in Arizona, Cody called up the Bethany Police and explained that he moved away because of a dispute with another man. His knives were cleared of having any blood on them. In the end, Kenny, Kyle, and Cody were absolved as suspects, for lack of solid evidence linking them to Carina's murder. The attention of the Investigators then turned to the address of 3,500 South Harvey Street, now an empty lot where a house

had once stood, but demolished on the same day that Karina's body was found. Neighbors had referred to it as a drug house, which was known to house not only drug activity, but a seemingly endless parade of violence and sex workers. But despite an exhaustive search of the now empty lot, nothing could be found linking Karina Saunders to the infamous home. Her autopsy findings were not released for close to a year as police wanted to build a case against their primary suspects. It was a violent death, and the graphic details of the autopsy results may offend one's sensibility. Some of Karina's body parts weren't recovered, particularly her hands and feet, portions of her forearms, her left breast, even her clothing and other personal effects. Investigators found evidence of duct tape being wrapped around her thighs before her death.

And police later noted that there were suspicious contusions over her right cheek and on the back of her right shoulder. All of which were indications of torture before her death. Moreover, the culprit had attempted to remove Carina's tattoo that read Queen Spade, located directly between her shoulder blades. The odd types you revealed that there were rectangular cut marks around the tattoo, indicating an attempt to remove it. There was speculation that that tattoo was adopted by white women who liked to advertise themselves for sexual relationships with black men.

Likewise, Carina's hair had been cut credibly short for an unknown reason. The post-mortem also showed Carina's system was positive with the painkiller Trumadol, but how much was there couldn't be determined due to the body's severe decomposition. In May of 2012, a witness named Tia Downer, stated, that she hung out with her friend Louis Ruiz at a Bel Air Motel in Oklahoma City. When Louise went to the bathroom, she went through his phone, and there saw a familiar face. It was Karina Saunders. T was told there was a video of Karina's homicide on Lewis's phone,

so she watched it for a few seconds until the victim screamed when her foot was being cut off in the video. She swore recognizing Mr. Ruiz, a former elementary school teacher, who became deeply involved in the drug trade as the person in the video cutting off the foot of Saunders. Another female witness named Michelle Hanshaw, who claimed she was kidnapped by Lewis and his ally, Jimmy Massey, also detailed to the police what she'd seen. She was in the house with Karina and witnessed how Mr. Ruiz planned and tortured Ms. Saunders. He beat her, tied her to a table, and sawed off her left foot. They wanted to cut off her right foot, but the saw actually broke.

The perpetrator then dragged Karina to an upstairs bedroom, where he tired her to a table before sawing her feet. Michelle then jumped out the window to escape and went to the police. Stephanie Howard, Lewis's girlfriend in October of 2011, also testified that they had to babysit Karina on two occasions when she was intoxicated. And then Lewis said that Karina had to be dealt with. With testimony from Tia Michelle and others who knew Lewis and Jimmy, police came to the conclusion that Carina's death occurred on October 11, 2011, in the now-demolished house on 3,500 South Harvey Street. It was believed she was killed by a human and drug trafficking gang to intimidate female witnesses, so they would cooperate with the gang's demands.

Lewis and Jimmy were held in the Oklahoma County Jail without bail, and while they were in custody, police would gain more. more witness statements from cellmate, who testified that Mr. Massey claimed he committed the crime, even offering up incriminating details. On July 5, 2012, Lewis and Jimmy were charged with the first-degree murder of Karina Saunders. Their criminal record stretched out of Oklahoma and made them the prime candidates for this unsolved murder. But in Karina's case, police needed real concrete evidence that not just witnessed testimonies. So they look for sources of the alleged video of Carina's torture, but they learned that no such video existed.

The worst far was Tia, their most credible witness, changed her testimony from claiming that she had personally seen a video to now saying that she had heard about the video from her friends. By February of 2013, the problem of the Bethany police escalated when the case against Louis Ruiz and Jimmy Massey began to officially fall apart. Desperate to solve the case, which had soared fear among residents, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations began overseeing the case. Then another blow came at the end of February,

when Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater filed a motion to dismiss all charges without prejudice against Louis Ruiz and Jimmy Massey due to lack of evidence. The investigators have been unable to find anything linking the defendants to the murder of Carina beyond which, witness testimony, which were rather dubious at this point. With this turn of events, investigators had to start again, and the OSBI focused on the people Karina had interacted with in her final days. One of them, of course, was Kenny Richards, the older man Karina met at that Taco Bell.

In January of 2013, Bethany Police received anonymous tips claiming that Kenny had killed Karina and then buried her clothing and personal items on his property, particularly in a metal tank. he had owned from February of 1995 to June of 2012, which he sold less than a year after Karina's death. The tips were acted upon in 2016 when interest in Kenny was revived by the OSBI. At this point, he was arrested on charges related to methamphetamine. During this arrest, investigators discovered a previously unseen photo of Karina in Kenny's phone that fueled the idea that he had been more involved with Karina. During his arrest, investigators discovered a previously unseen photo of Karina on Kenny's phone

that fueled the idea that he had more involvement with Karina. In April of 2017, investigators searched Mr. Richards' property and a septic tank on the grounds revealed several items of interest, including a woman's shirt, a jacket, a pair of sandals buried under various debris. But police officials haven't made a comment about this, and Mr. Richards hasn't been charged with any crime relating to Karina. It's now been, almost 12 years since Karina Saunders was brutally murdered, but her legacy continues to loom large over the region of Oklahoma City.

On the anniversary of her death in 2021, her family donated $4,000 to the Make a Wish Foundation. A scholarship has also been donated in her honor. And her sister Sarah has actually been working to become a detective, hoping to help families with a similar experience as their family had. Their family lost a daughter and a sister at a young age, but the matriarch Margie believes Carina is like a butterfly. Butterflies have very short lives. Carina was 19, she didn't live long.

We will be with Carina in heaven for much longer than 19 years. If you or anyone you know has information about this case, please forward it to the OSBI. Tips can be called in to 800-5-2-2-2-2. or emailed in to osbi.org.com. So that's going to do it, guys, for this week's episode of Everytown. Thank you so much for tuning in and come back next week for another episode

filled with scary, strange, and mysterious stories. Because who knows? Maybe your town will be next.