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Plastic Bag Discovery

31:42 recording · EN · 1 speaker

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Brief overview

The man who walked Kathy Goble safely to her car was the one who murdered her.

  1. The escort was the killerCharles March walked Kathy to her car to protect her from Jessica Fisher, and was never once considered a suspect.
  2. One word changed the caseLaura Henderson remembered Kathy saying 'we're going in', not 'I'm going in', the only sign someone was with her.
  3. No body meant no chargesCarper had several suspects but no evidence a crime had even been committed, so the case stayed cold for two years.
Executive Summary AI
  • On Saturday, April 24th, 2010, 64-year-old sales clerk Kathy Goble finished her shift at a high-end men's store in Charleston, West Virginia, after a day that included lunch with Dr. Harry King, the married radiologist she was having an affair with, and a screaming public fight with her co-worker's daughter Jessica Fisher over Xanax.1:03
  • Frightened of Jessica, Kathy asked shoe salesman Charles March to walk her to her SUV at 5 p.m., then visited her ex-husband David McCartney and drove on to her boyfriend Fred Farrell's apartment to clean it while he was away on a fishing trip.5:17
  • When she did not show up for work on Monday, April 26th, her son Jason called childhood friend Detective Brian Carper, who found Kathy's phone, pills and spare keys on Fred's spotless counter and grew suspicious when Fred referred to her in the past tense.7:49
  • Her friend Laura Henderson recalled the odd last words of their 8:30 p.m. call — Kathy said 'we're going into Fred's apartment' — and hours later Kathy's silver Honda SUV turned up abandoned 15 miles outside town with a white breakdown towel in the window, though the engine started fine and it had half a tank of gas.14:46
  • With Harry King's alibi confirmed by his wife, Kathy's sons cleared by polygraph and no forensic evidence in the car, the case went cold until heavy rain on April 25th, 2012 unearthed her dismembered body in Charles March's own backyard; a stalker who had become obsessed with her and killed her when she refused him, he pled guilty, was sentenced to life, and died of cancer in prison in 2014.26:03
Key Quote
“Not I'm going into Fred's apartment, but we're going into Fred's apartment.”
— Mr. Ballin15:31
Key Quote
“We, like she was with someone.”
— Mr. Ballin15:33
Key Quote
“Like, why would she do that?”
— Mr. Ballin18:12