The Murders of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Travers (Rhode Island)

Summary

Dark Downeast: The Murders of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Travers (Rhode Island)

Release Date: July 3, 2025
Host/Author: Kylie Lowe
Description: Dark Downeast delves into the chilling unsolved cases from Maine and New England, exploring the true crimes that have left lasting scars on Vacationland and beyond. In this episode, investigative journalist Kylie Lowe revisits the brutal murders of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Travers in Warwick, Rhode Island, shedding light on decades-old mysteries that remain unresolved.

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Introduction

Kylie Lowe sets the stage by highlighting the beauty of nature juxtaposed with the dark tales lurking within New England. She introduces the episode’s focus on the murders of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Travers, emphasizing the podcast’s commitment to heart-centered and ethical true crime storytelling.

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Background of the Cases

The episode begins by outlining the grim timeline of two murders that occurred within a nine-month span in Warwick, Rhode Island:

• Kathy Perry:

  • Date: September 14, 1986
  • Age: 20
  • Occupation: Worked at Ultra Finishers, a bookbinding company.
  • Circumstances: On her way home from work, Kathy's 1979 Mercury Capri broke down. Her car was found abandoned on Route 2, two miles from her residence, with her purse intact. Her body was discovered the next morning in a secluded gravel road, showing signs of severe trauma and possible sexual assault.

• Rhonda Travers:

  • Date: June 20, 1987
  • Age: 26
  • Occupation: Engaged in sex work, with a history of substance use and arrests.
  • Circumstances: Rhonda was found stabbed and strangled in an industrial area, with no identification initially on her person. Her life was marked by instability, and her murder lacked clear motives, complicating the investigation.

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Investigation of Kathy Perry’s Murder

Detective Sergeant Fred Pierce, a retired Warwick Police detective and author, provides an in-depth analysis of Kathy Perry's case:

• Discovery of the Car (04:14):
  Fred Pierce explains how Kathy's car was found abandoned with the engine running and her purse untouched, raising immediate suspicions.

  "The car was running, the lights are on, the heat is on. Her purse with $107 is sitting on the passenger seat. But Kathy's gone." ([04:14])

• Finding the Body (06:22):
  The body was discovered by a truck driver near Telmore Road, marked by extensive injuries and signs of violence.

  "She was so badly beaten that he didn't even recognize her. There's multiple fractures. She was actually strangled at some point." ([07:47])

• Initial Theories and Leads (08:42):
  Investigators considered car trouble as a potential factor, pondering whether Kathy was forced off the road or encountered an opportunistic attacker.

  "Whoever killed Kathy had found her in a vulnerable state on the side of the road in the middle of the night, likely all by happenstance." ([09:00])

• Witness Testimony and Hypnosis (11:08):
  A witness named Thomas recalls seeing a second car with Kathy and a person holding a can, leading to the identification of a green 1974 Chevrolet Malibu with a matching license plate.

  "Thomas was then asked to review his recall in slow motion... he said that one of the guys was holding a soda can or something." ([13:40])

• Suspect Leads (16:40):
  Initially, Bruce, Kathy’s boyfriend, was ruled out due to alibis. Another suspect, a married man involved with Kathy, was also cleared after polygraph tests and credible alibis.

  "Bruce was ruled out right off the bat because he was still at work." ([16:40])

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Investigation of Rhonda Travers’ Murder

Rhonda Travers' case presents a different set of challenges:

• Discovery and Condition of the Body (19:33):
  Rhonda was found with multiple stab wounds and evidence suggesting she was dragged, complicating the scene.

  "Rhonda was stabbed 10 times in her chest and in her neck area... none of the stab wounds were through her clothing." ([19:33])

• Background and Last Movements (21:31):
  Rhonda's unstable lifestyle, including substance use and sex work, made it difficult to trace her last movements accurately.

  "She was seen getting into a car on Westminster Street. It was a green car and according to the witness, she acted like she knew the person." ([23:21])

• Investigation Challenges (24:20):
  Differing lifestyles of the victims initially led authorities to treat the cases separately, resulting in stalled investigations.

  "The cases were investigated separately as there was nothing to indicate the murders were connected." ([24:20])

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Warwick Police Department and Cold Cases

Detective Sergeant Fred Pierce provides context on Warwick's struggle with multiple unsolved homicides, particularly those related to organized crime:

• Organized Crime Influence (29:43):
  A significant portion of Warwick's cold cases involved organized crime, which diverted resources and attention from other investigations.

  "It looks like everything stopped in 1987 as part of the investigation and the Kathy and Rhonda's case." ([26:52])

• Impact of Major Cases (25:10):
  The emergence of Craig Price, a juvenile serial killer responsible for multiple brutal murders, shifted focus and resources, causing Kathy and Rhonda's cases to go cold.

  "Craig Price was a serial killer, there's no doubt about it. I mean, it was hideous." ([25:57])

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Reopening the Cases

Years later, a breakthrough occurs that reignites the investigations:

• Anonymous Tip and Voicemail (27:23):
  In 2006, Sergeant Pierce receives voicemails implicating Carmelo Tony Contreras in multiple unsolved homicides, including Kathy's.

  "The caller accused Contreras of being responsible for a few unsolved homicides." ([27:23])

• Utilizing Social Media (33:28):
  In 2010, Pierce leverages Facebook to create a profile for Kathy Perry, connecting with individuals who might have information and revitalizing community interest.

  "I wonder if I could do this for Kathy... maybe somebody knows something." ([34:45])

• Key Connection and New Lead (36:46):
  Pierce identifies a connection with Robert "Bob" Catlow, Chief Inspector of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, who hints at an informant with crucial information.

  "He said I have a longtime informant at the ACI who's willing to come forward with information he knows will kill Kathy." ([38:01])

• Focus on the Informant (38:37):
  The informant, referred to as Stanley, was already a known name from previous investigations, leading Pierce to delve deeper into this potential lead despite earlier setbacks.

  "Stanley was back... but things slowed down and the investigation sputtered out." ([38:37])

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Renewed Investigation and Future Prospects

With the new lead, Sergeant Pierce renews his commitment to solving the cases:

• Serial Predator Theory (39:31):
  Pierce theorizes that both murders could be the work of a serial rapist or sexual predator rather than two separate opportunistic killers.

  "They should have been looking for a serial rapist, a sexual predator." ([39:31])

• Next Steps (39:48):
  The investigation is poised to explore the new information provided by the informant, with hopes of finally bringing justice to Kathy and Rhonda's families.

  "In the next episode of Dark Downeast, Sergeant Pierce will walk us through his renewed investigation..." ([39:48])

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Conclusion

Kylie Lowe underscores the podcast’s mission to honor the victims and their families by persisting in the search for truth and justice. She encourages listeners with any information to reach out to the Warwick Police Department or Sergeant Pierce directly.

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Notable Quotes

1. Detective Sergeant Fred Pierce on Kathy’s Abduction:

   "Whoever killed Kathy had found her in a vulnerable state on the side of the road in the middle of the night, likely all by happenstance." ([09:00])

2. Pierce Reflecting on Investigation Stagnation:

   "I think that contributed to the case going cold. I really do..." ([26:52])

3. On Reopening the Case via Social Media:

   "I wonder if I could do this for Kathy... maybe somebody knows something." ([34:45])

4. Pierce’s Theory on Serial Offender:

   "They should have been looking for a serial rapist, a sexual predator." ([39:31])

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Additional Information

For those seeking more details or wishing to contribute information:

• Contact Warwick Police Department Detective Division: 401-468-4233
• Kathy Perry Facebook Page: [Link in Episode Description]
• Podcast Sources: darkdowneast.com

Dark Downeast is dedicated to ensuring that the stories of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Travers are not forgotten, providing a platform for their families and communities to seek closure and justice.

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Follow Dark Downeast:

• Instagram: @darkdowneast
• Website: darkdowneast.com

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This summary captures the essence of the "The Murders of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Travers" episode, highlighting key discussions, investigative insights, and the ongoing quest for justice.

Transcript

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[Kylie Lowe]

We'Re drawn to nature. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes, nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it, but the outdoors is closer than we realize. With alltrails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Download the free app today.

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[Detective Sergeant]

About two hours later, Warwick police got a call for a car that's abandoned on Route 2 south, and it's only a couple miles from where Kathy lives, and it's on the same direct route that she would travel if she went home. The car's just sitting there on the side of the road, and it's weird because it's on an angle, too, where the back end of the car is actually sitting in in the travel portion of the road. The car's running, the lights are on, the heat is on. Her purse with $107 is sitting on the passenger seat. But Kathy's gone. And that obviously, Kathy's car, she's gone. Where is she? Nobody knows where she is.

[Fred Pierce]

The car was found right out front of the Kent County Courthouse at 222 Quaker Lane. The patrolman checked the Rhode island registration records and traced the car to Kathy Perry. And so an officer was sent to Kathy's house, only about two miles away from the location of the car. Cathy's mother, Marilyn, was home when the officer knocked on the door. Marilyn checked Kathy's room and for good measure, searched the rest of the house, but Kathie wasn't there. Marilyn wondered if maybe Kathie went out with her boyfriend Bruce after work, but couldn't be sure where her daughter was at that Point police asked Marilyn to come to the scene of the abandoned vehicle and she confirmed it belonged to her daughter. It was already obvious that something wasn't right. Marilyn filed a missing persons report and police put out an attempt to locate Kathy's car was then impounded and processed for evidence.

[Detective Sergeant]

One of the things that the officer at the scene noticed was that there's a bear can. There's a bear can in front of the Kathy's car. And according to his report, it's fresh. It hasn't been there for a very long period of time.

[Fred Pierce]

The fresh can of Budweiser was collected and tagged as evidence. As the search for Kathie began. The effort was brief. Around 8am that same morning, a truck driver hauling debris from a local construction site was headed to a secluded spot off Telmore Road right at the East Greenwich town line.

[Detective Sergeant]

As the truck driver goes up in this path, he sees the body of Kathy Perry.

[Fred Pierce]

Kathy Perry's remains were discovered down a roughly 250 foot long one lane gravel road that ended in a clearing. Dusty pebbles and larger boulders dotted the area that had likely been hauled in from various construction sites. Piles of dirt and debris as tall as a person formed a circle around the open clearing. But from the truck driver's vantage point, there was no missing the woman's body. She was lying face up at the bottom of a pile of dirt which was splattered with blood. The driver quickly left the scene to find a phone at a nearby business and asked the employees there to call 911. The way Sergeant Pierce explained it, law enforcement already assumed that the deceased woman was Kathy Perry based on all the circumstances they were dealing with at the time Kathy was missing. Her vehicle was abandoned on the side of the street. And now there was a deceased woman found less than two miles away. The deputy chief of the West Warwick Police Department, who knew Kathy's family, wanted to positively identify the remains before delivering any news to Kathy's mother. However, the condition of the victim made visual identification impossible. A positive ID came later. The victim was in fact Kathy Perry.

[Detective Sergeant]

She was so badly beaten that he didn't even recognize her. There's multiple fractures. She was actually strangled at some point.

[Fred Pierce]

Early newspaper reports I found don't mention strangulation publicly. Available sources indicate that Kathy died of multiple head injuries.

[Detective Sergeant]

She was found naked and she was just wearing her socks.

[Fred Pierce]

She also had a necklace with a diamond pendant around her neck. When Kathy left work the night before, she was wearing a pink and white blouse that was found near her body.

[Detective Sergeant]

But the rest of her clothing was found, like 25ft away. Her pants, her sneakers, everything was found. And the only thing that was splattered with her blood was the blouse and her socks. All the other clothes, clothing didn't have any blood on it.

[Fred Pierce]

Based partly on the fact that Kathie was found nude, investigators believed that Kathie had been sexually assaulted. Testing showed that Kathy may have had sexual contact with a male within 72 hours of her death. But the medical examiner's findings regarding possible sexual assault were inconclusive. Kathy's death was ruled a homicide, a brutal, violent homicide. Early reporting in the Providence Journal indicated that her skull may have been crushed with a boulder, perhaps found at the scene. What the hell happened after Kathy Perry left work that night, between the six hours after she clocked out and before her body was found in a secluded dirt pit? To begin to answer that question, Warwick police first aimed to answer the several others having to do with Kathy's car. Why was it pulled over on the side of the street somewhat haphazardly with the back end still in the travel lane? Did someone run Kathy off the road, force her to stop, or did she experience car trouble? According to reports from the original investigation that Sergeant Pierce has reviewed, Kathy's mother, Marilyn, told the on scene patrol supervisor, sergeant Dennis Morley, that Kathy's car was having power steering issues and it may have recently been leaking fluid. Sergeant Morley tried the steering wheel himself, and sure enough, it was, quote, extremely difficult to move. End quote. So car trouble. Whoever killed Kathy had found her in a vulnerable state on the side of the road in the middle of the night, likely all by happenstance. The very next night, a Warwick detective coordinated a roadblock near the location of Kathy's car around the same time she would have been driving past and pulled over at that spot. The goal was to talk to people who routinely traveled that route.

[Detective Sergeant]

One of the things that they learned was that a lot of the people traveling the roadway that time in the morning worked at a place called Lacroix Catering, which makes sense that early in the morning. And they actually, they catered, you know, obviously the businesses. And wouldn't you know, they catered to businesses on Telmore Road where Kathy was found. They also catered to ultra finishes where Kathy worked.

[Fred Pierce]

As police stopped drivers at the roadblock, they asked if anyone saw Kathie or her car.

[Detective Sergeant]

And a lot of them did. And many of them did, did see Kathy's car on the side. One lady actually gave Kathy's license plate. And one person in particular, a guy named Thomas, he goes by. He actually sees a second car with Kathy. He sees Kathy talking outside of her car with the this person. He describes him as having long, long hair and he's drinking from the bear can. He describes a car that's parked in front of her. Car's in the back, his car's in the front. It's a green car, a large older model green car.

[Fred Pierce]

Hypnosis was a common investigative technique back in this era. Thomas agreed to be hypnotized to see if he could recall any other details about this person and the green car.

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[Kylie Lowe]

We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With alltrails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Download the free app Today.

[Fred Pierce]

Sergeant Pierce is writing a book about Kathy and Rhonda's cases. He shared portions of his manuscript with me, including excerpts from reports filed by Warwick PD Captain Stanley Mitchell about the hypnosis session with the witness Thomas. From that report, quote, Thomas was then asked to review his recall in slow motion and to relate the same as he did this, he related that he was coming down the hill, observed a smaller light color car parked in front and it had its four ways on. He said that there were three male subjects to the rear of this vehicle and they seemed to be partying a little bit. He said that he believed that he recalled something on the ground. Glass or something like that. He said that one of the guys was holding a soda can or something. End quote. If what Thomas recalled under hypnosis was true, then it's possible that he saw Kathy with the person who abducted and killed her. If one of the people Thomas believes he saw was truly holding a can, as he recalled under hypnosis, it's possible it wasn't a soda can, but a beer can, like the one found on the ground in front of Kathy's car. For example. Thomas looked through a book of car photos and identified a few that could have been the car he saw near Kathy's that night. It was a starting point, at least, but it didn't narrow down a suspect pool by any means. Based on the fact that Kathy's purse, with more than $100 in cash, was found untouched in her car, and her diamond necklace was still clasped around her neck when her body was found. Investigators ruled out robbery as a motive. Kathie's lifestyle and social circle didn't suggest she was wrapped up in anything that might put her in harm's way. But there was something among her possessions that raised several questions. A license plate number scrawled on a piece of paper tucked inside her purse. It came back registered to a green 1974 Chevrolet Malibu, and it had only been registered for three months before Kathy was killed. Meaning that in the three months before she was presumably abducted from the side of the road and brutally murdered. Kathy wrote down a license plate number. For reasons unknown, the license plate traced back to a green car. Thomas, the witness, said that he saw a green car pulled over in the front of Kathy's car on the night she was murdered. Sergeant Pierce reviewed the original records from Kathy's case, and it does not appear that detectives actually spoke to the man who owned the car in 1986. But a friend of the car's owner said that he was on active duty with the Navy in Chicago at the time. It seems like the license plate lead was dismissed. After that, police had other people to look into, though, including those closest to Kathy. Her boyfriend Bruce was briefly investigated as a possible suspect.

[Detective Sergeant]

Bruce was ruled out right off the bat because he was still at work. He was working. It was verified that he was there. And even after the police went through ultrafinishes to get information, he was still working, so they verified he was.

[Fred Pierce]

There was also a rumor that Kathy was seeing a married man at some point before her Murder. The man admitted to having an affair with Kathy, but he too was quickly ruled out as a suspect.

[Detective Sergeant]

They polygraphed him back in the day. His wife at the time provided an alibi for him. Years later, I spoke both to him and his now ex wife and the stories were consistent. She did provide an alibi for him and he readily agreed to give me his DNA, that kind of thing. So there was no indication that he had any involvement in it.

[Fred Pierce]

Police looked into other boyfriends and acquaintances too, but there was nothing there. And to begin with, the circumstances of her presumed abduction and murder gave the impression this was an opportunistic stranger type homicide. Kathy was on a short drive home and she just happened to be pulled over on the side of the road. These types of crimes can be the most challenging to investigate. Warwick police administered polygraph exams to at least three people in the first two days of the investigation and continued interviewing her friends, relatives and co workers. But months ticked by without any progress. Kathy's case was still open and active when Warwick police were faced with another homicide. A second female victim found in a secluded industrial section of town. It was around 12.40pm on June 20, 1987, when a man was doing some scrapping in a wooded area in the Hills Grove section of Warwick. If you're not familiar with the activity, scrapping can mean scavenging for discarded items, either to refurbish and keep or sell, like a trash to treasure sort of deal. As he wove side streets and industrial areas, the scrapper ventured behind the old Leviton manufacturing complex off Kilvert street in Warwick, a spot he frequently checked. It was a known party spot and dumping ground for trash and debris. A potential honey hole for a scrapper. But that day, the man found something he never expected to encounter on his treasure hunt. Some distance off a dirt path, he stumbled upon the body of a deceased woman. She was laying on her back with her arms out to her sides. The woman was wearing what was described as a pink disco outfit and a white cotton jacket, but her clothing was in disarray. Her pants and pantyhose were still on her body, but the pants were unbuttoned and her top was pulled up around her armpits, showing stab wounds across her chest and bruises on her arms and body.

[Detective Sergeant]

When Rhonda was found, she was in a state of undress. Rhonda was stabbed 10 times in her chest and in her neck area. But what's unusual, what I found was unusual is that none of the stab wounds were through her clothing.

[Fred Pierce]

The Woman did not have any identification on her when she was found. However, when police later ran her fingerprints, their records came back matching 26 year old Rhonda Kelly, which turned out to be an alias. The victim's legal name was Rhonda Travers. Rhonda had been arrested on May 4 and again on June 13, 1987, just seven days before she was found dead on charges of prostitution. An autopsy showed that Rhonda died of multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest and had been strangled. Her death was ruled a homicide. According to Sgt. Pierce, the murder weapon was believed to be a single edged knife. The medical examiner, Dr. William Q. Sterner, concluded that Rhonda's body had been there a fair amount of time. But he did not get more specific to protect the investigation. The autopsy results found no evidence of sexual assault. Warwick police began their investigation into Rhonda's murder surveying the scene off the dirt path where her remains were discovered. But it was difficult to discern what was related to her murder and what was just trash. There was no murder weapon at the scene. One of Rhonda's shoes, a white high heel, was found near her body, but its companion was not. At least one report states that Rhonda was wearing a high end strand of pearls around her neck when she was found. Though Sergeant Pierce hasn't been able to verify this detail. If true, it suggests that robbery wasn't the motive here.

[Detective Sergeant]

There was evidence at the scene, that of Rhonda's homicide, that she was actually dragged almost in an effort to kind of conceal her a little bit.

[Fred Pierce]

The location was near the city of Warwick's wastewater treatment plant. A little over a week into the investigation of her murder, an employee of the wastewater treatment plant was out checking dumpsters for any salvageable building materials. So another different scrapper, when he found a red purse, it still had some personal items inside, which allowed him to identify the owner as Rhonda Travers. There was a second bag in the dumpster that apparently belonged to Rhonda, this one filled with clothing. The employee reported the discovery to the police, who were trying to piece together a timeline of Rhonda's last known movements before she was killed. Witnesses say that Rhonda didn't have a permanent address at the time of her murder. For a while, she had been staying at a residence on Lenox Avenue in Providence occupied by a known drug dealer named Norman Tate, who is now deceased. Rhonda reportedly screened customers at the door for Norman. But witnesses say that Rhonda allegedly stole some of the product so she wasn't allowed there anymore. For a short period of time after that, she was staying across the street with another person known to sell drugs and sometimes crashed with someone else at his apartment on Bridgeham Street. Rhonda was known to engage in sex work. She had been seeing clients throughout the night. On Friday, June 19, and into the early morning hours of June 20, when she wasn't with clients, she was at the Bridgeham street apartment where some of the occupants were using cocaine in the form of crack. Due to substance use by witnesses that night, investigators have found their recollections to be somewhat unreliable. However, as far as the original investigation could confirm, Rhonda was last seen alive around 4am Around 4 o' clock in.

[Detective Sergeant]

The morning, Rhonda is seen getting into a car on Westminster Street. It was a green car and according to the witness, she acted like she knew the person.

[Fred Pierce]

That was the last trace of her. Investigators back in 1987 were unable to track down whose car Rhonda got into, where she went next, and who else may have been in the vehicle or at the destination waiting for her. The circumstances of the victims lives were very different. There was Kathy Perry, a quote unquote, nice woman from a nice family, and Rhonda Travers, who had a history of sex work, associated arrests and substance use. However different on the surface they seemed, though both women had families who loved them, who mourned their loss and stolen potential, they hoped answers and justice would be swift. Instead, the investigations screeched to a halt in 1987.

[Detective Sergeant]

And it just looks like everything stopped. Everything stopped in 1987 as part of the investigation and the Kathy and Rondis case.

[Fred Pierce]

The cases were investigated separately as there was nothing to indicate the murders were connected. But both investigations into the women found murdered in Warwick in September of 1986 and June of 1987 faded out within a year. In my conversation with Sergeant Pierce, he shared his theories as to why the cases may have gone cold. As we've discussed already, Kathie's murder showed elements of an opportunistic stranger crime, which is more challenging to investigate. As for Rhonda's case, the circumstances of her life may have caused some indifference among law enforcement at the time. And there was something else happening in Warwick at the time too.

[Detective Sergeant]

And I'm saying why did it stop? 1987 was when the Craig Price murders happened.

[Fred Pierce]

Craig Price was 13 years old when on July 27, 1987, he broke into the home of his neighbor, 27 year old Rebecca Spencer, and stabbed her with a kitchen knife nearly 60 times, killing her. On September 1, 1989, when he was 15 years old, Craig murdered 39 year old Joan Heaton, stabbing her 57 times and killing her two young daughters also by dozens of stab wounds. Craig was arrested in September of 1989 after police received a tip and matched a wound on his hand to a cut sustained during one of the killings. He confessed to all four murders.

[Detective Sergeant]

It's probably the biggest case Warwick has ever had. You know, he was a serial killer, there's no doubt about it. I mean, it was hideous.

[Fred Pierce]

At the time, Rhode island law did not allow juveniles to be tried as adults for crimes committed before age 16. This meant that under existing law, Craig would have been released at age 21 and his juvenile records sealed despite the severity of his crimes. Due to public outrage and the threat of his release, Rhode island lawmakers later enacted legislation allowing juveniles to be tried as adults in certain violent felony cases. However, these changes could not be applied retroactively to Craig's case. Craig Price ultimately remained incarcerated because he committed a series of disciplinary infractions and new crimes while in custody, including assaults and threats. These offenses led to additional charges and sentences preventing his release.

[Detective Sergeant]

I think that contributed to the case going cold. I really do is because those two cases would the whole city war was in a panic when all that happened.

[Fred Pierce]

Whatever the true cause, be it lack of leads, indifference or investigative resources directed elsewhere, Kathy and Rhonda's cases went cold until a rambling voicemail reactivated the investigations.

[Dr. Sarah Rahal]

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[Kylie Lowe]

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[Fred Pierce]

Fred Pierce was a police officer for 37 years, starting as a military police officer with the Rhode island National Guard in 1981 and then a patrol officer in Greenwich, Rhode island in the mid-80s, before he joined his hometown force at Warwick police department. A few years later, Fred was promoted to patrol sergeant and then detective sergeant. He spent 22 years as detective sergeant supervising the night shift for the entire city of Warwick. In 2004, Sergeant Pierce was designated as Warwick PD's Cold Case Sergeant, supervising the long standing cases that had yet to reach a conclusion.

[Detective Sergeant]

We had about 15 unsolved homicides in the city going back to the 1970s. Many of those were organized crime. I gotta be honest with you, for some reason, organized crime, organized criminals, that homicides, they chose Warwick to be the dumping ground, if you will. So about half of those were organized crime.

[Fred Pierce]

Some of Warwick's other cold cases were considered domestic in nature. Many of the homicide cases Fred investigated throughout his career were in that category.

[Detective Sergeant]

But in the case of Kathy and Rhonda, which was they were different because they were more of a stranger type homicide, and it happened within nine months of each other, which was unique for that time. That really didn't happen back then, and it still doesn't.

[Fred Pierce]

As the sole investigator reviewing unsolved homicides for Warwick, Sergeant Pierce familiarized himself with every case. So in the event a tip came in, if a family called, if something happened to reignite the investigation, he'd already know the details.

[Detective Sergeant]

And in Kathy's case, that's exactly what happened. We got a phone conversation that was left on the patrol commander's voicemail. And if I wasn't familiar with the case, I don't think anybody would have realized that it was kind of important.

[Fred Pierce]

In February of 2006, the Warwick Police Patrol Commander received two voicemails from an anonymous caller. They were a little hard to follow, but a name in the rambling messages stuck out to Sergeant Pierce. Carmelo Tony Contreras. He remembered it from the Kathy Perry case file. The caller accused Contreras of being responsible for a few unsolved homicides. When the tip landed on Sergeant Pierce's desk. He wanted to run with it. By then, though, Kathie's case had been handed over to the Rhode Island State Police, so he had a hard time getting access to all the records needed at first. He eventually obtained copies of the original reports and some of the physical evidence. For almost two decades now, even during his retirement, Sergeant Pierce has been digging deep into Kathy and Rhonda's cases dedicated to uncovering the truth about what happened to these women. Following those rambling voice messages, Sergeant Pierce started down the path of investigating Contreras. But it was slow going. So in 2007, he aimed to generate new attention and leads with a little local media coverage. He reached out to the Kent County Daily times, and on August 3rd of that year, the paper ran a front page story. It didn't generate anything new as far as investigative leads at first, but it certainly stirred up conversation in town and even among other law enforcement officials. Sometime after the article ran, Sergeant Pierce received a phone call from West Warwick police detective Fernando Araujo.

[Detective Sergeant]

He said, hey, listen, we had a homicide back in 1990, a girl named Cheryl Johnson, and you may want to take a look at the guy that would be charged in that case. That was also a court case and it wasn't solved until 2001. And he gave me his name.

[Fred Pierce]

At the request of Sergeant Pierce and to protect the integrity of the investigation into Kathy and Rhonda's cases, we're going to refer to the suspect by a fake name chosen by Sergeant Stanley. Just a note. Although we are using a fake name for this suspect, Cheryl Johnson is the victim's real name. Sergeant Pierce knows, and I know that anyone with a knack for Internet sleuthing or knowledge of records request protocol in Rhode island can likely uncover Stanley's real name through Cheryl's case. Do with that information what you will.

[Detective Sergeant]

So I jotted the guy's name down. I looked into him basically, and I looked into their homicide, and it was like to me it looked like it was more of a domestic type situation, like a one time deal. And I didn't think that much of it. Shame on me for that.

[Fred Pierce]

At the time, Sergeant Pierce was very much still on the train of Tony Contreras. Spurred on by the voicemails from a tipster, that angle hadn't been ruled out. So Stanley was back. Bernard for the time being, but things slowed down and the investigation sputtered out. A few years later, Sergeant Pierce was this close to moving on from Kathy's case when a Facebook message changed everything in 2010, three years after that Kent County Daily Times article and the phone call from Detective Araujo, Sergeant Pierce had finally caved to prodding by out of state friends and decided to join Fear Facebook as a way to stay in touch. He was skeptical of learning a new technology at his age, but Fred made a profile anyway. As he navigated likes and comments and dms, he found himself really enjoying the platform. He was connecting with family and friends and reconnecting with people he hadn't seen or spoke to in years. This sparked an idea.

[Detective Sergeant]

So anyway, I said, all right, let me try it. So I did. And then I said, you know what? This is pretty cool. We can go back and forth. And I said, you know what? I wonder if it could happen if I could do this for Kathy, because it gives me connection to people that she knew, people that she worked with, et cetera. And it's like maybe somebody knows something.

[Fred Pierce]

Sergeant Pierce created a personal profile for Kathy versus a group or a page like you might see for other unsolved cases today. He set the profile photo as a black and white photo of Kathy smiling at the camera, her hair feathered back. He populated the info section with details about Kathy's case and went about sending friend requests to people who knew Kathy. Soon enough, people were initiating friend requests to Kathy themselves, some who actually knew her, some who didn't. There were plenty of armchair detectives, as Fred called them, who chimed in with their thoughts on her case. He even received some friend requests from people who simply saw Kathy's photo, thought she was attractive, and decided to hit on her via messenger. They were quickly scared off when he informed them they'd reached Detective Sergeant Fred Pierce of Warwick pd. He learned a lot about Kathy through that Facebook page. He connected with her friends and classmates, and those conversations helped bring Kathy to life. It strengthened his resolve to find an answer for the young woman and her mother, Marilyn. But about two years after the creation of Kathy's profile, Fred started to feel like it had run its course. The renewed investigation, now six or seven years old at this point, was stalling out. He was feeling burnt out, both personally and professionally, and was considering taking the lieutenant exam, which would mean moving on from his role as detective and handing off Kathy and Rhonda's case to someone else. That all came to a halt when he noticed a name on Kathy's Facebook friend list.

[Detective Sergeant]

I'm going through Facebook and all the friends that are on Kathy's list or whatever, and I notice a name and one of the names on there that I knew to be A longtime investigator up at dhci.

[Fred Pierce]

The name was Robert Bob Catlow, the Chief Inspector of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. Prior to that, Catlow was chief of the Special Investigations Unit. Sergeant Pierce sent a friend request to Chief Catlow himself. And then a few weeks later, he got a call from Bob.

[Detective Sergeant]

Hey, Fred, I've been looking at your Facebook page on Kathy Perry. And he said, would it mean anything to you if I told you she was fine with just her socks on? And of course it did, because that's exactly how she was found. It's not something that was widely known.

[Fred Pierce]

Sergeant Pierce explained that that detail may have been in a newspaper article at one time, but I personally have not found that particular article in the archives. I used to research old media coverage about Kathy and Rhonda's cases. If it was published at some point, you can't say it was a detail only the killer would have known. Still, the mention of that lesser known information got Sergeant Pierce's attention.

[Detective Sergeant]

Long story short, he said, I have a longtime informant at the ACI who's willing to come forward with information he knows will kill Kathy.

[Fred Pierce]

Sergeant Pierce is admittedly very wary of jailhouse informants. Oftentimes their cooperation with an investigation is hinged on reciprocity. I'll give you this information if you help me me get some perks in prison or help negotiate a shorter sentence kind of thing. Still, Sergeant Pierce was intrigued. He wanted to know if the informant was willing to give the name of Kathy's alleged killer up front.

[Detective Sergeant]

So I asked the chief when he called me and said, can you tell me what the guy's name was? And he told me, Stanley. We use the name Stanley. And was like, oh, boy.

[Fred Pierce]

Sergeant Pierce had heard that name before, several years earlier. It was the same name he back burnered while still on the trail of Contreras, which, by the way, turned out to be a dead end. Contreras is not believed to have anything to do with Kathy's murder. Fred is not too proud to admit that this likely cost the investigation valuable time. But any stagnation in the case was erased by that phone call. Sergeant Pierce paused his plans to take the lieutenant exam. He set out to learn everything there was to know about Stanley. Completely and totally invested in the search for answers. Once again.

[Detective Sergeant]

In Kathy's case and in Rhonda's case, they were looking for a murderer. Not just one, but they looked for two separate murderers. And I think that's where they. They made the mistake. They. What they should have been looking for was a serial rapist, a sexual predator.

[Fred Pierce]

After almost 20 years, the investigation into the murders of Kathy Perry and Rhonda Travers had a new lead. In the next episode of Dark Down East, Sergeant Pierce will walk us through his renewed investigation, the evidence, the informant and witnesses, and the grand jury proceedings that dangled the the possibility of justice. If you have any information relating to the 1986 murder of Kathy Perry or the 1987 murder of Rhonda Travers in Warwick, Rhode island, please contact the Warwick Police Department Detective Division at 401-468-4233. You can also share information with retired Warwick PD Sergeant Fred Pierce via the Kathy Perry Facebook page linked in the description of this episode. Any information shared with Sergeant Pierce will be forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. You can find all source material for this [e-mail] Be sure to follow the show on Instagram @darkdown East. 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?

[Detective Sergeant]

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[Fred Pierce]

World of Secrets the Killing Call A BBC World Service investigation into the murder of Punjabi singer and rapper Sidhu Musiala.

[Detective Sergeant]

The facts? They aren't out in the open. Why Siddhu Musaywala?

[Fred Pierce]

You know uncovering a global criminal underworld that reaches far beyond beyond India's borders.

[Detective Sergeant]

There are so many rumors no one wants to talk.

[Fred Pierce]

There might be repercussions. World of Secrets the Killing Call Listen on the BBC app or wherever you get your podcasts.