Dateline: Written in Blood - A complete investigation overview of the Karen Pannell case, explored 

Dateline features a chilling case of the murder of Karen Pannell in an episode titled "Written in Blood". Karen was born in February 1964, in Germany, and was the youngest daughter among the 6 children, whose father was a former US Army officer.

In October 2003, in Oldsmar, Florida, Karen was found murdered in her residence. Her wounds were gruesome, being stabbed 16 to 17 times in the neck and heart region. At the crime scene near her body, ROC was written in blood on the wall, and at first, the investigators considered it related to the name of the killer.

Read the full investigation overview of the Karen Pannell case, as shown on Dateline.

Here is the complete investigation overview of the Karen Pannell case, as explored on Dateline

Karen used to work as a model and then took up a customer service job at American Airlines at Tampa International Airport. There she was, the gate agent. She was good at calming down passengers in case of inconvenience and soon became a customer service supervisor. She was close to her brothers and her family, as explored in the Dateline episode.

It was 2003 the month of October when the family's life turned upside down with their youngest daughter being killed in her residence, stabbed multiple times. Near her body were three letters written in blood: "ROC". According to authorities, it seemed like her dying declaration of the murderer. There was also a pizza box in the crime scene in which three slices were missing, but Karen's forensic reports showed it wasn't Karen who ate any of those. This suggested that whoever killed her was someone she knew.

ROC was the name of Karen's former boyfriend, and the authorities first started to track him down. However, the forensic evidence did not coincide with his identity. Moreover, he also presented some strong alibis proving he wasn't part of the murder. Investigators then looked closely at Karen's then-boyfriend, Timothy Permenter.

Timothy turns out to be Karen's real killer, as shown on Dateline

The authorities discovered that Tim shared a criminal history and a past involved in escort services. Tim had a long history of deceit and wasn't the mannered IT professional he pretended to be. Karen just got to know about his real self a few days before her death. Her friends revealed in the Dateline interview how shocked and hurt she was after knowing all of this. When she tried to break things off, Tim became enraged, sending angry messages and showing up uninvited at her home. Tim tried to frame Karen's ex-boyfriend, and even the 911 call was part of his cover story.

DNA under Karen’s fingernails matched Tim Permenter. Fingerprints on the pizza boxes and beer cans further proved he was there on the night of the murder. Moreover, phone records also cemented the doubt of investigators. It turns out that Tim had stabbed Karen out of rage and had stayed behind eating pizza and drinking beer while also brainstorming his alibi and staging the crime scene.

In 2007, he was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to prison in prison. He is currently serving his time in a Florida correctional institution.

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The episode “Written in Blood” appeared on Dateline NBC on August 17, 2012, featuring Karen Pannell’s story.

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