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Convenient Suspect
Convenient Suspect: A Double Murder, a Flawed Investigation, and the Railroading of an Innocent Woman | Tammy Mal
6 posts | 5 read | 32 to read
On Thursday, December 15, 1994, Joann Katrinak and her three-month-old son, Alex, went missing from their Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, home. Four months later, when their bodies were found in a lonely patch of woods, the police would launch a three-year investigation leading to the arrest of Patricia Lynne Rorrera young mother who had never met either victimas the monster responsible. In what would become Pennsylvania's first use of mitochondrial DNA in a criminal case, Patricia Rorrer was quickly tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. But did the jury make the right decision? Is Patricia Rorrer truly guilty? As new evidence continues to surface, including allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and evidence tampering, that question requires an answer even more. With a subject matter and storytelling style reminiscent of the hit podcast Serial, Convenient Suspect will appeal to a wide audience. The book reveals information never before made publicinformation gathered directly from more than 10,000 official documents, including Pennsylvania State Police reports, FBI Files, forensic lab results, and the 6,500-page trial transcript. Through four years of intensive research, countless interviews with those involved, and hundreds of letters, phone calls, and personal visits with Patricia Rorrer, the truth about the evidence used to convict her can finally be revealed.
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guinsgirlreads
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Pickpick

This was a frustrating book to read, not because of the author, but because of the totally flawed case she is writing about. I‘d never heard of this story before, but it seems it needs a better outcome.

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guinsgirlreads
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Hoping to finish this after work tonight ✌🏻🤞🏻

Jinjer I'm stealing your polka dot cup and the pen holder with a face!!! 7y
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guinsgirlreads
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We all know how I ❤️ true crime! This ones next! #currentread #amreading

Kaye Really good book. This author improves with every book. 7y
guinsgirlreads @Kaye really?! Awesome! 7y
Kaye Yep I‘ve liked all her books . A couple are short story type but still good. I like hers because they are about cases. Ive never heard of before, not rehashing all the ones that have been written about multiple times. 7y
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guinsgirlreads @Kaye that‘s cool. This will be my first from her, I‘ll definitely have to get ahold of more! 7y
Kaye They‘re all a decent price too. So that‘s always a plus 👍 The one you‘re reading is very good. Enjoy. 7y
guinsgirlreads @Kaye great, thanks! 👍🏻 7y
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Reviewsbylola
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This book made me feel physically sick at times. Joann Katrinak and her 3 month old son were brutally killed in 1994. Eventually, detectives zeroed in on Joann‘s husband, Andy Katrinak‘s, ex girlfriend, Patricia Rorrer. The author decided, 20 years after the fact, to write a book about the crime, assuming that Rorrer was guilty. What she discovered was something much different. Excellent true crime.

Kaye Nice photo ! What did you think ? 7y
Reviewsbylola The evidence is overwhelming that Patty didn‘t do it. I can‘t even imagine how there are so many people still convinced of her guilt. I think her husband is 100% guilty and I am shocked that the police gave up on him as a suspect so easily when it seemed that they were hot on his trail at first. I especially found the account that he and Joann were arguing about paternity that day very compelling. I‘d love to know what really happened. @kaye 7y
Kaye Doesn‘t this make you furious? This poor girl has lost about everyone in her life, and stuck in jail for something she didn‘t do. I could not believe how the cops came to the conclusion she had anything to do with this. Good grief, she was off in another state and doing ok.. it hardly sounded like she had a fascination with this guy. Enough to kill his family? I‘m still amazed that she got convicted. 7y
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Kaye Forgot to say, I liked having the photos at the very end. That was different. And once I saw the husband, he just plain looks like a bully. How‘d he get away with this? 7y
JenlovesJT47 Sounds really interesting! 7y
Reviewsbylola It really is such a travesty. As I was reading the ending with all the information the jury didn‘t hear, I was feeling sick to my stomach. I wish the author had been able to speak to some of the jury members. I would have loved to know their thought process. Even with all the evidence not presented at trial, I still think convicting her was a reach. @kaye. 7y
Cinfhen All those spoiler tags are taunting me!!! 7y
Reviewsbylola Hahahahaha, unless you‘re going to read the book, may as well read them. 😂 @Cinfhen 7y
Kaye Yea. It almost seems like a piece of the story is missing. Either the police had so@e type of connection to the husband or it was one of those crimes where We Need To Get It Solved Now. I think the husband was feeding them clues about others who “could” be involved and they just picked one and stuck with it. So sad about this girl whose life is ruined and she did nothing wrong. 7y
Kaye Oh and plus I think the wife wanted to divorce the guy. She probably told him the kid wasn‘t even his just to make him mad and get rid of him. It backfired on her I think. 7y
Kaye @Cinfhen You can read the book or read the spoilers if you want 😀 7y
Cinfhen Haha @Kaye & Steph...I‘m still deciding 7y
Reviewsbylola Yes, I definitely think at the very least they didn‘t have a happy marriage. @kaye 7y
Reviewsbylola I also thought that it was interesting that the author discovered it was likely that the hair had purposely been changed to Patty‘s. I thought her theories were very solid and fleshed out so I‘d love to know who actually did that. @kaye 7y
Reviewsbylola I think you could read the spoilers and still read the book. The title alone shows that the author is writing about someone that she feels is wrongfully convicted so I don‘t think the spoilers are enough to detract you from reading the book. @Cinfhen 7y
Reviewsbylola Also @kaye, I followed the instructions for returning the book which just said to delete it from my library. So hopefully it came back to you already. Thanks so much for letting me borrow! (edited) 7y
Kaye Well, sadly, some of these cases from so long ago, either the cops and investigators aren‘t alive any longer, or they‘re not gonna talk. That‘s what is bad about cases like this. Once the cops find someone they say is guilty, they don‘t ever want to back down, even if later evidence shows something different. I think they think it makes them look bad if they put the wrong person behind bars. The author definitely did a great job in this one ! 7y
Kaye Yep I got an email that said it was returned. I‘m glad you liked it. Anytime I have another K book you want, just holler. 7y
EvieBee Sounds wonderful!!! 7y
Reviewsbylola I think that‘s definitely what happened here. @kaye it‘s a shame that pride is enough to convict an innocent woman to prison for the rest of her life. I really hope this book encourages the right people to take notice of this case so that justice can finally be served. Have you seen the ID special? I need to watch it. @kaye 7y
Kaye No I haven‘t seen the show. I haven‘t watched tv in over a year. 7y
[DELETED] 3803335244 I like true crime books but they always freak me out a little. I watched a documentary last night on Dahmer, that freaked me out too! My husband is the crime guy, I bet he‘d like to read this! 7y
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