wires. there was a knocked over bird bath. so there was evidence outside that at first you need to think to yourself, i think that this might be a burglary. and karen s overturned purse on the stovetop supported the break-in theory. anna cox took an inventory of everything at the crime scene. a pizza box, a garden glove, a grocery receipt, all routine findings so far. but it s what authorities spotted on the wall above the body that would turn this case into something out of the movies. three-letter message in blood. you didn t have to squint to make it out, either, roc. on the victim, karen s right hand index finger was clearly stained with blood. roc. what was the murdered woman trying to tell the cops? all these theories were running through my mind. what does that mean? is that a word, is that a
detectives were now convinced that tim permentor, the boyfriend who pledged to help solve karen s murder was really the killer. tim said police had nothing on him and were only targeting him because of his criminal record. i didn t do it. i knew somehow, some way i was going to get it pinned on me. i knew the minute i saw the body. detectives arrested him and sent him to county jail. bill lowery was the state prosecutor who got the case. what about your accused? he is a psychopath, someone who i think had gotten lucky to be with karen. once she got past the superficial aspect of him and realized what he was like, she wanted out of that relationship
i spoke to permentor at florida s liberty correctional institution. the convicted murderers says he s the victim of a justice system that was tilted against him from the start. did you murder karen? no. this would be a great time to relieve her family of a lot of remorse and fess to it. i understand that, but i did not kill karen. i did not. and i ll probably spend the rest of my life here. and when i m 80 if i m still alive, i did not kill karen. i ll pay for it and i am paying for it, but i didn t do it. the detectives who cracked the case say they might have believed him if only he had not tried so hard to fake his alibi. starting with the three letters written in blood. so the hollywood touch as i think of it, roc did it, the declaration, it bit him. it bit him hard. very hard.
it was a major development. karen s ex had suddenly gone from being a prime person of interest to a victim himself. victim of the real killer who tried to frame him for the crime and was still out there somewhere. whoever killed her know somebody named roc. somebody knows my name. that s a part of the story. that s right f. you think about this, this is it s not even a smart thing to do. reporter: roc was right. the pool of suspects had suddenly narrowed to a small handful of karen s intimates who knew about him and knew the unusual way he spelled his name. roc. detectives holbrooke and nelvin were about to take a hard look at all of them. coming up. you could walk right by and think it has no importance at all. it ended up being crucial in this case. could a box of pizza help solve this puzzle? when dateline continues. when .
i mean, it was a nice piece of furniture and i wanted to get it back. she pretty much said, you left, you re not getting it. he never did get. that rolltop was still in karen s condo on the night she was stabbed to death. now, detective holbrooke pointedly wanted to know if roc had been there, too. he says, where were you on such-and-such a day. i m like, well, first of all, i ll have to look at the calendar because i don t know where i was that day but i guarantee you i wasn t in oldsmar. so we go from there to discussing where i was, who i had been with, where i lived. so are you getting a serious grilling? right. he ends up telling me that we found your name in blood on the wall. roc? so, obviously, i m a suspect. i acknowledge that. i mean i m looking at murder.