Latest / Shades of Murder / 58: A Killer on Campus - Cold Case Jennifer Kairis, FL
Transcript
- 0:05On March 31st, 1998 in Winter Park, FL, when a 19 year old
- 0:09girl's body was discovered inside her dorm room, responders
- 0:12were puzzled at the scene before them.
- 0:15The victim was lying face down on the floor in a strange and
- 0:19unnatural position. This homicide investigation
- 0:23would take many twists and turns that no one could predict.
- 0:27Who was this young woman, and will the monster who murdered
- 0:31her on a college campus ever be brought to justice?
- 1:09Hello and welcome to Shades of Murder.
- 1:12I am your host Alita Caldwell. In this podcast, I discuss cases
- 1:17of murder from around the world and throughout history,
- 1:21attempting to unravel the layers of darkness that hell make
- 1:25humans Fanta monsters. Please be forewarned that each
- 1:32episode contains specific and at times very graphic and
- 1:37disturbing details of the case. This show is not intended for
- 1:41all audiences and listener discretion is strongly advised.
- 1:49Rollins College in Winter Park, FL is a lush and beautiful
- 1:53liberal arts school sometimes referred to by its students as
- 1:57The Country Club. Rollins College sits near the
- 2:00shores of Lake Virginia. This campus is breathtaking.
- 2:05A tiny private school featuring gorgeous architecture and a
- 2:08Spanish Mediterranean style. Lined with palm trees and brick
- 2:12paths, the campus resembles more of a sanctuary than a college.
- 2:17Established in 1885 by Lucy Cross, founder of the Daytona
- 2:21Institute for Young Women, it has long been considered a
- 2:24premier private college and by far one of the most impressive
- 2:28looking. As of 20/24, it had 3029
- 2:33students enrolled. It's undergraduate tuition and
- 2:36fees begin at 58,300, so Needless to say, school is not
- 2:41established for the unprivileged.
- 2:44Born on July 18th and 70 in beautiful San Luis Obispo, CA,
- 2:48Jennifer Carris had big dreams to be on stage.
- 2:52She was absolutely thrilled when she was admitted to Rollins
- 2:55College in Winter Park, FL. She was excited to be pursuing a
- 2:59major in theatre there and had recently been dating a new guy,
- 3:02Paul, a member of the school's Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
- 3:07When the 19 year old Co had failed to show up for her
- 3:10morning classes on Monday, her friend Shannon O'Grady felt that
- 3:14something was terribly wrong. It was not in her friend's
- 3:17character to be a no show at school.
- 3:20Jennifer Carris was midway through her sophomore year at
- 3:23Rollins College and was known for being a reliable and good
- 3:26student. Shannon reached out to
- 3:28Jennifer's parents, telling them that she had been able to get in
- 3:31touch with her. They frantically tried to reach
- 3:34their daughter, but Jennifer never answered them, nor did she
- 3:38call them back. She was very close to her family
- 3:41and it was not normal behavior for her to just ignore them.
- 3:46That Monday evening, Shannon decided to request that their
- 3:49RA, or Resident Assistant of the dorm check on Jennifer in her
- 3:52room. On March 31st around 9:30 PM, an
- 3:55assistant, Carlos Barcia, used his master key to open
- 3:59Jennifer's dorm room. He felt in his gut that
- 4:03something was wrong. When he arrived, the door was
- 4:06locked. When he opened the dorm room, he
- 4:09was faced with a grisly sight. His mind could barely process
- 4:15what he was seen and he felt the room begin to spin.
- 4:19Jennifer Karis's body was on the floor, already stiffened from
- 4:23rigor mortis. The teenage girl was awkwardly
- 4:26lying between the floor and the bed with one of her legs propped
- 4:30up in a very unnatural and suspicious position.
- 4:34She was visibly deceased, stiff and blue.
- 4:38The RA caller's Marcia immediately contacted local
- 4:40police to report the discovery of the young woman's death.
- 4:45When first responder John Flynn arrived at the scene, he
- 4:47observed that the victim was lying face down.
- 4:49Some kind of fluid appeared to be oozing from her mouth, likely
- 4:53blood. Her legs were visibly bruised.
- 4:56The victim was fully closed, except her skirt had been hiked
- 4:59up from the front. The young woman's underwear had
- 5:02been pulled over to the side. There was strong suspicion of a
- 5:07rape or an attempted assault. It also seemed probable that the
- 5:10victim had been abusing pills. Upon entering the scene, the
- 5:15head detective noticed several things that raised concern.
- 5:20The college students room was in abnormal disarray.
- 5:23There were piles of clothing stacked in the corners of the
- 5:26room and several bottles of pills sat on the dresser.
- 5:30This scene was later identified as being particularly odd
- 5:33because Jennifer Carris was not known for being a messy person.
- 5:38The scene was so bizarre that police officers handled the case
- 5:42as a homicide from the start. At 9:37 PM, nineteen year old
- 5:47Jennifer Carris was declared officially dead.
- 5:51Police covered the body with a comforter that had been lying on
- 5:54the girl's bed. Winter Park law enforcement were
- 5:57now investigating a murder. Jennifer Carris's body was
- 6:01promptly sent to the pathologist for an autopsy to be performed.
- 6:04In the interim of waiting for the report, Detective Fenn
- 6:07interviewed Jennifer's fellow students and friends.
- 6:10When he spoke to them, he learned that she had attended A
- 6:12frat gathering with her boyfriend that Sunday night.
- 6:15Before heading to the party, however, according to these
- 6:17witnesses, she had four mixed cocktails and a beer at a
- 6:21restaurant. According to witnesses at the
- 6:23frat house, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Jennifer Karis appeared to be
- 6:26highly intoxicated. One key piece of the story stood
- 6:29out to Jennifer's friend Shannon.
- 6:31And I didn't sit right with her. Everyone whom the police
- 6:34interviewed who had been at the frat party Jennifer was at spoke
- 6:38of how she appeared to be more out of it than they had ever
- 6:41seen her before. They described her as being
- 6:44completely wasted. But this was not normal behavior
- 6:48for Jennifer, as she was not particularly known for being a
- 6:51party girl. Several people reported that she
- 6:54and her boyfriend, frat brother Paul, got into a heated
- 6:57argument. Jennifer Carris was barely able
- 7:00to walk. But instead of walking her
- 7:02safely back to her dorm room at Ward Hall, her boyfriend Paul
- 7:06decided to have one of his pledges take her back.
- 7:10When officers interviewed, this pledge was simply identified as
- 7:13a student named Tim. He claimed he half carried, half
- 7:17dragged Jennifer back to her dorm and he let her inside and
- 7:20she fell on the bed, barely conscious.
- 7:23He watched as Jennifer began to gurgle.
- 7:27Tim observed some bubbles around her mouth.
- 7:31But instead of making sure the young woman was OK or calling
- 7:34for help, Tim left her alone with the door unlocked.
- 7:40The time had been around 3:00 AM on Sunday.
- 7:43It also made no sense that if the pledge Tim had dropped
- 7:48Jennifer off inside her dorm room at 3:00 AM, as he said, how
- 7:52was it possible that her body wasn't discovered until 9:30 PM
- 7:59the following night? That left an 18 hour window with
- 8:04her dorm room unlocked, and no one noticed anything strange
- 8:09about that. There was no way to determine
- 8:12what had happened to Jennifer Karis over those 8 teen hours in
- 8:18which she live, vulnerable and highly intoxicated, alone in her
- 8:22room. Police did their best to be
- 8:24patient and wait for the autopsy results, which surely would
- 8:28clarify the circumstances surrounding this young woman's
- 8:31death and its possible 'cause, but the report only led to more
- 8:36questions. Jennifer Karis's autopsy was
- 8:39originally performed by medical examiner Dr. Merle Reyes.
- 8:43She observed how the deceased had multiple contusions on her
- 8:47body. Specifically, there was a large
- 8:49area of hemorrhaging around Jennifer's neck.
- 8:53What was really surprising though, was when the toxicology
- 8:57results returned. Jennifer Karis was not that
- 9:00drunk the night she was killed. Despite the claims made by
- 9:04multiple witnesses, autopsy results revealed an abnormally
- 9:09high level of heart medication Jennifer occasionally took for
- 9:13migraines. It was more than twice the
- 9:16amount she would have needed to ingest to be at a toxic level.
- 9:21Jennifer Kerr's blood also showed two different kinds of
- 9:23antidepressants, another migraine drug and over the
- 9:26counter cold medicine. Two additional pathologist,
- 9:29Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. William Anderson and Doctor
- 9:33Sarah Urgang, agreed with Doctor Merle Ray's original findings
- 9:37and signed off on the girl's death being a homicide.
- 9:41According to Doctor Anderson, between the assault and the high
- 9:44level of drugs present in her system, her heart was sensitized
- 9:47by the substances and her neck being compressed led to a lack
- 9:52of oxygen for a substantial period of time.
- 9:55These two factors led to cardiac arrhythmia causing her death.
- 10:01Initially announced on September 1st to the press as being a
- 10:05homicide, it soon became clear that someone didn't want murder
- 10:09to be the official cause of Jennifer Karis's death.
- 10:14At the time of the initial autopsy, 3 veteran investigators
- 10:18were all in agreement that Jennifer Karis had been
- 10:20murdered. The homicide investigator on the
- 10:23case, mind you, was the only investigator on the case and his
- 10:28very first. At the time, he also believed
- 10:31that the young woman been killed.
- 10:34However, within just a few days, when Sergeant King was handed
- 10:38over the case, this homicide detective changed his mind.
- 10:42Brought on by Winter Park Police Sergeant R King's skepticism
- 10:46regarding this determination, Chief Medical Examiner Dr.
- 10:50Shashi Gore was brought into the fold.
- 10:53Doctor Shashi Gore had more than 40 years of experience, but he
- 10:57was not board certified in pathology.
- 11:00Upon his examination of Jennifer Karis's body, Doctor Shashi Gore
- 11:04decided that the initial conclusion for her cause of
- 11:06death being declared as a homicide was wrong.
- 11:10Doctor Gore stated that it was a mistake to claim that someone
- 11:14had killed a college student and there was evidence to support
- 11:18this change. He stated that in all
- 11:20likelihood, the young woman had died from an accidental
- 11:24overdose. Doctor Stephen J Nelson as well
- 11:27as his assistant agreed with this new analysis.
- 11:31As to the excessive bruising, both the Chief Medical Examiner
- 11:35and the detectives explained these away by falling down while
- 11:38intoxicated. However, staff members of Doctor
- 11:43Gore's believed there was strong evidence that Jennifer Karis's
- 11:47death have resulted from homicide without Doctor Gore's
- 11:51knowledge. In the fall of 1998, Doctor
- 11:54Merle Reyes, the original pathologist, took autopsy photos
- 11:58with her to South Florida. There, she secretly met with
- 12:02several investigators and pathologists presenting her
- 12:04findings. Palm Beach County Medical
- 12:07Examiner Dr. Jacqueline and Martin agreed after examining
- 12:11the photos and facts of the crime scene that Jennifer
- 12:13Caris's death was highly suspicious.
- 12:16The scene did not appear to be 1 of an accidental nor intentional
- 12:21overdose. Jennifer's injuries showed
- 12:23evidence of a struggle. They were consistent with the
- 12:26following scenario as she kicked at her assailant, doing her best
- 12:31to fight him off. He pinned her to the ground,
- 12:33face down, attempting to pull her legs apart, trying to rape
- 12:37her. The injuries she sustained,
- 12:40including multiple bruises and scrapes, were a direct result of
- 12:44this attack. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Gore
- 12:48went so far to write a letter to Jennifer's parents claiming that
- 12:52Doctor Mulreys had agreed with his new determination of her
- 12:55death. Their daughter, who had been
- 12:57senselessly and brutally murdered, would not receive
- 13:01justice. The cause of her death was now
- 13:04being placed solely upon Jennifer.
- 13:08Following the autopsy performed by Doctor Gore, the description
- 13:11of the neck trauma was changed from being substantial to
- 13:14minimal, resulting in Jennifer's death being declared and
- 13:18accidental overdose. However, what was not realized
- 13:21or addressed at the time was how photos that showed serious
- 13:26markings on Jennifer's neck, which had been the primary
- 13:29determining factor in homicide, being her cause of death, were
- 13:34not found within the original autopsy file.
- 13:38The only photos that proved this young woman had been brutally
- 13:42murdered had since vanished. Doctor Anderson and Doctor Reyes
- 13:47had taken several photographs of Jennifer's neck area to support
- 13:52their decision of homicide, but now only one of the photos
- 13:56remained in the file when it was passed over to Doctor Shashi
- 13:59Gore to analyze. The rest of them had
- 14:03disappeared. The case closed in 1999, but
- 14:07thanks to an inquisitive reporter from the Orlando
- 14:09Sentinel, interest in Jennifer Carris's case resurfaced.
- 14:13In January 2004, they released a report addressing the gross
- 14:18mishandling of Jennifer Carris's death and subsequent
- 14:21investigation. This is when The Dirty little
- 14:23secrets surrounding the Winter Park Police Department and its
- 14:26medical Examiner's office would be exposed.
- 14:30It wouldn't be until six years had passed that the original
- 14:33pathologist would speak the truth.
- 14:35Doctor Merle Reyes, who had performed the initial autopsy
- 14:38that led to the conclusion of Jennifer's cause of death being
- 14:41homicide, had been pushed aside by Chief Medical Examiner Dr.
- 14:46Shashi Gore, who then reversed her decision.
- 14:50Doctor Merle Reyes claimed that she was pressured to step away,
- 14:53and she feared she would lose her job if she spoke up against
- 14:57the Chief Medical Examiner. Ever since Doctor Reyes was
- 15:01forced to leave her position as a pathologist on Jennifer
- 15:04Karis's case back in 1998, she had been silent about the
- 15:08reverse decision. But now she stated that she
- 15:12never swayed away from her initial decision and that she
- 15:15believed Jennifer Karis had been a victim of foul play.
- 15:19This contradictory statement by the original pathologist led to
- 15:23many questions surrounding the investigation into Jennifer
- 15:27Karis's death. This new statement by the
- 15:29original pathologist surfaced when the county recently hired a
- 15:33board certified pathologist to replace Doctor Shashi Gore.
- 15:38What was the purpose of Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Gore
- 15:42suddenly intervening in the case and insisting on performing his
- 15:46own autopsy unless someone had an invested interest in changing
- 15:52its outcome somewhat? Or multiple persons did not want
- 15:55this case to be declared A homicide and they went to
- 15:58extreme but blatantly obvious links to change the results, It
- 16:03would be revealed that the Winter Park Police had failed to
- 16:05perform any due diligence on this poor young woman's death.
- 16:10When the rape kit was performed on Jennifer Carris's body,
- 16:13several perishable swabs were held by its lead investigator.
- 16:18The rape kit sat at the morgue for 10 weeks before he finally
- 16:23sent it to the lab for testing. A strand of hair was discovered
- 16:26inside Jennifer's mouth and on her body, neither which were
- 16:30ever tested. The samples were never sent to a
- 16:33lab to determine whether the hair belonged to Jennifer Carris
- 16:36or someone else. Perhaps even more disturbing is
- 16:40how her murder was the investigators first homicide
- 16:43case as aforementioned, who was then later fired from the police
- 16:47force for unknown reasons. The truth was out in the open
- 16:51for everyone to read. Tragically, everything,
- 16:54including all case files and evidence were destroyed in 2002.
- 17:00Once this report was published, Dr. Shashi Gore soon became the
- 17:05center of high controversy and was severely criticized for
- 17:10errors he made in other unrelated autopsies.
- 17:14He would quickly and quietly disappear into retirement.
- 17:18As a result of this story, which clearly illustrated the gross
- 17:22neglect and lack of due diligence performed by the
- 17:25Winter Park Police Department, the State Attorney of Florida
- 17:28reopened Jennifer Karis case. Doctor Bruce Goldberger was
- 17:33assigned to review and analyze the neck injury photos.
- 17:36This resulted in yet again, a change in Jennifer Karis's
- 17:40official cause of death. Doctor Goldberger now determined
- 17:43that her official cause of death was suicide.
- 17:47He posited, based on the evidence he was provided, that
- 17:51Jennifer Carris had intentionally taken an overdose
- 17:53of pills and then locked the door behind her.
- 17:56Doctor Goldberger further suggested the excessive bruising
- 17:59on Jennifer's body was caused by seizures.
- 18:02Jennifer's parents and friend Shannon were not buying this new
- 18:06version of events they were being sold.
- 18:09The family requested then Governor Jeb Bush to bring in an
- 18:12outside medical examiner so they could look at their daughter's
- 18:16case and her autopsy results. They wanted an independent
- 18:20investigation performed since there was a need for resolution
- 18:24and what they deemed to be the dueling medical examiners.
- 18:28Bruce Heima, Chief Medical Examiner for Miami-Dade County,
- 18:31who was also an expert toxicologist, was hired by State
- 18:34Attorney Lawson Lama to conduct an extensive review of the
- 18:38results on March 4th, 2004, almost six years after her
- 18:42murder, after Hyman now declared that their daughter had
- 18:45committed suicide through the use of various prescription
- 18:48drugs. Again, the critical photographs
- 18:52that showed the severe hemorrhaging done to Jennifer
- 18:55Carris's neck were gone, so it wasn't realistic or practical
- 19:00that the findings would revert back to homicide.
- 19:04Any possibility that they would receive justice for their
- 19:07daughter's murder was destroyed when these pictures were
- 19:11intentionally lost. Jennifer Carris's case was
- 19:14officially closed on April 13th, 2005.
- 19:19There are so many questions regarding Jennifer Carris's
- 19:22death that remain unanswered. The investigation into this
- 19:25young one's brutal and bizarre murder barely existed, and the
- 19:29little that was done only supports the theory that her
- 19:32homicide was covered up. The most obvious suspects were
- 19:37her boyfriend Paul, who multiple witnesses saw get into an
- 19:40altercation with the victim at the party, and Tim, his pledge,
- 19:44whom he requested take his girlfriend Jennifer back to her
- 19:47dorm. Without any known details of
- 19:49their interviews with the police, it is difficult to
- 19:52understand why exactly these two young men were ruled out as
- 19:55suspects in her murder. Nevertheless, both of them were
- 19:58soon eliminated as being the potential perpetrator.
- 20:02There didn't appear to be any other leads or possible suspects
- 20:06in the crime. There was always the possibility
- 20:08that Paul ended up going over to Jennifer's dorm room that night
- 20:11in which things became violent, except you would think there
- 20:15would have been some sign or sounds made that she was in
- 20:19trouble. The same applies to Tim,
- 20:21although he seems to be the more likely suspect in this crime.
- 20:24He had the means, motive and opportunity.
- 20:28The crime may have been motivated by rage, jealousy and
- 20:31or lust. This is not to blame Tim as I
- 20:34have no information about this young man to believe that he is
- 20:37a sexual predator who murdered a young woman.
- 20:40But I can say that he lacks integrity and has questionable
- 20:44morals for leaving a young woman alone in her room who was not
- 20:47only visibly intoxicated from something, but was showing
- 20:50possible signs of an overdose with the door unlocked.
- 20:54What kind of person does that? I understand that he was a
- 20:58teenager and a very scared one, but there are anonymous ways to
- 21:01let someone know that a person may be in need of medical care.
- 21:05Or even if it hadn't been that serious of a situation, why
- 21:09would you just abandoned her and not make sure she locked the
- 21:12door behind her before you left? Or knock on one of the coeds
- 21:16doors and ask them to check in on her?
- 21:19There is no information as to what Tim did after leaving her
- 21:22dorm room. For that matter, there is no
- 21:25information as to who Tim was at all outside of being her
- 21:30boyfriend Paul's frat pledge. There are no last names of these
- 21:34young men, which may be the key as to why this murder was not
- 21:39properly investigated and subsequently covered up.
- 21:43Who were Paul's parents? Who were Tim's parents?
- 21:46Were they connected with law enforcement or were the major
- 21:49beneficiaries of this elite private school?
- 21:53I am merely speculating on who and why could be behind this
- 21:57obvious conspiracy. There are questions which remain
- 22:01of a practical sense that also don't add up from what is known.
- 22:05Between Tim claiming that he left the door unlocked when he
- 22:08left, Jennifer barely conscious on the bed that night, and the
- 22:10resident assistant stating that the door was locked, we must
- 22:13presume that someone inside the room locked the door.
- 22:17Hypothetically, could it have been Tim or Paul who then snuck
- 22:20outside the window to leave? I mean, there is no information
- 22:24as to how many floors the dormitory had or what kind of
- 22:27windows and doors it was equipped with.
- 22:29What if the door lock was one that you can lock from inside
- 22:32and then close behind you? To play the devil's advocate,
- 22:35what if Jennifer Cares had been the one to ultimately lock the
- 22:39door? That sure as hell doesn't
- 22:40explain why her skirt was hiked up, her panties pulled to the
- 22:44side, and her leg unnaturally posed on the bed.
- 22:48Nothing explains the excessive bruising she had around her
- 22:51neck, which indicates asphyxiation.
- 22:55That is not an injury you can inflict yourself while having
- 22:58convulsions. On a personal note, I
- 23:00experienced multiple seizures in college and not once did I
- 23:03bruise any part of my body. People don't typically stand up
- 23:06while convulsing and bumping to walls.
- 23:09There were also multiple bruising along her legs, which
- 23:12was very unlikely to be caused by her falling down drunk.
- 23:16Not unless she fell off a curb or down a stairwell.
- 23:20It was also addressed by the resident assistant himself,
- 23:22Carlos Barcia, in the episode Justice for Jennifer on the
- 23:26series Accident, Suicide or Murder.
- 23:28How he found it very odd and troubling that no one in law
- 23:32enforcement had ever interviewed him.
- 23:34Yes, that's right. The man who discovered a young
- 23:37college girl dead in her room in a very provocative and
- 23:41suspicious manner was never talked to by the police.
- 23:46He had to forcefully open her door.
- 23:49And yet the detective, if you can even call him that, never
- 23:53asked this man questions. The first person who found her
- 23:56deceased was never interviewed. Think about that for a moment.
- 24:01How many cases have we all heard of where the first person at the
- 24:05crime scene who claims they were the ones that found the body is
- 24:09in fact the one who did it? I don't suspect that RA on any
- 24:13level, but that was his point, that if the investigation had
- 24:17been thorough, he should have been viewed as a potential
- 24:20suspect from the start who needed to be interviewed and
- 24:23eliminated. Jennifer Kerr's parents not only
- 24:26refused to believe that her death was accidental, but they
- 24:30were never given any legitimate explanation as to how she had
- 24:33received substantial bruising around her neck and on her legs.
- 24:37Jennifer Kerr's parents firmly believe that their daughter was
- 24:41raped and murdered by her boyfriend, Paul.
- 24:44This case doesn't only expose a major conspiracy in covering up
- 24:49this young woman's homicide, but it speaks to a larger issue at
- 24:52hand, being sexual violence committed against females, in
- 24:56particular college students. Despite its alarmingly high
- 25:00prevalence, this crisis is not given the resources and
- 25:04attention it demands. CSA, also known as campus sexual
- 25:09assault, comprises somewhere between 28% and 43% of all on
- 25:15campus crimes that occur at secondary institutions in the
- 25:18United States. Of the known recorded incidents,
- 25:21the rate is approximately 8 forcible sex offenses per 10,000
- 25:26students. Females are not the only ones
- 25:28being victims of sexual assault on college campuses.
- 25:30Research shows that one in 16 male college students will
- 25:34experience sexual assault, and some studies show as high as 19%
- 25:40of male students experience some kind of unwanted sexual contact.
- 25:45What is deeply concerning is that according to the Bureau of
- 25:47Justice Statistics, who attend college are 78% more likely to
- 25:52become victims of CSA compared to men of the same age who don't
- 25:56participate and secondary education.
- 25:59As in most incidents of sexual assault, females are
- 26:02overwhelmingly the victims of campus sexual assault.
- 26:05However, interestingly, the risk goes slightly down when a female
- 26:08attends a school of higher education.
- 26:10They are 20% less likely to be victims compared to women who
- 26:14don't attend college. The beginning of a new school
- 26:17year between August and November is referred to as the Red Zone,
- 26:21and there is a strong correlation between the
- 26:24frequency of social gatherings that take place this time of the
- 26:27year and the rate of sexual assault.
- 26:29Data supported that 50% of campus sexual assaults occur
- 26:33during this part of the school year, and new students are
- 26:36especially vulnerable to becoming victims.
- 26:39Prompted by the 1986 rape and murder of a 19 year old college
- 26:43student in her dorm room. The Clary Act requires that
- 26:46universities and colleges report crime statistics to the
- 26:50Department of Education. The Clary Act was recently
- 26:54amended in 2000 which increase the repercussions post secondary
- 26:59institutions will face, including strict financial
- 27:02penalties if it is discovered they have misreported these
- 27:06findings. The penalty is set at $27,500
- 27:10per incident not reported. However, the Clary Act does not
- 27:14require that these institutions report the data to the Uniform
- 27:17Crime Reporting Program every year.
- 27:21When a female code embarks on a journey of higher education, she
- 27:24is faced with a high risk of becoming a victim of sexual
- 27:28violence. The data clearly shows that
- 27:30college students are significantly more likely to be
- 27:33sexually harassed, stalked, and sexually assaulted.
- 27:36What is this a reflection of? Our embedded rape culture
- 27:39combined with various environmental elements leads to
- 27:42approximately 1 in four undergraduate college females
- 27:46being a victim of rape or attempted rape.
- 27:48It is estimated that of the known assaults, 4 out of five
- 27:52are reported. Of those that are, they seldom
- 27:55receive any justice. An investigative story published
- 27:58in 2022 revealed that colleges and universities on average
- 28:03suspended 1 out of 12,400 students who were accused of
- 28:08sexual offenses and only one in 22,900 were expelled from the
- 28:14school. The number of reported forcible
- 28:16sexual offenses saw a massive increase between 2009 and 2019,
- 28:22going up 363%. It is estimated that 90% of
- 28:31incidents are never reported. With the many challenges
- 28:35prosecutors face and therefore proving cases of rape, in
- 28:38particular what is referred to as date or acquaintance assault,
- 28:42in addition to the hyper protective and often defensive
- 28:46behavior exhibited by institutions of higher
- 28:49education, nothing much seems to change.
- 28:51Although there is no exact data on the prevalence of sexual
- 28:54assaults committed by members of the Greek system, multiple
- 28:57studies have shown that members of fraternities are three times
- 29:01more likely to commit rape. Often times, excessive alcohol
- 29:05and drug use is pointed to be the culprit, the main trigger
- 29:09for such violent behavior, with alcohol overwhelmingly being the
- 29:13tool used by rapists. This only serves to provide
- 29:16these young men with an excuse, an explanation for why they
- 29:20thought or didn't care, whether or not a girl wanted to or was
- 29:24even capable of saying yes. Sorority houses are not
- 29:27permitted to throw their own parties with alcohol, which
- 29:30means that a great majority of parties on campus and off campus
- 29:34are being held at frat houses, which are male dominated and
- 29:37completely controlled by them. Female members of sororities are
- 29:4174% more likely to be raped than other college women.
- 29:47What I find to be the most disturbing about these facts is
- 29:50that individuals attending college are expected to be the
- 29:54brightest and potentially most successful and powerful
- 29:58individuals in our society. These are the young men who will
- 30:02shape and direct the institutions that run our
- 30:05communities. Yet somewhere along the way they
- 30:08are being instilled with an innate lack of respect for
- 30:12females and their bodies. How is it possible that within
- 30:15the institutions that represent higher education and
- 30:18enlightenment, and which ideally generate the best members of
- 30:22society, lay the darkest and most violent of individuals?
- 30:26Parents place their faith and trust and a great deal of
- 30:31financial investment in these institutions.
- 30:33They encourage their children to become pillars of society,
- 30:37pursue higher education and become more enlightened and
- 30:40well-rounded individuals. But they are something very dark
- 30:44and troubling occurring at colleges and universities around
- 30:48this country. And there have been many
- 30:49incidents where school officials and Deans don't follow set
- 30:53protocol nor did they ever pursue justice for these
- 30:56victims. They are too invested in their
- 30:59academic reputation to tarnish the image of the schools.
- 31:03And due to this reason in itself, not enough is being done
- 31:06to combat this epidemic of sexual violence being committed
- 31:10against their female students. In the case of Jennifer Karis,
- 31:14we may never know who was behind wanting to conceal her assault
- 31:18and murder. It is evident that someone or
- 31:20multiple individuals were highly invested and committed to making
- 31:24sure no one paid for her death. It is asinine to me how little
- 31:29was done by officials in law enforcement and the medical
- 31:31examiner's office to try to convince anyone of the story
- 31:35they are selling to her family and loved ones.
- 31:39An accidental overdose could have been believable had it not
- 31:44been for the strong physical evidence of a sexual assault and
- 31:47the violence that ensued. These facts can't be erased from
- 31:51the case, no matter what the one remaining photograph indicates.
- 31:56It makes you wonder what level of corruption exists within the
- 31:59Winter Park Police Department and potentially across all of
- 32:03Florida for this kind of nonsense and injustice to take
- 32:07place and almost no one his ringing conspiracy bells
- 32:13screaming cover up around it. It also needs to be addressed
- 32:18how Jennifer Karis takes off every box of the typical victim
- 32:22who would normally be plastered across the media.
- 32:24She was a young, attractive white female, in particular a
- 32:28blonde from an affluent family. And yet somehow there was and
- 32:32still is minimal media coverage of this case.
- 32:36Jennifer Karis's death was the first recorded homicide on
- 32:40Rollins campus over it's 113 years in existence.
- 32:45It seems obvious that multiple persons were invested in its
- 32:49prestige and danger free reputation and had too much at
- 32:53stake to let this change. They had far reaching power to
- 32:58silence the media and buy off the police and medical examiner.
- 33:02We may never know who assaulted Jennifer Carris and caused her
- 33:06brutal, senseless death. It is officially a closed case,
- 33:10and the only thing that could hypothetically change this is if
- 33:13someone came forward who knew something about what happened to
- 33:16her that night. But even if someone did, would
- 33:20the truth ever be allowed to come out?
- 33:23My gut tells me that her violent perpetrator was someone who's a
- 33:27wealthy and highly influential family would not allow their
- 33:31male heirs future to be tarnished with the label of
- 33:34rapist, much less murderer. Thank you so much for listening
- 33:42to the intriguing and tragic story of Jennifer Karis.
- 33:45Please let me know your thoughts on this case.
- 33:47If you have any comments, questions, or ideas for future
- 33:50episodes, I would love to hear from you.
- 33:52Please reach out. I wanted to sincerely apologize
- 33:55for the inconsistency of my releasing episodes as of late.
- 33:59Within the last couple months, I upgraded my recording software,
- 34:03but like any software and technology, there's a learning
- 34:07curve and lots of issues have come into play.
- 34:10If you enjoy the show and have not already followed or
- 34:13subscribed, please make sure you are doing so on your platform of
- 34:16choice. And if you would be so kind to
- 34:18please make sure to just take a moment and rate the show.
- 34:22It means a lot to me personally and it really helps to circulate
- 34:26the show so it and get to other dear listeners.
- 34:29I appreciate it very much. Until next time, stay safe and
- 34:34watch over Shades of Murder happening in the streets next
- 34:38door, especially inside your own home.
- 34:42Shades of Murder is created, researched, written and edited
- 34:46by Alito Caldwell. Original music stranger composed
- 34:51by Stereo Code.