← Dark Downeast
Dark Downeast
The Murder of Katharina Reitz Brow (Massachusetts)
00:36:00
For almost three years, the case of Katharina Reitz Brow languished without information or evidence that could bring a true ending to the search for answers. And then when someone was finally arrested, charged, and convicted of her murder, a hard-fought battle by the suspect’s own sister unearthed evidence in a dusty courthouse basement that changed everything about the case nearly two decades later. Now, just this year, 2025, investigative genetic genealogy has identified the person that investigators believe is actually culpable for Katharina’s death.
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- [00:03]
Scott Weinberger
Behind every homicide case is a process, an investigation, and people seeking answers.
- [00:09]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
And it takes more than reading the headlines to get to the true heart of these stories. I'm Anna Sega Nicolasi, a former New York City homicide prosecutor.
- [00:17]
Scott Weinberger
And I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.
- [00:21]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Each week on our podcast Anatomy of Murder, we dissect real homicide cases from the perspective of those who have lived them, investigators, prosecutors, and the people impacted most.
- [00:32]
Scott Weinberger
We dive into not just what happened, but why it happened, focusing on the facts, process the decisions that shaped each case and the pursuit of justice, giving.
- [00:42]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
You a deeper understanding of how each case unfolds.
- [00:45]
Scott Weinberger
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Anna Sega Nicolasi
Opportunity Builder sponsored by Novo Nordisk Hola hey, you speak Spanish, but do you speak liver?
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Scott Weinberger
Okay.
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Anna Sega Nicolasi
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Scott Weinberger
Whoa. I could be at risk? I'll ask my doctor.
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Anna Sega Nicolasi
You're bilingual?
- [01:47]
Scott Weinberger
No, I speak liver now. I'm trilingual.
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Anna Sega Nicolasi
Ask your doctor about your risk and if you should be screened for MASH. Learn more@speakliver.com in the summer, all of.
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Scott Weinberger
Oregon is our playground thanks to our incredible park system. That's why it's so cool that Oregon Lottery gameplay, like video lottery or cash pop, helps support tons of parks projects statewide like accessible trails at Silver Falls State park or upgrades to your favorite dog park in Newburgh. It's just one way a little lottery play for many Oregonians can add up to a lot of good the Oregon Lottery Together, we do good things. Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only. Must be 18 or older to play.
- [02:31]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
For almost three years, the case of Katharina Reitz Brow languished without information or evidence that could bring a true ending to the search for answers. And then, when someone was finally arrested, charged and convicted of her murder, a hard fought battle by the suspect's own sister unearthed evidence in a dusty courthouse basement that Changed everything about the case nearly two decades later. Now, just this year, 2025, investigative genetic genealogy has identified the person that investigators believe is the actually culpable for Katarina's death. I'm Kylie Lowe and this is the case of Katarina Reitz Brow on Dark Down East. It was around 10:45am on the morning of May 21, 1980, and a family member was just arriving at the home of 48 year old Katharina Rietzbrau for a visit. As she stepped up to the front door of 7 and a half Rosewood Avenue in Ayr, Massachusetts. Knocking once and then again, she was met with silence. With a tentative turn of the doorknob, the woman stepped inside to find a terrifying scene. The kitchen was spattered with blood, a TV was chattering away and the kitchen faucet was running. But. But Katerina wasn't anywhere she could see. She tried calling out for her, but again was met with nothing. It wasn't until air police arrived at the scene that Katharina was finally located. She was deceased in her bedroom. The autopsy found that she was stabbed 30 times. Five of the stab wounds penetrated her heart. According to reporting by the Evening Gazette, police believed that Katerina had been attacked while she was washing dishes and her assailant was either voluntarily let in, meaning it was someone Catarina may have known and trusted, or they'd entered through an unlocked door because there were no signs of forced entry. Yet there were signs of a struggle everywhere. Court records indicate that the attack began in the kitchen and Catarina fought back with a fury. She struggled with the assailant through the house and into the bedroom, where she was overtaken. As the police chief, William Adamson Sr. Put was a very fierce battle, a demonstration of Katharina's strength. The assailant seemed to be looking for something specific and knew where to search for it. The linen closet had been torn apart and Catarina's purse with cash and jewelry that was normally kept in that closet was missing, along with a stash of cash she kept hidden between sheets in the closet. Investigators theorized that whoever killed Katerina came to her house that day with a plan. But that plan may not have included committing a brutal and fatal attack. A knife was found discarded in a trash can, covered in blood. The handle bore the name of the company where Catarina's husband worked. He later confirmed that the knife, the murder weapon, came from their own kitchen. Katharina also suffered injuries consistent with being struck by a blunt instrument. Several early reports, including a piece published in the Boston Herald suggest the blunt instrument was a ceramic lamp also found at the scene. Charles Brow had left the home he shared with Katerina that morning around 7:10am leaving a 3 and a half hour ish window for the murder to occur. The medical examiner hypothesized the that it was more likely Catarina died closer to when Charles left for work. Catarina was a mother of two children who had immigrated to the United States from Germany, and she was saving that money tucked away between the sheets of her linen closet for a trip back to visit family. She'd already endured so much. She was home at the time of her murder because she'd suffered a heart attack a few weeks earlier and was still recovering. Who would target Katharina for such a brutal crime? Who knew about the money? Catarina's husband, Charles, worked at R. Murphy Co. Which was a knife maker. He does not appear to have been considered a suspect for very long, if at all. Court records state that he was seen around town on the morning of the murder and he may have stopped to have a tire repaired and then at the post office before continuing to work. His whereabouts were accounted for. As interviews with Katharina's family members and other witnesses continued, a name surfaced that caught the attention of Air Police Chief William Adamson and Officer Nancy Taylor. According to court records, Katharina's family member talked about a man named Kenneth Waters who lived just behind Katerina's home and worked at the Park Street Diner where Katerina was a regular. According to the family member, people at the diner had seen Katharina carrying large amounts of cash in her wallet, something they told her numerous times wasn't a good idea. They insisted that Katharina keep the cash at home. Air Police already knew Kenneth's name. According to Farah Stockman's reporting for the Boston Globe, he had a quote unquote rowdy reputation in town. He also had a history of violence and criminal charges. According to Patricia W. Montminy's reporting for the Lowell sun, just two years earlier, in 1978, Kenneth was charged with attempted murder after he slashed a man's throat in Rockingham county in New Hampshire. The charges were later reduced to aggravated assault and he served somewhere around 18 months of a 3 and a half year sentence in a New Hampshire detention facility. At the time of Katharina's murder, Kenneth was working overnights at the diner. But their history dated back even further to Kenneth's childhood. Kenneth reportedly rode the bus with Katharina's kids when he was younger and Thomas Grilley reports for the Lowell son that Katerina had given him a ride to work just the week before her murder. They may have crossed paths on a semi regular basis, too, as Kenneth was living with his grandfather at the time, whose home was on Vernon street adjacent to Rosewood Avenue. Naturally, police had some questions for Kenneth. Officers caught up with him the next day and transported him to the police station for an interview. Meanwhile, Kenneth's girlfriend at the time, Brenda Marsh, who also lived at Kenneth's grandfather's home with him, told officers that Kenneth had been in court the previous morning on an unrelated charge. Kenneth told officers that he'd worked a double shift at the diner on the night of May 20th into the 21st, and quickly stopped home to change before leaving for his court date. He had an alibi for the estimated time of the murder. He believed his time cards would prove it. And he saw some of the air officers at the courthouse, too. Kenneth was examined for any sign he'd been involved in a struggle. The officer who examined him didn't note any cuts or scratches, and his clothing and shoes were unremarkable as well. No blood, nothing that set off any red flags. But Kenneth's background and proximity to the scene kept him under a microscope for the investigation. Blood type testing conducted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Safety determined that the majority of the blood at the scene of Katerina's murder was type B, which was consistent with her blood type. However, a small amount of type of blood was found on towels in the linen closet and near the front door. It was believed that the killer had been injured during the intense struggle and left behind their blood while rifling through Catarina's closet in search of money. There was also hair found at the scene. Much of the hair, including strands found in Catarina's hands, was found to be microscopically similar to her own hair. But other strands of hair found on the knife were different from Katharina's hair and believed to have come from her killer. Investigators also found latent prints throughout the house, namely on a broken piece of a toaster that was damaged in the attack and the kitchen faucet. As investigators attempted to compare these prints to possible suspects, police sought Kenneth Waters for another conversation, this one as part of a voice stress examination. A voice stress test is different from a polygraph test. It focuses primarily on discrete changes in someone's voice that may be present at times of deception. Kenneth passed the test. In the months after the murder, Kenneth and Brenda moved to Providence, Rhode Island. They eventually broke up and he went to California before entering a treatment program in Arizona for a year. Meanwhile, the the investigation into Katerina's murder continued, but not with much success. In March of 1981, air police used hypnosis in hopes of developing leads. The goal wasn't to generate new information, but to advance what they already had. A relative of Catarina's and an AIR police officer were hypnotized. But what came from that investigative strategy, if anything, isn't totally clear. About two and a half years later, the unresolved case saw a major update. Police had identified and arrested their primary suspect. 29 year old Kenneth Waters was arrested and charged with being a fugitive from justice in Providence, Rhode island on October 12, 1982. A Massachusetts warrant had been issued for his arrest, charging him with armed robbery and the murder of Katerina Reitz Brow. He entered a not guilty plea the following day, as Kenneth's sister, Betty Ann Waters would later testify in a civil suit. Kenneth was sure he'd be released because he had an alibi for the night before and morning of Katerina's murder. He thought the police were just trying to bother him by accusing him of a crime he didn't commit. He was upset, but confident he'd be cleared and heading home soon. Betty Ann said she visited Kenneth the day after his arrest and he asked that she go to the park street diner and get his time cards, hoping they were still there. Two and a half years later, when Betty Ann showed up at the office of the diner asking about the time cards, the secretary informed her she'd already pulled them for the police. And as Betty Ann claimed, the secretary said she saw that Kenny did in fact work at the diner on the night of and the night after. Betty Ann asked to see the card herself, but the secretary hesitated. Police were on their way to pick up the time cards and she didn't want to do anything she wasn't supposed to do. Betty Ann updated Kenneth that his time cards were still on file and Kenneth was satisfied that they were proof enough to get him out of jail with the charges dropped. But by the time the probable cause hearing rolled around, Kenneth and his public defender couldn't put their hands on that potentially exculpatory evidence.
- [14:01]
Scott Weinberger
Looking for your next true crime binge? The Furry Detectives Unmasking a monster is coming to amc. Critics call the four part docu series gritty and heart stopping. Find out how a global network of furries banded together to hunt down a ring of animal abusers and bring them to justice. Thursday, starting July 17th, only on AMC and we are back talking all things connectivity with Spectrum customers, Kev and Melissa. So tell us, how long have you been with Spectrum and how important is a reliable Internet connection? We've been Spectrum customers since we moved 12 years ago. The first thing we did is sign up for Spectrum Internet.
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Anna Sega Nicolasi
You get a leash.
- [14:37]
Scott Weinberger
You get it? WI Fi. Yes, we need that. We had Spectrum WI fi before our couch got here.
- [14:41]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
That's true. That's a true story.
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Scott Weinberger
I'll sleep on the floor, but I won't go to bed with no Internet. You heard it here. Switch to Spectrum now.
- [14:58]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Kenneth's former girlfriend, Brenda Marsh, testified at his probable cause hearing in early November of 1982. She explained that about a week before the murder, Kenneth told her that a German woman had a lot of money in her home and he could really use the money. According To Brenda, around 10pm On May 20, 1980, Kenneth got dressed in his work clothes and said he was going to work. But when she tried calling him at the diner later on that night, the staff there said he wasn't working. Brenda claimed that the next morning, May 21, Kenneth arrived back home wearing the same work clothes he'd donned the night before. And she noticed he had a scratch on his face from his left eye to his mouth. When she asked him about it, he said it was none of her business. She noted that he didn't have any blood on his clothing. Later that day, Brenda saw police cars at Katarina's house. She woke Kenneth up and asked if he wanted to check out what was going on over there. She testified that Kenneth responded that he didn't care. Court documents also state that Kenneth said something like, if police show up, tell them I'm not home. Brenda testified that one of the reasons they moved out of town to Rhode island was because Kenneth felt he was being accused of something he didn't do. And it was in Providence that Brenda claims a confession spilled out of Kenneth while he was intoxicated. She testified that she asked Kenneth during an argument if he, quote, killed that woman back there, end quote. Kenneth responded with something like, yeah, what's it to you? Brenda said she moved out and back to Massachusetts the next day. Kenneth's public defender suggested that Brenda may have been offered money from the state to testify against Kenneth, but she insisted that was not the case. When asked why it took her more than two years to come forward with information in the case, she said it was because she never wanted to see Kenneth again. Air police officer Nancy Taylor also testified at the probable cause hearing. She spoke to the evidence at the scene, indicating that while they found latent fingerprints, they were smeared and useless to the investigation. Kenneth's connection to the crime and the basis for his arrest was primarily the statements from his ex girlfriend. Now, defense witnesses testified that Kenneth went to work on May 20, and he worked a double shift and then had a hearing at Air District Court on the morning of May 21st to face charges of assault and battery and possession of a dangerous weapon for assaulting a police officer. However, at least one source notes that at the time, the court record apparently did not show that Kenneth was actually present for that court date. Kenneth's defense attorney asked that he be released on Bailey. He argued that there was no evidence tying him to the crime, and the case was largely held up by witness testimony that came two and a half years later. The fact that Kenneth returned home without any blood on his clothing, the same clothes he wore when he left the night before, they argued, was another indication that he was not involved in the murder. The scene had been covered in blood. Ultimately, in consideration of the severity of the charges and Kenneth's prior convictions, his bail was set at $250,000 double surety bond or $25,000 cash. The trial of Kenneth Waters began on May 4, 1983. A witness named Addie Ogden, a friend of Katarina's who worked at the diner, said that a few weeks after her death, Kenneth walked into the diner. When Katerina's name was raised in conversation. Kenneth supposedly said that he hated her because she was the reason he was sent to a reform school after he was caught breaking into her house when he was 10 years old. Addie testified that she told Kenneth she herself had a German shepherd dog for protection and to keep people from breaking into her home. Kenneth allegedly responded by saying, dog or no dog, when he wants to kill, he will kill. In other testimony, Addi said that she was shocked when Kenneth showed up at the diner again five or six weeks earlier after the murder, Trying to sell two pieces of jewelry. Addie instantly recognized them as gifts she'd given to Katerina. I asked him where he got them, and he said he stole them from his estranged wife. I bought only the ring because I had only $5. I went home and the next morning I went to the police, End quote. Kenneth's former girlfriend, Brenda Marsh, testified about that scratch she claims she saw on Kenneth's face. This supposed uttered confession After a night of drinking and other details that seemed to connect him to the murder. Another former girlfriend of Kenneth's, Rosanna Perry, took The stand for the prosecution, too. Rosanna said she started seeing Kenneth during the summer of 1980. More than once during their relationship, Kenneth allegedly told her that he'd been picked up for murder, but that that, quote, they couldn't pin it on him, end quote. She testified that he'd been drinking when he said these things. Rosanna testified that during the winter of 1982, again, while Kenneth was drinking alcohol and was drunk, he said that he killed a woman using an offensive term. According to Rosanna, he allegedly said he stabbed her and had taken her money and jewelry. The witness said she didn't go to police with the information she had about Kenneth immediately because she was afraid of him and his family. After Kenneth made the comment about stabbing someone, Rosanna said she saw him a few more times until he, quote, bashed my teeth in, end quote. He allegedly assaulted Rosanna. In March of 1982, the prosecution introduced physical evidence, specifically blood evidence that they argued connected him to the killing. Blood found at the scene was largely type B, which was Katarina's blood type. But among the victim's blood were droplets of type O. Kenneth had type O blood. Blood test experts could not further confirm that the droplets came from Kenneth. DNA testing wasn't an option at the time. During cross examination of the blood type expert who examined the evidence from the scene, Kenneth's attorney asked, which blood type is the most common? The witness responded that most people had blood group O and presented figures that 47% of the white population and 48% of the black population had type O blood. It should be noted that there was also hair found at the scene in Katharina's hand and on the knife used in the murder. But an FBI report failed to identify any of the hair as belonging to Kenneth. When it was Kenneth's turn to present his defense, his attorney pointed to what Kenneth thought would clear him. From the beginning, he had an alibi. He was working a double shift at the diner. However, when a representative of the diner's ownership was subpoenaed to appear in court, he disclosed that the time cards that could have shown the shifts Kenneth worked that week were missing. According to documents filed in a future civil suit, the only time cards that were missing from the diner's records were from the week of the murder. But I have not been able to independently confirm this detail. Without records to prove he was at work and support his alibi, Kenneth was up against a convincing case by the Commonwealth. The jury deliberated for about 10 hours over two days. In the end, they sided with the prosecution on May 11, 1983, the jury found Kenneth Waters guilty of first degree murder and robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole and a concurrent sentence of not more than 10 years and not less than 10 years for the robbery conviction. Kenneth, his family and legal team were committed to proving his innocence and he filed a notice of appeal the day after he was convicted. On February 20, 1984, Kenneth filed a motion for a new trial which included a sworn affidavit from his former girlfriend, Rosanna Perry, whose testimony featured heavily in the case against him at trial. Now, Rosanna was recanting her story. She said that her testimony at trial was false and given under intense interrogation and alleged abusive and coercive tactics by an AIR police officer. Despite a key witness recanting her testimony, the motion for a new trial was denied. On October 1, 1985, Kenneth appealed to the state Supreme Court and his conviction was affirmed in 1987. Now the time cards that corroborated or could have corroborated Kenneth's story about working a double shift at the diner on May 20th and 21st had disappeared before trial. After his trial and conviction, Kenneth's defense team had uncovered accounting records that supported his claim that he worked a double, which contributed to a total of 55 and a half hours that week. These records were part of his appeal process too. But the court found that they didn't support a new trial because the accounting records didn't specify which days he worked a double. Kenneth filed a petition for habeas corpus in federal court in February of 1989, and that too was dismissed in May of 1990. All along, Kenneth maintained his innocence. His family believed that he was innocent too. One of Kenneth's fiercest supporters from day one was his sister, Betty Ann Waters. She was so convinced that her brother did not commit the murder that she decided to get her law degree and represent him in a continued fight for justice.
- [25:10]
Scott Weinberger
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- [25:41]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
Oh, I'm not switching my team to some fancy work platform that somehow knows exactly how we work and its AI features are literally saving us hours every day. We're big fans. And just like that, teams all around the world are falling for Monday.com with intuitive design, seamless AI capabilities and custom workflows, it's the work platform your team will instantly click with. Head to Monday.com, the first work platform you'll love to use. Betty Ann Waters was a single mother of two children at the time when she began working nights and weekends waiting tables to put herself through law school. Jeff Skirk reports for the Lowell sun that getting her law degree felt like the only recourse Kenneth and his family had after they'd spent tons of money on legal bills for his defense and subsequent appeals. During her schooling, Betty Ann was working on a research paper about the use of DNA in post conviction releases when she got an idea that stuck with her. After passing the bar exam in 1998 and officially becoming her brother's attorney, Betty Ann called to the courthouse where her brother's trial took place years earlier. With the help of a clerk, she located a box of evidence still in the basement of the courthouse, and it included pieces of cloth with a preserved blood sample. It could have been destroyed at any time in the previous years, according to evidence retention schedules, but it was still there and still usable. Betty Ann had been writing to the Innocence Project as she pursued her law degree, asking for advice on Kenneth's case. And In November of 1999, the co founder of the Innocence Project himself, Barry Scheck, also joined Kenneth's legal team. If that name sounds familiar, he was part of the quote unquote dream team that represented O.J. simpson. Together, Barry and Betty Ann pushed for new DNA testing on the blood evidence that they believed would prove he did not commit the murder of Katerina Brow. Betty Ann sought a stipulation from the District Attorney's office that allowed her to obtain a blood sample from Kenneth without a court order. A forensic expert from California would test and compare his blood to type O droplets at the scene, while the Massachusetts State Crime Lab would test the same evidence for the District Attorney's office. The DNA tests conducted by both parties showed that evidence at the scene did not match Kenneth Waters DNA. On March 15, 2001, a judge vacated Kenneth's conviction. The then 47 year old Kenneth was released from prison on personal recognizance after serving 18 years of a life sentence. The District Attorney's office did not oppose a motion for a new trial. Investigators began re examining the case to determine what charges could be brought against Kenneth in light of the new evidence, if any. A few months later, on June 19, 2001, the Middlesex District Attorney's office announced that it would not seek a second trial and dropped all charges against Kenneth Waters. According to a statement released by the office, quote, at this time, there is insufficient evidence to proceed with a criminal prosecution against the defendant. As such, the Commonwealth has determined that at this time, a noli prosequi is in the interests of justice. The Commonwealth's investigation into the murder of Katharina Brau has and will continue. Kenneth was free after 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. It was widely reported that Kenneth enjoyed a corned beef sandwich upon his initial release. He held a cell phone for the first time in his life and reconnected with family members, including his child. But life after his wrongful conviction was all too brief. Ken McGuire reports for the Republican that in early September of 2001, Kenneth was walking to his brother's house when he decided to take a shortcut. He scaled a 15 foot wall along the route, but fencing at the top buckled and he fell headfirst onto the ground. He was found unconscious and bleeding. Around 6pm that evening. He suffered a fractured skull. He was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit. A few days later, his condition was upgraded to stable. As he was taken off life support. He was able to open and close his eyes and shake hands with people. He squeezed hands to communicate but couldn't speak. Ultimately, though, Kenneth's condition took a turn for the worse. On September 19, 2001, he was removed from life support after doctors declared him brain dead. He passed away surrounded by his family, including his sister, who had fought for his freedom. He lived just about six months outside of prison walls. As his sister Betty Ann put it, kenny had six months of freedom to this day, but we look at it as six months of freedom is better than 20 years in jail. End quote. The story of Betty Ann Waters and her journey to becoming a lawyer to defend her brother's innocence is the subject of the 2010 film Conviction, starring Hilary Swank as Betty Ann and Sam Rockwell as Kenneth Waters. The family of Katharina Rietz Brow was not consulted in the making of the film. After Kenneth's exoneration, Betty Ann went back to managing a pub in town. But she was not finished with her days as a lawyer. In 2004, she filed a civil suit on behalf of Kenneth's estate, accusing Eyre police of coercing false testimony and withholding evidence that could have cleared him. According to the complaint filed in U.S. district Court on behalf of the estate of Kenneth Waters against the town of Ayer, several Eyre police officers and the town's insurers. An informant had come forward shortly before Kenneth's arrest with information that reactivated the case more than two years after Katerina's murder. The informant was the new boyfriend of Kenneth's ex girlfriend, Brenda. We'll call him Jeffrey. As stated in the complaint filed in the civil suit, Jeffrey called Air Police and allegedly asked for money in exchange for information about Katharina's murder. Jeffrey said that Brenda told him Kenneth confessed to killing a woman in Ayre and that she washed blood out of his clothes after the murder. Now, according to representatives of Kenneth Waters estate, when officers questioned Brenda about this story her new boyfriend Jeffrey had relayed to them, she denied it. She said whatever Jeffrey claimed she said wasn't true and she didn't have any information that connected Kenneth to the murder. However, as the questioning continued, Brenda's story changed. She told officers that Kenneth came home around 10:30am on the morning of the murder and he was drunk and he had that supposed large fresh scratch on his face she testified to at his probable cause hearing. The complaint also alleged that fingerprints that Officer Nancy Taylor testified were useless were actually potentially valuable in exculpatory. The complaint stated that there was a bloody fingerprint on a broken toaster as well as a partial print on the faucet. The prints weren't Kenneth's fingerprints. He had been excluded as the source of the prints at the scene very early on. And the civil suit alleged that police knew about this but ignored it or even actively lied about it and suppressed the evidence at trial. According to the complaint, when the DA's office reopened the investigation following the discovery of the DNA evidence, a state police trooper requested files from Air Police relative to Katharina's investigation because the file that the DA had appeared to be incomplete. That's when the trooper received documentation that Kenneth had been excluded as the source of the latent fingerprints at least twice and and a timestamped note from the police chief indicating that Kenneth did in fact work at the diner that night, confirming Kenneth's alibi. The officers named in the civil suit, including Air Police officer Nancy Taylor, denied allegations that they suppressed evidence or engaged in any conduct such as coercive or abusive interrogation techniques with any witnesses. The civil claim went to trial in U.S. district Court in 2009. Jonathan Saltzman's reporting for the Boston Globe states that the town of Ayer and its insurers agreed to pay a combined $3.4 million to settle the wrongful conviction lawsuit. The judgment, filed in U.S. district Court records, indicate that the settlement was north of $10 million. That could have been it for Katharina's case. The Commonwealth brought their suspect to trial, secured a conviction, but with it overturned, and it would not have been surprising if the investigation stopped there. Without further action, however, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said they'd be continuing the investigation. Back in 2001, when the new DNA evidence was raised, prosecutors agreed to check the DNA sample obtained from the blood evidence in state and national DNA databases to see if a new suspect might match the profile. They stayed true to their word. But things didn't happen overnight. Not that year or even that decade. But in 2022, Katerina's murder was reviewed under a new forensic lens with the help of investigative genetic genealogy DNA testing. Just this year, In June of 2025, the DA's office made the results of that testing public. Forensic chemists at Parabon Nanolabs isolated a genetic line from DNA evidence collected at the scene of the murder. And that genetic line pointed to two potential suspects. They were brothers. Both were deceased at the time of identification. Family members of the two brothers agreed to work with the DA's office on the investigation. They submitted their own DNA for comparison. With the help of scientists at Bode Laboratories, investigators determined that there was an overwhelming statistical likelihood that one of the brothers left his DNA at the scene. His name was Joseph Leo Boudreau. What I know about Joseph Leo Boudreau comes from the DA's press conference and the suspect's obituary published in the Journal Tribune in February of 2004. He went by Joe and he was born in Natick, Massachusetts in 1943 and lived in the state for much of his life. It appears he was a well educated and accomplished person. He served in the US Air Force and graduated from Boston University. His obituary states that he worked at Nazamam Chemical Company. That's N A Y Z A M A M Chemical Company for 17 years as a research chemist. But I haven't been able to find any trace of a company by that name or anything similar. So maybe it was misremembered or a typo by the author of the obituary. If you recognize it, please fill me in. Joe then worked as the assistant produce manager for farmstand in Framingham, Massachusetts before moving to Maine in 1987. He worked as a painter at a Maine veterans hospital for a few years and a truck driver at a drywall company in Maine after that. What his obituary left out was, was that he was convicted of armed robbery in New Hampshire in 1975. He died in 2004 at the age of 61. He was living in Ogunquit, Maine, at the time. At the time of the announcement In June of 2025, investigators did not know of any connection between Joseph Leo Boudreau and Kenneth Waters. Genetic genealogy answered the question as to who killed Katerina Reed's brow. Genetic genealogy has not, however, answered why. Why did Joe target her? How did he know where to find the money she was keeping stashed away? What had him in the town of Ayr at that very moment, a short time after her husband left for work? Those are questions that may never be answered. The loss of Katharina reedsbrau was not just a tragedy. It was a heartbreak that continues to ripple through the lives of those who love her. The tragedy is compounded by a grave injustice. Not only did Katharina's family endure the trauma of a wrongful conviction, but the true perpetrator died without ever being held accountable. That, too, is a tragedy. One that denied her loved ones the full truth and the justice they deserve. Victims rights don't end with the person who was taken. They extend to the family members left behind, who live every day with the weight of their grief and the unanswered questions of a system that failed them. Katerina's loved ones deserve recognition, resolution, and a justice system that works just as hard for the innocent as it does to punish the guilty. There's been little shared about who Katarina was and is to those who love her. But there's this. She was a loving mother and grandmother. It is the kind of everyday love that quietly shapes generations. That's a legacy no act of violence can erase and no injustice can diminish. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. You can find all source material for this case@darkdowneast.com Be sure to follow the show on Instagram arkdowneast. This platform is for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones and for those who are still searching for answers. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is Dark Down East. Dark down east is a production of Kylie Media and Audio. Check. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?
- [40:19]
Scott Weinberger
Not all meals are created equal. For instance, breakfast has the spicy egg McMuffin for a limited time, and lunch doesn't. McDonald's breakfast goes first.
- [40:34]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
What does possibility mean to you?
- [40:36]
Scott Weinberger
That's a hard question. Something that you can strive for, that.
- [40:40]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
I'm able to do anything I set my mind to. You're confident in yourself and you believe in yourself. Stuff that you could achieve. I feel it's Sarah. Anything is possible when you're more confident.
- [40:51]
Scott Weinberger
Shoes are a huge part of that.
- [40:52]
Anna Sega Nicolasi
They are the most important part of my style. You can, like, express yourself in the right shoes. Anything is possible. Dsw countless shoes at bragworthy prices. Imagine the possibilities.