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POLICE REPORT & INVESTIGATION

The Investigation Also refer back to "That Night" for additional investigation details!

On May 6, 2012 Katherine Sarah Morris died from carbon monoxide poisoning from charcoal grills lit in her car.

This story about murders staged as suicides in the exact manner in which our Katherine died hit the internet just two weeks prior to her death.

A Letter to Chief Kevin Davis about the alleged "homicide panel"

This email is sent as a follow-up to our meeting on May 22, 2014. The family of Katherine Sarah Morris and I appreciate your taking the time to personally visit with us at our home in St. Mary's County. We understand that the purpose of this meeting was to update us on the results from the panel of homicide specialist assimilated in November of 2013. During your visit you informed us that in yours and the panel’s opinion, Katherine Morris’ death was still the result of a suicide. You also named several reasons for this conclusion which I will summarize per the following:

  1. Credit card use

  2. The surveillance camera was motion sensitive and that was the reason for the inconsistency in the recording.

  3. Charcoal grill purchase. You informed us that Walmart does not keep video surveillance footage for more than 30 days and therefore it was no longer possible to determine whether or not the deceased had personally purchased the grills.

  4. The finger printing that was not done

  5. The Morris family is grateful for your verbal apology for how things were handled in the investigation into Katherine’s death. We are grateful for your statement that better measures have been put in place to prevent the set of circumstances surrounding the investigation into Katherine’s death from re-occurring. I believe that you mentioned that as a result of how her investigation was handled and as a future preventative measure, the police department will now have a homicide specialist immediately assigned to a case. We respectfully requested for this to be put in writing for the family and your response was that you would have to check with the counties legal department before doing so. The family awaits your feedback.

In the interim, our response to your points raised as the reasons for the confirmation of a suicide finding are the following:

  1. The deceased credit card use does not reflect the purchase of any grills. We had already requested, received and reviewed the receipts for her purchases at several stores prior to her death.

  2. The family still contends that the surveillance camera video was somehow, (even though erroneously), was destroyed and/or altered. Anne Arundel County Community College Safety Officers gave sworn statements that what was on the tapes was what was requested by the Anne Arundel County Police. Yes, it was motion sensitive. Therefore it appears that perhaps there should have been additional footage since this was a busy parking lot, full of movie goers on a Saturday night. In addition, a witness contacted the Anne Arundel County police department about being present in the parking lot on the morning of May 6,2012. She has testified under oath that there was another vehicle (an SUV) in the parking lot with a woman sitting in it for hours that same morning (approx. 2 - 4 a.m.).

  3. In reference to the charcoal grill. Walmart can track purchases, this was a seasonal item and I contacted your office via email in October of 2013 requesting information from the grill packaging etc. This information has yet to be given to me. We have also reviewed the receipts from Katherine’s Walmart purchases and they do not have grills listed. In addition, the security officer responding to the scene has given sworn testimony reflecting discrepancies in where the grills were located.

  4. In reference to fingerprints, a police report addendum reflects that the exterior of the car was not fingerprinted and the interior yielded negative results. Michele Harper, Katherine’s roommate states that she was in the vehicle on the day Katherine died. Text messages reflect that she had also talked to Katherine about going to the movies that day. The responding security officer by his own testimony was all over the exterior of the vehicle i.e. both car doors, keys to the ignition and the trunk of the car. He also took photos of the death scene. It would appear that he may have spent a questionable amount of time at the scene before placing a 911 call. The security company also continues to defy a court issued subpoena for information regarding the details of that night.

  5. An additional question has now been raised in reference to the matter with the burned carpet in the car. The car should have been full of smoke from the smoldering carpet hampering visibility into the vehicle. The responding security officer makes little, if any mention of this.

  6. In addition to all of the above, matters were further complicated by the fact that the deceased vehicle and her hand held electronics were returned to the family approx. 48 hours after her death. Then homicide detectives on or about May 11, 2012 requested the electronics be returned to them. In a subsequent meeting the detective verbally acknowledged that he was not familiar with how to handle the electronic data contained on them.

Unfortunately, by all appearances it would seem that the 2013 homicide panel would not have much if anything to look at or review in reference to the death of our loved one. This is apparent because of the lack of evidence preserved and the time elapsed since her death. Finally there continues to be so many unanswered questions surrounding the death of our loved one after two years and three police chiefs following her death. The only sure fact is that she died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The entire scene could have been staged and I presented to the 2013 panel the report of the woman that murdered three people using the same method by which Katherine died (right down to the sleeping pills) and it was not until the 3rd murder that police realized the two prior individuals had not committed suicide.


Finally,no alibis were taken and one of the police’s witness’, upon which they relied on in their suicide finding;

  1. appears to have been deceptive;

  2. was one of the last persons that the deceased possibly communicated with electronically prior to leaving her apartment the evening of her death;

  3. did not want her statement recorded,

  4. has a degree in forensics and

  5. possibly drives/drove a white SUV.

  6. We understand that an open acknowledgement that mistakes were made and a written apology are all the family can hope for at this point. Thank you and your feedback is appreciated.

Sincerely,


Marguerite R.Morris

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