Going West: True Crime - Katie Janness // 195

Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Thank you so much everybody for tuning in. This week is officially the week that Heathen Eye are going to be in Las Vegas for CrimeCon. I'm sure you guys are absolutely sick of us talking about it. Oh, we have to remind you, you know, but now it's coming up so we must mention it. I'm hoping to see a lot of you guys there. It's going to be super fun. We're going to be on podcast row and we've never been to CrimeCon so we're really excited. And is there anybody you're looking forward to meeting? Heat.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Yeah, definitely lots of people finally get to meet Sarah Turnian person Keith Morrison, Dr. Phil Chris Hansen, all these people. It's gonna be awesome. Literally all of our podcast friends that we have never met that it feels crazy that we don't know them like we're just talking to buddies, crawl space podcasts about this Tim and Lance. Like it feels like we've known them forever. And we've never been in the same room. So it's gonna be super fun.

Starting point is 00:01:12 So hope to see a lot of you guys there. Thank you for tuning into this episode. We also have a Patreon. We just released a new episode the other day on the Lewis Clark Valley murders. That case is insane, right? Yeah, it's a crazy one from Idaho. We had the craziest time recording it because the details of it are just bewildering.

Starting point is 00:01:31 So go check out patreon.com slash going west podcast to listen to that one and over 60 other episodes. Today's case is an absolutely heartbreaking case and it's an ongoing investigation, so hopefully we'll have some more answers sometime soon. Alright guys, this is episode 195 of Going West, so let's get into it. In July of 2021, a 40-year-old woman was walking her dog late at night in her local park when she was brutally murdered inside. Her girlfriend was the one to find her, an immediately phone police, only to discover

Starting point is 00:02:41 that the nine security cameras in the park were not working, making it unclear who committed this horrific act. As her girlfriend's father said, quote, there is a monster on the loose in the city of Atlanta. of Katie Janess. Katherine Lynette Janess, who went by Katie, was born in Michigan on September 4, 1980, to parents Mark and Bobby, and she had a sister named Ronnie. As an adult, Katie moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and at 33, she met 23-year-old Emma Clark, and they started dating and eventually moved in together. And the couple also shared three adorable dogs. So Emma has been called Katie's partner, girlfriend, fiance, and wife in various news reports

Starting point is 00:03:46 and publications, but Emma herself referred to Katie as her girlfriend, so we're just going to refer to her preference. They lived in the popular Midtown neighborhood in Atlanta, which is known for being one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. It also has the highest concentration of cultural and art installations in the southeast region of the United States, earning it the title of Atlanta's Heart of the Arts. It is bustling with shops, restaurants, and nightlife, and Socaiti was a bartender at the popular Italian restaurant Campagnolo on Piedmont Avenue, and she also managed

Starting point is 00:04:23 the bar at a nearby comedy club called Whole World Improv Theater on Spring Street, and she was passionate about social justice issues and very active in the local LGBTQ plus community. Katie was an artist, free spirited and creative. She was crazy about music and even taught herself to play guitar. She had recently started recording songs that she had written posting them on SoundCloud. She was an avid reader who enjoyed collecting books, and a co-worker said that Katie was personable with a big heart, and if you were lucky enough to have a connection with her, it was really special.

Starting point is 00:05:01 She was known for trying to make the world a better place. Katie and Emma had plans to get married and buy a house together in the near future. They lived right around the corner from Piedmont Park, which is described as basically the central park of Atlanta. A beautiful pocket of lush greenery, it spans 185 acres in the northeast of the city. The park boasts trails, two ponds, a dog park, and a public swimming pool. It regularly hosts outdoor concerts and events for Pride Month in the summer. So because their workplaces and home were all within a few blocks radius, Emma and Katie like to walk everywhere, and they made a habit of taking the dogs out for strolls in the late evening. And that's such a great thing about living in a walkable city

Starting point is 00:05:48 is not having to take your car around everywhere. Yeah, exactly. You can walk just about anywhere. Not that you and I have that privilege. They're very dope. No, we don't. In Portland, but yeah, that's awesome that they're taking advantage and just enjoying just kind of walking around

Starting point is 00:06:02 their city. So on the night of July 27, 2021, it was a warm one at 77 degrees Fahrenheit or 25 degrees Celsius. Emma went to work at Henry's Midtown Tavern on 10th Street, and Katie was off for the evening. So Katie would often stop in to see her girlfriend Emma at work while on a walk with one of the dogs, and then head to Piedmont Park while she waited for Emma to get off.

Starting point is 00:06:31 Katie and their dog Bowie, who is a three-year-old pit bull, stopped by to see Emma as usual around 11.30 pm. After hanging out for a bit, Katie and Bowie headed to the park to let Emma finish her shift. And there's a famous crosswalk at 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue in Midtown Atlanta, just one block east from where Emma worked, and that is painted like a pride flag. So, security camera footage recorded Katie and Bowie crossing the street at 12.09am heading to the entrance of Piedmont Park about half a mile or less than a kilometer away. Meanwhile at Henry's, Emma finished her shift, but with no sign of Katie, she just kind of

Starting point is 00:07:19 decided to head home. She called and texted Katie multiple times to check up on her, but figured that maybe she'd gone home and fall in the sleep or wasn't really paying attention to her phone. When Emma came home to their apartment and found no sign of Katie or Bowie, she pinged Katie's phone using the My Phone app and saw that its location was static and near the entrance of the park. So assuming Katie had dropped it and was still out on her walk with Bowie and maybe even looking for her phone, Emma hopped on her bike and headed over to grab it, hoping to run into her on the way.

Starting point is 00:07:59 So at around one o'clock in the morning, Emma entered the gates to Piedmont Park and immediately knew that something just wasn't right. She saw what looked like a trash bag lying on the sidewalk about 50 feet or 15 meters inside the entrance of the park. Upon further inspection it was their beloved dog Bowie, and he wasn't moving. So obviously this is very alarming. She has the location of Katie's phone. No, she's at the park, but why is she at the park so late? Why didn't they meet up after work?

Starting point is 00:08:38 She wasn't home. And now she finds their dog Bowie, and he's just laying on the ground not moving, and he's alone. There's no Katie's nowhere to be found. Well, and about that, so to make matters even more terrifying, about 100 feet away from Bowie, Emma saw Katie lying face up on the ground. So this is how Emma described her horrific discovery, quote. At first, I saw Bowie, but I didn't know it was Bowie, I thought it was like a trash bag

Starting point is 00:09:08 from far away, I don't have great vision. As soon as I realized he wasn't alive anymore, I immediately shot up and started yelling her name and looking around screaming. I ran over to her and put my hands on her face and I checked for a pulse, but you could tell she was not alive. There was a lot of blood and she had her neck slashed, so it was very clear. So Emma, fearing that Katie and Boise's assailant was still in the area, took off towards the entrance of the park and dialed 9-1-1. At 111 am, Emma frantically spoke with a 911 operator begging him to please send help.

Starting point is 00:09:49 About a minute into the call, you can hear someone scream, and Emma yells out to him, did you see that? That's my fucking girlfriend. So 40-year-old Katie Janess was pronounced dead at the scene. And in what is probably the most frustrating detail of this whole case, there were multiple security cameras in the park that should have picked up Katie's attack or at least footage of her attacker and none of them were working at that time. Like what are the chances? Yeah, what are the chances? If there's so many security cameras, what are the chances that literally zero of them catch anything?

Starting point is 00:10:24 So insane. But that gruesome end for poor Katie and Boi was unfortunately only the beginning for Emma and a long and harrowing investigation with very grisly details was about to follow. So one of the most interesting aspects of this case is that the FBI joined in on the investigation almost immediately. And while it may sound like this is, you know, protocol in cases this violent, it's actually pretty rare. Murder is a crime in every state, but it's not considered a federal offense unless it

Starting point is 00:10:56 violates federal law. For example, if a federal official is murdered, or if the crime takes place on federal land, the FBI will get involved only if it's believed that the crime somehow violates this federal law. So with Katie's case in particular, this means that it's being speculated that this is the work of a serial killer who has offended in other states, which warrant the involvement of the FBI, or that it was potentially a hate crime against Katie for being, you know, a part of the gay community and being very active in Atlanta's LGBTQ plus community.

Starting point is 00:11:31 Either of these are plausible, and both are reasons that federal agents would step in. Right. So after this horrific discovery, after the FBI got involved, you know, Katie's community and circle really mourned her. And on Sunday, August 1, 2021, a vigil was held right there in Piedmont Park in her honor. Emma's family, who considered Katie one of their own, was in attendance along with Emma and many co-workers and friends of Katie's. Emma's father, whose name is Joe Clark, even spoken Katie's honor saying that she was, quote, the most kind, gentle person in the world. Along with a shrine in tribute to Katie and Bowie at the gate near the entrance where they were found, volunteers

Starting point is 00:12:17 and policemen posted signs seeking more information and offering a $10,000 reward. Because we have to remember, nobody saw anything, there's no freaking cameras to catch anything. Like how are they gonna figure this out? Yeah, I mean, the only chance you have at this point are is if there's potential witnesses. Or if there's DNA evidence. Well, yeah, I guess.

Starting point is 00:12:39 Yeah, for sure. Yeah, no, absolutely. But the frustrating thing too is this was so late at night. Yeah. So, like I said, this was a walkable city that she always walked in the park with Bowie, even at night. Yeah, this seemed like a typical thing for her to do. Yeah, so even though maybe a lot of us would be like,

Starting point is 00:12:56 oh my god, I would never go to a park at night because I would be too scared of what could happen, something like this, this was a normal thing for her. So for this to happen and no one to be around because it's late at night, it's just like, oh man. So police officers also walked around with body cams on just talking to locals and frequent visitors of the park, just hoping that they could capture footage of someone who saw something. Lots of theories have floated around since that fateful night in July, and we're gonna get into all of them. But one haunting

Starting point is 00:13:30 comment was left on a YouTube video of news coverage of Katie saying, quote, I bet her killer was at that vigil. Which is definitely possible because we do see this a lot in different cases where the killer likes to be close to the case and the investigation and they wanna see what people are talking about, they wanna see where police are in the investigation. We just actually just discussed this. And yin-yin-jong?

Starting point is 00:13:56 Yes, in her case, yeah, exactly. Absolutely, so it's definitely common. But it is kind of eerie that somebody commented that because are they just like a true crime buff and they know that fact like you and I Would know that fact or do they know who the killer is and they know that they were there Right and police say that it's highly likely that Katie knew her attacker for a number of different reasons So Bowie as we said is a pit bull and extremely loyal and protective breed

Starting point is 00:14:24 If Bowie let the attacker get close enough to Katie to stab her Maybe as we said, as a pit bull, an extremely loyal and protective breed. If Bowie let the attacker get close enough to Katie to stab her, it's likely that they knew each other, and maybe even talk before things escalated to where it did. You know what I wonder too, is I know there's a lot of misconceptions when it comes to pit bulls that people just think they're these violent attack dogs. That's also true. Yeah, that's really not always the case. So I wonder what Bowie specifically was like as a dog

Starting point is 00:14:47 if he was more of that kind of aggressive to attack their dog or- It's definitely possible that Bowie was just a big old sweetie and just had no idea what was going on. And it was maybe more of a trusting dog. Like I think that would be really good information to know. Yeah. So please have shown particular interest in anyone

Starting point is 00:15:05 with scars, scratches, or bite marks on their arms that look like they could have been the result of a dog attack just for this reason. Well, also, sorry I keep making these comments, but I think too if they killed Bowie, like I almost don't see why they would kill Bowie unless maybe Bowie did attack them. And they did this,

Starting point is 00:15:25 almost the killer did this, almost out of quote unquote necessity, you know, because why not just let the dog go? Yeah, and it's also possible to think, you know, maybe the killer was able to kill Bowie first to get Bowie out of the way so that they could get to Katie. Right, I just, you know, just just makes you think a lot of questions here. So in addition to Katie's autopsy, they performed what's called an acropsy, which is an animal autopsy on Bowie. The results haven't been released yet though. It's speculated that this is because there was DNA evidence found in Bowie's teeth. Emma's dad even told reporters that male DNA was found on her body, although police

Starting point is 00:16:08 will neither confirm nor deny this claim. And while it's possible that it could have been a robbery gone wrong, Katie's phone was found with her, and there was even a $5 bill recovered from the pocket of her pants, and that seems kind of unlikely if this was a robbery. And here's a little bit more speculation, you know, it's possible that her dog attacked someone in the killer got angrily and retaliated, or that it was an unhoused resident of the park, or that it was someone who spotted her when she stopped where Emma worked and then followed her to Piedmont Park.

Starting point is 00:16:41 But if this was a completely random act, the killer likely would have targeted someone a little bit more vulnerable, you know, someone without a dog or an accessible cell phone. So it seems likely that it was a surprise attack because she was found with one headphone still in her ear at the scene of the crime, like one had probably fallen out during this attack. Right. So Emma said that Katie liked to walk while listening to podcasts, a habit that she tried to discourage, especially late at night. She also tried to get Katie to carry pepper spray with her, but Katie ironically said that she didn't need to saying that she always felt safe while she was walking. Right. So that kind of he didn't know what we were talking about

Starting point is 00:17:22 a little bit earlier too, is that she was comfortable walking at night, even with podcasts. And every time we talk about a case like this where someone is attacked while on a walk or something of that nature, you know, we say that now you and I are very nervous about even going on walks at all. And I don't even, if I'm on a walk alone, as much as I want to listen to a podcast, I don't just because I have that fear now. So she obviously felt really comfortable as she should have been able to. Yeah, and that's not to blame Katie as if she did anything wrong, but that definitely gives us a tip, you know, as humans that we have to be very careful.

Starting point is 00:17:58 Yeah, absolutely. No, and she should have fully been able to have both headphones in and go on a walk at night and not be bothered or killed for a fuck sake, you know? But that's really interesting to know as well that she did have a headphone in. So I wonder if maybe she had both and then she saw somebody coming up to her, talking to her, she took one out,

Starting point is 00:18:18 or did she always only have one in? That's an interesting thought. So again, there's just so many questions in this case, just wondering how this attack really occurred. So gruesome stabbing deaths such as this are also statistically uncommon in random acts of violence. So stabbing, of course, is a very brutal and intimate and kind of vengeful act, especially the way that it was carried out on Katie. So rumors have just swirled that it was a crime of passion with speculations that it could be someone who was in love with Emma and was jealous of their relationship,

Starting point is 00:18:54 or someone who was in love with Katie and was jealous of their relationship, or someone who was just generally jealous of their relationship. Again, pure speculation. And even the police called Katie's injuries, quote, overkill. So this was a very brutal attack. Yeah. So we touched on this earlier, but because of Katie's activism in social justice issues, and especially in her local LGBTQ community, which is amazing, it's certainly possible

Starting point is 00:19:22 that it was a hate crime. Like Katie had several tattoos, including a rainbow color tattoo on her back, and it has not been released publicly whether or not it was a pride flag tattoo, but if it was, maybe that could be the reason she was literally stabbed in the back. I mean, this is something that people are talking about. As investigations wore on,

Starting point is 00:19:46 and little information was being released to just kind of see she, the public's growing distress, because this is a community too, a small community who is freaking out that there is a killer on the loose in their parks and on their streets, you know? Yeah, they're feeling the heat from all this as well. Right.

Starting point is 00:20:03 And more and more experts began to weigh in, including Ash Joshi, who is a former Fulton County prosecutor, who said that it could either be an extremely passionate crime or an extremely dispassionate one, you know, maybe the work of a random crazed serial killer. But this doesn't seem very likely. There have been no similar cases nearby or since, so it really does seem like this was more so of a one-time attack. On November 9th, 2021,

Starting point is 00:20:37 the Fulton County Medical Examiner released Katie's autopsy report. The details of what was done to her in her final moments are some of the most disturbing that I've ever read. Before that break, we were talking about Katie's autopsy report and what was released. So this is her official cause of death according to the autopsy performed by Dr. Karen Sullivan. It was, quote, sharp force injuries of her face, neck, and torso that caused injuries to major blood vessels and internal organs.

Starting point is 00:21:26 In addition to the injuries that actually killed her, she was stabbed more than 50 times and her body had been mutilated. Although Katie was found face up, there were over 15 stab wounds to her back. This may have meant that she was initially attacked from behind and turned around to attempt to fight her attacker. Her throat was also slashed so deeply that she was nearly decapitated. This really is such a horrific murder to happen out in public. I mean, I know it was nighttime there wasn't anybody around, but this isn't public while

Starting point is 00:22:01 she's just walking her dog. This is so freaking brutal. And you know, it makes sense why police said that this was, you know, overkill. Yeah, because really literally it was. And it even gets more gruesome. So there was one long incision from her sternum down to her genitals

Starting point is 00:22:20 and she had been disinboweled. Although there is no evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, her pants were pulled down to her ankles. There were also multiple stab wounds on her forehead and face, exposing her skull, and her eyes, nose, and lips were gouged. I mean, this is intense. Yeah. She was stabbed so deeply in each of her breasts

Starting point is 00:22:46 that it punctured her lungs. And one of the most disturbing parts of this is what was found upon further examination of her torso. The letters F, A, and T had been carved upside down on her stomach as if her attacker had been standing over her at the time. And again, that's F-A-T like fat. Yeah. What the hell?

Starting point is 00:23:13 Yeah, so it seems that they're, I don't know. I mean, if this is a random act of violence, why would you go through all the trouble to do this? In public, in a park. So due to the defense wounds found on her hands, it's believed that she was still alive for that last detail. And this could absolutely just be the cruel work of someone trying to humiliate her. It's worth noting that at five feet, five inches tall and about 150 pounds, Katie was an average weight. So it could mean something else that is only significant to her killer, like maybe initials are an acronym, maybe this didn't mean fat, it was FAT meaning something else. Yeah, it could have been.

Starting point is 00:23:53 But it most likely was that they were, you know, maybe taking a dig at her, which just feels extra low, giving how much they made her suffer and how much they already did to her. And after learning all these details, it makes us realize even more so how horrific it was for Emma to make this discovery. And that's what happened to her. That's, yeah, I can't even imagine

Starting point is 00:24:14 somebody finding somebody that you love like that. Based on what security cameras picked up of the nearby entrances and exits to Piedmont Park, officials were able to piece together this timeline. So from 11.54 to 11.55 pm, three women traveling together exited the park and walked across a nearby crosswalk. At 12.09 am, Katie and Bowie walked across the Pride Crosswalk and entered the park from the entrance at Charles Allen

Starting point is 00:24:45 Avenue and 10th Street. So only about 15 minutes after this group of women left? Yes. Then about 15 minutes after that, at 12.25am, a man dressed all in white, walking with a cane and looking at his phone, left the park from 12th Street and Piedmont Avenue. Then 20 minutes later at 12.43 am, a man and a hoodie and jeans also exited the park from 12th Street and Piedmont Avenue. Then a few minutes later at 12.46 am, a jogger and a blue short-sleeved shirt in black running shorts ran right by where

Starting point is 00:25:27 Katie's body had probably been discarded. Finally, at 111am, Emma made the frantic 911 call from in front of the park after her devastating discovery. So that is about 25 minutes later. Yeah. So it makes you wonder if this guy who is jogging did anything if he were Supposedly to have run right by her where her remains would have been unless by that time she wasn't quite yet deceased Yeah, I'm trying to figure out what cameras were not working

Starting point is 00:25:59 Maybe they were the cameras within the park. That's what it seems like because these are the cameras You know these obviously as you know, they're showing the entrance and exits, but they're not showing what's going on inside them. It seems like these are outside of the park, but the ones within the park for whatever reason we're not working, which again, is so frustrating. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:26:16 So police eventually released the security camera footage of all of these people leaving the park and hopes that one of them would come forward with information. And the only person who is contacted police thus far is the jogger who was questioned but had little information to offer and is not thought to be a suspect at this time. Which is really weird that only that person came forward

Starting point is 00:26:40 when there was multiple other people caught on camera unless maybe they didn't live in the area and they didn't hear about this. It's possible, yeah. But one curious lead that does not seem to have been pursued is the man who can be heard in the background of Emma's 911 call. We couldn't find any information about who he was,

Starting point is 00:26:59 why he was there, or if he had ever been questioned. But actually, the Atlanta Police Department did announce that they were close to solving Katie's case. So that's pretty big if they felt comfortable enough to announce something that big, that they might have some good leads on their hands. Yeah, and this means that a potential suspect may not be a flight risk in their eyes. Right, absolutely. However, because no arrests have been made, there's a whole lot of hypothesizing going around.

Starting point is 00:27:30 In August of 2021, obviously, an Instagram story comprised mostly of misinformation made its rounds and police begged citizens to just let them do their job. And they even sent out a memo to reporters to verify which claims were not true and ask that they stop circulating them. One now unsubstantiated claim is that there were more homicides of this nature nearby and around the same time, indicating that this could be the work of a serial killer.

Starting point is 00:28:00 But like I mentioned earlier, that is not true. Yeah, that's not the case. The same day of Katie's death, another young woman was found dead in a park about an hour east of where Katie was killed. 18-year-old Tori Lang was shot in the head and killed, her car was torched, and her body was dumped at Yellow River Park in Stone Mountain, Georgia. And her family was able to identify her by police photos of her tattoos that circulated on social media.

Starting point is 00:28:34 Now because of the similarities of the parks and the tattoos, armchair sloths have latched on to this serial killer theory. However police debunked this from the start because the crimes were very dissimilar in style. There really wasn't anything that would have connected them except for the fact that they took place in parks or at least we know that Tori Lang was found in a park. On April 15th, 2022, so just about 10 days before we're recording this episode, police

Starting point is 00:29:08 announced that they caught Tori's killer, which was her 20 year old friend Austin Ford, who is now being held on felony murder charges. So she did know her attacker, Tori did. So this makes it seem like even more so this is not connected. Yeah, in my personal opinion, I don't think they are and I think police feel the same way. Absolutely. So it's common for suspicions to be placed on the descendant's partner. And Emma was not immune to this. After her discovery of Katie and the 911 call,

Starting point is 00:29:42 she called her brother, who called her dad Joe, who happened to be a Fayetteville city councilman. Now her father Joe did drive down to be with her that night and Emma says that her cell phone had been relinquished, her apartment had been searched and she was questioned immediately. Yeah, and she maintains her innocence. Of course, at this point, she is a victim as well because something unthinkable happened to her girlfriend and her dog, so this is not us trying to say that she is in any way involved, but there are people out there that kind of feel like maybe she is involved, so we're just going to briefly mention this.

Starting point is 00:30:17 Now almost $80,000 was raised through a GoFundMe for Emma, and that was set up by her cousin Heather. She claimed in an interview with a local TV station that she used it to pay off some debts, she donated a bit of it, and she contributed some to the reward money. The reward for information leading to an arrest is now up to $20,000 and it's being matched with $20,000 by PETA in loving memory of Sweet Bowie, which is really nice to them. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:30:45 Emma said that she used the rest to relocate, and she explains that she has been getting death threats since Katie's passing and wanted to relocate to feel safer. So there's a lot of people who kind of question why she moved away, like think that's suspicious and also think it's bizarre that the GoFundMe money had potentially been mishandled and it should have gone directly to Katie's funeral and her reward fund and not used for anything personal. But Emma claims that she has asked police repeatedly to clear her publicly, but to date they haven't done so. However, they also never released the footage of Emma entering the park before finding Katie

Starting point is 00:31:25 But they have released videos of everyone else who entered and exited Including Katie so it is kind of weird. You know, please seem to maybe be keeping her What's the term I'm looking for like her her footage and evidence? Yeah, but also kind of you know still considering her Potentially but because they haven't publicly cleared her, it only makes you wonder if they are considering her as a person of interest. Yeah, and this does seem to be like police protocol. Like, you know, you always want to investigate somebody who's that close to a crime. Yeah, of course. You know, it's always the first step, so I can't blame them for doing this,

Starting point is 00:32:02 and I don't know why they haven't released that footage, but I guess we may find out someday. And while it's been less than a year since her untimely passing, it feels much longer for those who knew and loved her, especially with no end in sight. John Maholik, who is Katie's coworker at the whole world improv theater, dedicated an episode of their theater's podcast to Katie. He treasured the hours he and Katie would spend chatting after shows, wrapping up, and said that she was, quote, always laughing with us or at us. He also recalls her, quote, amazing taste in music, podcasts, and everything else, and

Starting point is 00:32:41 that she always made a point of asking others what they were reading or listening to. Emma made this statement commemorating her love for Katie. Quote, Today I lost the love of my life and my baby boy. It was tragic. She was the most intelligent, kind, humble, and beautiful person that I've ever known. I wanted to spend every second with her. person that I've ever known. I wanted to spend every second with her. He was the sweetest most loyal companion. My heart is so very broken. My world will never be the same. Thank you to everyone who's reached out. It's truly appreciated. And Ebens dad said quote, they would have been together forever. They were that couple. This does kind of give you a little more insight into Emma

Starting point is 00:33:26 and her thoughts on this and it really makes you think, of course, like I said, we were not trying to put any blame on her or say that she was responsible for this, just kind of stating that other people have put this into question, which like you mentioned, Heath is totally normal. Well, and not even other people, but police as well. Yeah, but I don't know. I personally just don't see her doing this is such a brutal crime like really really really brutal

Starting point is 00:33:50 and to do it in public it just it really doesn't make sense to me yeah i i don't know it's my mind is racing for answers trying to figure out who would who would do this yeah who would do this who would have the audacity to to to murder someone randomly in a park But also to do it so brutally right so while Katie's mom Bobby has yet to speak to any reporters She wrote a very touching statement on the GoFundMe page to thank everybody who contributed and

Starting point is 00:34:18 Revealed that Katie was actually supposed to be visiting her the very next day Which because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was the first time that she would see her since Christmas of 2019. Quote, Katie was excited to see us and spend time with her friends here. Maybe that is part of what is adding to the tremendous anguish I'm suffering. The fact that Katie, a being of incredible radiance, humor, and intelligence, along with a committed involvement in the environment, politics, and respect for her fellow human and for-covered neighbors and friends in Atlanta, was struck so violently and cruelly, has incapacitated me to the core. That Katie was

Starting point is 00:34:57 strong inside and out, and felt in every fiber of her being that she was loved and cherished by Emma, her sister, and me, and so many others, and that Bowie was such a courageous knight, are the only tiny slivers of light I can take away from this horrific attack on my baby's life. A treasure was stolen, and we are grieving together, and I thank you, her friends, and her community, for this effusion of heartfelt solidarity and affection. Emma and I will need to go down a long road of special counseling to make it back from hell. We will not move on, but we will eventually move forward,

Starting point is 00:35:37 holding Katie firmly in our hearts, with her love for us demanding we focus on the here and now, not the 28th of evil. Knowing you all have our backs is everything. Thank you all. Know that we are tremendously grateful to every one of you who is spreading the gift of compassion and light, the authentic essence of Catherine Lanette Janess. Emma's, Ronnie's, and my beloved soul. And Emma's dad said, quote, it was a very violent end for her. There's no doubt in my mind she did not go down without a fight.

Starting point is 00:36:12 Katie Janess died fighting and Bowie died protecting his mom. Yeah, we sincerely hope that, whereas closest police say we are to finding who did this to them, but if you have anything to report or anything you may think would help detectives solve Katie's murder, you can report it anonymously to crime stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. God, what a brutal and horrible crime and like we have said so many times this was only

Starting point is 00:36:57 a year ago but I really, really hope that more information will come out soon and if it does we'll make sure to share it with you guys. Really the best way to stay updated on cases is to follow us on social media. Because sometimes it's not enough to do a whole episode on so we just post the news articles on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. So please go follow us if you want to see any updates. Instagram is at Going West Podcast, Twitter at Going West Pod, and then we're on Facebook and then we also have a Facebook discussion group where Heath and I jump in and talk to you guys all the

Starting point is 00:37:27 time that is going West discussion group. Yeah we love talking to you guys please let us know what you think about this case it's so devastating yeah and make sure to share it because maybe somebody in Atlanta does have information and it will help because this is still so fresh so we got that ongoing investigation. Yeah. Police really just need all the help they can get with this one. So please share Katie's story. All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world,

Starting point is 00:37:53 don't be a stranger. 1.5% dextr. 1.5% dextr. 1.5% dextr. 1.5% dextr. 1.5% dextr. you

Going West: True Crime - Katie Janness // 195

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