Murder of Karina Vetrano

April 6, 2020 courtneyjfretwell Blogs Comments Off on Murder of Karina Vetrano
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Karina Vetrano, 30-years old, went missing while jogging in Queens, New York on August 2, 2016. Her badly beaten, lifeless body was discovered a few hours later by her father, a retired New York Fire Department firefighter. Karina only had some of her clothes on, and had scratches and bruises all over her body. She fought against her attacker so hard, she cracked her teeth in an attempt to bite him. 

Karina Vetrano

Photo Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/murder-case-york-city-jogger-karina-vetrano-stands/story?id=62058877

Police recovered DNA from her killer underneath her fingernails, on her back, and her cell phone that was located a couple hundred yards away from her body. But the DNA didn’t come back as a match to anyone after running the sample through local and national databases.

Karina Vetrano

Photo Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Karina_Vetrano

The investigation and hunt for Karina Vetrano’s killer was heartbreaking. Police investigators would go on to check over 1,700 investigative reports and follow over 250 leads in the case. 

Five days after Karina Vetrano was found brutally murdered in a meadow of unkempt weeds, 27-year-old Vanessa Teresa Marcotte was found murdered in Princeton, Massachusetes. Similar to Karina, Vanessa was also out for a jog when she was attacked. As quickly as the idea came up that these two attacks might be related, it came to an even quicker end. And that’s because the DNA found at the crime scene in Massachusetes, didn’t match the DNA found in New York, meaning that the murders were committed by 2 different suspects. 

Vanessa Teresa Marcotte

Photo Source: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/167935557/vanessa-teresa-marcotte

Crime Watch Daily released a home surveillance video that captured Karina out on her run around 5:00 p.m. on the evening she was killed. In the video, Karina is seen jogging past a white, small sedan, wearing black shorts, and black sports bra. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and when I watched the short clip, it looks like she’s holding what looks like her cell phone. The video didn’t led to any immediate leads or arrests.

Karina just minutes before her disappearance

Photo Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/karina-vetrano-jogger-murder-new-video-shows-last-moments/

Courtesy of Crime Watch Daily and YouTUBE

By the end of 2016, the GundFund Me page that was created by the Vetrano family in order to provide a reward fund to anyone with information on the case reached over $290,000. Again, months continue to go by without a major break in the case, until February 4th, 2017, nearly 6 months after the murder. The NYPD announce to the public that they have taken a suspect into custody for questioning regarding Karina’s murder. They identified the suspect as 20-year old, Brooklyn resident, Chanel Lewis. 

The leads indicated that after Lewis returned home on August 2nd, his clothes were torn and he looked very disheveled. He was also taken to the hospital the day after for major cuts and scrapes to his upper body.

20-year old, Brooklyn resident, Chanel Lewis

Photo Source: https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/karina-vetrano-defendant-jail-fight-1.27100858

During the police interview, Lewis actually voluntarily provided his DNA to be tested against the DNA found under Karina’s fingernails, on her back, and on her cell phone. His sample came back as an exact match.

Chanel Lewis was interviewed and questioned by police for over 4 hours on Sunday, February 5th, 2017. During the interview, he made a full confession to the murder of Karina Vetrano.

Karina's parents Phillip and and Catherine Vetrano walking out of court

Photo Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chanel-lewis-sentenced-life-prison-death-new-york-city-jogger-n997686

Chanel Lewis was charged with 4 counts including one of first degree murder, 2 of second degree murder, and one for first degree sexual assault. Chanel’s defense team argued that the police illegally obtained a confession from Chanel and that they rushed to judgement. The first murder trial ended in a hung jury.

The second murder trial against Chanel Lewis began in March 2019. This time, the prosecution told the jury that Chanel Lewis made a full, voluntary confession and he was not under duress.

Chanel Lewis was found guilty of the murder of Karina Vetrano as well as the sexual assault on April 1, 2019. 

Lewis was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Karina Vetrano. 

 

Episode Sources:

Murder of Karina Vetrano Wiki

ABC News Article 4/17/19

NY Times Article 4/1/19