Paula Sladewski

Summary

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True Crime All The Time Unsolved

Episode 475: Paula Sladewski

Release Date: July 27, 2026
Hosts: Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson ("Gibby")

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the mysterious and tragic unsolved murder of Paula Sladewski, a 26-year-old model whose burned body was discovered in a Miami dumpster on January 3, 2010. Ferguson and Gibson dive deep into Paula’s life, the events leading to her death, the initial suspects—particularly her boyfriend, Kevin Klem—and the many open questions that still haunt investigators and Paula’s family. The hosts balance detailed case coverage with their signature banter, all while respectfully examining the human tragedy at the episode’s core.

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Case Background and Paula’s Early Life

[04:47 – 10:15]

• Victim: Paula Angela Sladewski (b. November 15, 1983, Garden City, Michigan)
• Described as beautiful, determined, and passionate about modeling.
• Had a turbulent home life: “According to Dateline, Paula had a difficult home life because her father was in and out of her life and she had several stepfathers.” – Ferguson [04:47]
• At age 14, dated a 29-year-old man—sister reported to CPS; mother condoned relationship.
  • Gibson: “That’s really messed up.” [06:09]
• The man was convicted as a sex offender but Paula resumed dating him when she reached the age of consent.
• Paula danced exotically to put herself through college; later left school to focus on modeling.
• Achievements included being one of 50 women selected in Playboy's 50th Anniversary Playmate Search (2003).

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Paula and Kevin Klem: Relationship History

[10:34 – 14:46]

• Started dating Kevin Klem in 2007; moved to Los Angeles amid the 2008 financial crisis.
• Relationship was tumultuous, marred by incidents of domestic violence on both sides.
  • Paula arrested for hitting Kevin with a bottle (case dropped after he refused to press charges).
  • Kevin arrested twice for assault; one incident left Paula with a broken nose.
  • Gibson: “Can’t be good.” [13:43]
• Despite volatility, in December 2009, they were apparently reconciling and planned a New Year’s trip to Miami for a Lady Gaga concert.

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The Miami Trip and Night at Club Space

[14:46 – 21:31]

• Paula and Kevin got concert tickets for Lady Gaga’s New Year’s Eve show and stayed with family in Michigan before flying to Miami.
• On the night in question, January 2–3, 2010, they dined out, then went to Club Space, one of Miami's most exclusive nightclubs.
• Club Space operated Saturdays from 11 pm to Sunday afternoon, famous for exclusivity and celebrity clientele.

Memorable Quotes:

• Ferguson: “The hazards of dating a very beautiful woman… could be a full time job.” [19:36]

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The Incident: Fights, Ejection, and Paula’s Disappearance

[21:31 – 25:01]

• Kevin and Paula fought in Club Space; Kevin became agitated by a man flirting with Paula.
• Security intervened and ejected Kevin; before Kevin left, Paula asked for his credit card.
  • “She didn’t want to leave. Kevin continued...I just grabbed her around the waist and the forearm like come on baby, it’s time to go... Bam. All of a sudden bouncers are on me.” – Ferguson, quoting Kevin [24:21]
• Paula stayed behind, and Kevin, now without a phone (he always held Paula’s when clubbing because she had no place to stow it), left for the hotel.
• Paula was last seen alive leaving the club around 7:37 am with an unidentified man.

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The Investigation: Kevin Becomes a Suspect

[25:50 – 36:26]

• Kevin realized Paula hadn’t returned; he tried to file a missing persons report but was rebuffed due to the insufficient time lapse.
• Proactively, he searched hospitals, jails, and returned to Club Space, even speaking with homeless people nearby for leads.
• Three days later, Paula’s body was identified through dental records; she was burned beyond recognition and found in a dumpster 12 miles from the club ([30:32]).

Notable Moments:

• The detective handed Kevin Paula’s burned earrings for identification:
  • “He called it the worst day of my life.” [31:53]
• Kevin was questioned for 12 hours, waived his Miranda rights: “He wanted to be ruled out so police could focus on finding the real killer.” [33:06]

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Surveillance, Witnesses, and the Mystery Man

[35:00 – 49:55]

• Club Space had about 30 cameras, but none clearly captured the sidewalk. One showed Paula leaving; another captured Kevin’s ejection.
• Witnesses said Paula left with a “well-built, light-skinned black man, about 6ft, full beard” holding her hand.
  • “They walked off holding hands as if they were a couple.” – Mike Samuels, Head of Security [44:31]
• Police released a sketch, but no person was ever identified.
• The man was wearing shorts—a violation of Club Space’s strict dress code—leading to speculation he may not have come from inside the club.
  • Ferguson: “It still seems so strange to me that she would get kicked out of the club and somehow meet a man outside...” [50:22]
• All staff accounted for via fingerprint time-clock, security maintains no involvement of employees.

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Theories and Family Perspectives

[49:55 – 56:37]

• Theories ranged from a club insider, to a chance meeting, to a patron changing clothes; none confirmed.
• Paula’s family had mixed views: Her stepfather and mother were highly suspicious of Kevin; her sister, while critical of his choices, defended that public opinion may have gone too far.
  • “Kelly said he shouldn’t have left her. And he’s going to have to live with that the rest of his life. He wants to kill himself... When she saw Paula and Kevin at Christmas, she said they seemed happy. She noted when they weren't drinking, they got along.” [39:24]
• Prescription diet pills and alcohol might have influenced behavior on the night Paula disappeared.

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Law Enforcement’s Perspective & Ongoing Uncertainty

[55:16 – End]

• Police believe Paula was killed elsewhere and brought to the dumpster; the alley was in an industrial area known primarily to locals.
  • “The police’s theory was that Paula was killed elsewhere and brought to the dumpster.” [57:15]
• Commander Mike Gadio (2020) declared Kevin no longer a person of interest, but suspicion lingered for years.
  • Ferguson: “Just because this guy comes out and says that doesn’t mean... the family’s going to stop looking at Kevin as maybe the person who killed Paula.” [56:37]
• Investigation remains at a standstill; the “mystery man” from the sketch has never been identified or found.
• The hosts close on the tragic impact on Paula’s loved ones and the slim likelihood of resolution without new evidence or a tip.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Club Space’s exclusivity:
  “...Having a place that’s only open one night a week, did that type of exclusivity lead to its popularity?” – Ferguson [17:41]

• On being the suspect:
  “When he was released, he felt like the prime suspect. He wasn’t sure whether or not he was going to be arrested. And how could you not think that you might be arrested if detectives are saying, hey, we believe that you killed Paula, why'd you do it?” – Ferguson [33:11]

• Paula’s Sister Kelly on grief:
  “What’s really, really hard is not knowing if she went quick, what happened before. That’s the toughest thing of all to think what my sister was going through.” [42:37]

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Key Timestamps

• Paula’s childhood and relationship history: 04:47–14:46
• The night at Club Space, fight, and ejection: 14:46–25:01
• Discovery of Paula’s body and aftermath: 30:32–36:26
• Security footage and witness accounts: 35:00–45:44
• Family perspective, doubts, and theories: 39:00–56:37
• Police statements and case status: 55:16–end

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Final Thoughts

Ferguson and Gibson underline the mystery that persists: How did a savvy young woman end up leaving a Miami nightclub with a man no one can identify? Was he a stranger? Did she meet him inside or outside? The lack of physical evidence, the burning of Paula’s body, and the unsolved status reinforce the urgency of public tips and witnesses finally coming forward.

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Contact

Anyone with information about Paula Sladewski's case is urged to call:

• Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers: 305-471-TIPS

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Tone: Compassionate, occasionally humorous, always direct—reflecting the hosts’ approach of tackling dark subject matter with seriousness, but not taking themselves too seriously.

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(This summary omits ads, intros, and outros as requested. For more True Crime All The Time Unsolved, visit their PodcastOne feed.)

Transcript

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[Carter Roy]

the moment a body is found, the clock starts ticking. 48 hours before the trail goes cold. From A and E and Crime House. This is the official podcast from the famous true crime series the first 48. I'm Carter Roy. Every Thursday I revisit a landmark homicide investigation in depth with long form storytelling built for your ears. Listen to and follow the First 48 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Mike Ferguson]

Sam.

[Booking.com Advertiser (continued)]

Foreign.

[Mike Ferguson]

And welcome to episode 475 of the True Crime all the Time Unsolved Podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me, as always, is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you doing?

[Mike Gibson]

Good man. How about you?

[Mike Ferguson]

Doing great. We just ate a whole bucket of chicken. We did fried chicken. I like me some fried chicken.

[Mike Gibson]

You? You heard you were definitely into that chicken.

[Mike Ferguson]

I don't get fried chicken. A lot because my wife and the kids, they like chicken strips.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

They don't like chicken on the bone, but I do. So. But I placed the order. So I got to get what I get.

[Mike Gibson]

What you want? Yeah. Was it kind of like finger licking good, but it wasn't that, that, that brand?

[Mike Ferguson]

It was not that brand. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs. We had Nicole Massey.

[Mike Gibson]

What's going on, Nicole?

[Mike Ferguson]

Michelle McGowan.

[Mike Gibson]

Hey, Michelle.

[Mike Ferguson]

Jody Reynolds.

[Mike Gibson]

What's up, Reynolds?

[Mike Ferguson]

Mel Samper.

[Mike Gibson]

Hey, Samper.

[Mike Ferguson]

Anthony Jones jumped out at her highest level.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, look at Anthony.

[Mike Ferguson]

Alexis Witt.

[Mike Gibson]

Hey, Alexis.

[Mike Ferguson]

And last but not least, Cindy Wagner Douglas.

[Mike Gibson]

Thank you so much, Cindy.

[Mike Ferguson]

And then if we go back into the vault this week, we selected Kim Moore.

[Mike Gibson]

What up, Kim?

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Appreciate all the new support, the continued support. We have a new Patreon episode that drops Saturday night on Maria Jose Alvarado Munoz, who was a Honduran TV model. She actually was the winner of the Miss World Honduras 2014. But just months after winning that, she and her sister were tragically murdered.

[Mike Gibson]

It's a good episode.

[Pluto TV Announcer]

It is.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. So if you're Patreon, check it out. If you're not, now's a great time to sign up. And we have a new True Crime all the Time out it's on Lawrence Harris Sr. This is a man who called police to report a fire at his house. And once authorities got there, they found the bodies of his 8 and 10 year old stepdaughters. But Lawrence claimed that the girls died during a ritual that had gone bad.

[Mike Gibson]

I would say so.

[Mike Ferguson]

It's a wild episode.

[Mike Gibson]

It really is.

[Mike Ferguson]

So make sure you check that out. All right, buddy. Are you ready to get into this episode of True Crime all the time unsolved?

[Mike Gibson]

I am ready.

[Mike Ferguson]

We're talking about Paula Sladu. On January 3, 2010, the body of 26 year old model Paula Sladowski was found in a burning dumpster in Miami, Florida. Sixteen years later, her case remains unsolved and police are still searching for an unidentified suspect. Seen walking with Paula hours before her body was found. Paula Angela Sladowski was born on November 15, 1983 in Garden City, Michigan. She was the youngest of three and grew up in Detroit. According to Dateline, Paula had a difficult home life because her father was an inner life and she had several stepfathers.

[Mike Gibson]

So it sounds like she had some challenges.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, let's face it, a lot of people do, right? Not everyone has a great childhood.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And it's not just killers. We talk about a lot of killers, obviously, who have kind of messed up childhoods. A lot of people have bad childhoods. They don't go on to, you know, commit crimes or anything like that. When Paula was only 14, she started dating a 29 year old man. Her older sister Kelly Ferris called Child Protective Services because Paula's mother allowed the relationship.

[Mike Gibson]

That's really messed up.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, I mean, I'm telling you,

[Mike Gibson]

the fact that the mom allowed it, but also this guy that he thought it was okay to date a 14 year old.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, I don't know what 29 year old man thinks that that's a good idea. Obviously it's criminal.

[Caller Rachel]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

But even beyond that, what type of man would want to date a 14 year old, you know, go out, find somebody your own age. Absolutely doesn't make any sense. But like you said to me, the most egregious part of the whole thing is that the mother was okay with it. You know, maybe we're getting a glimpse here into the jacked up childhood. What mom is okay with her 14 year old daughter dating a 29 year old grown ass man?

[Mike Gibson]

So like a mom that just doesn't want to be a mom.

[Mike Ferguson]

There's something going on because I know there's a ton of moms listening that are like, oh my gosh, I would never do that. Yeah, you know, they, they would have the shotgun ready and the butcher knife or whatever it was to chase this guy off. They certainly wouldn't be blessing the union.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

The man was arrested and convicted of having sex with the minor. He was sentenced to two years in prison and had to register as a sex offender, as he should. Yeah, but Paula started seeing him once he was released and by this time she was, you know, old enough, she was past the age of consent. According to her mother, Patsy Watkins, Paula was a beautiful woman who loved life, travel and modeling. Paula considered going into nursing and she worked as an exotic dancer to pay her college tuition. She ultimately decided to leave school to pursue a career as a model, which was her true passion.

[Mike Gibson]

So, I mean, some things in common, right? I did a little exotic dance and I still do it on the weekends at the. Yeah, senior home.

[Mike Ferguson]

You also have done some nude modeling as Mike Honcho.

[Mike Gibson]

Only when they paid the premium.

[Mike Ferguson]

Paula was represented by a national modeling agency. According to Dateline, she auditioned for the national Playboy Playmate search and was Featured in the 2003 video Playboy's 50th anniversary Ultimate Playmate Search.

[Mike Gibson]

I think I see that Video over there on your shelf with your whole collection.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, you do not. But, you know, let's be honest. Whether you like Playboy, you agree with Playboy, it's hard to deny that playboy in the 2000 early 2000s was booming.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, yeah, it really. I mean, again, they did have really good articles.

[Mike Ferguson]

I'll take your word for that. I've never had a subscription to Playboy, but, I mean, they. They started to become a little more mainstream, I think. I remember there was a. A reality show.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

With like half. And the two or three women that lived with him or dated him at all at the same time. Paula was happy that she auditioned because she was one of the 50 women chosen from a pool of 500 applicants.

[Mike Gibson]

Impressive.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is. She continued to work as an exotic dancer while she pursued more modeling gigs. Her stepfather, Richard Watkins, told the Miami Herald, she went on a lot of interviews, but never landed anything big. She would have loved that. Modeling was her dream. And, you know, the. The quest for fame, whether it's modeling, professional sports, acting, whatever it is, it's a dream that a lot of people have.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But the percentage of people who truly make it big is very small. There's just no doubt about it.

[Mike Gibson]

Very tough competition.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, there's only so many Leonardo DiCaprio's. Right, right. There's a bunch of Mike Gibsons who are working waiters trying to become the next Leonardo, but very few are able to do it.

[Mike Gibson]

Rex west sometimes gets close to Leonardo,

[Mike Ferguson]

as in like a stalkery type of way. Around 2007, Paula started dating Kevin Klemp, who was five years older than her. Kevin did an extensive interview with Dateline where he spoke about the case and their relationship. He said about Paula's work as an exotic dancer. We got to that point where she was like, this is it. Take it or leave it. And I said, well, I love you that much. I'm going to take it.

[Booking.com Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, it'd be kind of difficult if you're dating somebody that does exotic dancing. I mean, you might not like the attention that she gets when she's on stage, when she's at the clubs and.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, I would think events. Yeah, I think. I think it would be especially hard if you're like the jealous type.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You either can't go to that club at all and see what's going on, or you just kind of have to be okay with it.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I mean, because she's making her money by flirting.

[Caller Rachel]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

That's kind of the whole point of the I think exotic dancer.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Type role. You know, you're selling a fantasy, right? All these men have to believe in their minds that they could somehow take you home.

[Mike Gibson]

That's true.

[Mike Ferguson]

It's not going to happen. No, but they have to. You have to sell that. They have to at least believe it. I think Paula made enough money that they were able to move to Los Angeles. But unfortunately, the move happened right around the time of the housing market crash.

[Mike Gibson]

Ouch.

[Pluto TV Announcer]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

As a result, Kevin's mortgage and real estate business was struggling. And, you know, 2008, you and I remember very well.

[Mike Gibson]

We do.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, we worked in the real estate industry and the mortgage industry. It was a very tumultuous time, to say the least.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Paula continued dancing to pay their bills. They split their time between Michigan and Rancho Cucamonga, California.

[Mike Gibson]

It's just fun to say.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is fun to say. Also very well known from the second Friday movie.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Pretty sure that's where they moved to when they won that big lottery.

[Mike Gibson]

All right, now I know what you're talking about.

[Mike Ferguson]

His uncle. Ice Cube's uncle. They moved to Rancho Cucamonga around the time of her death. Paula was starting to consider other pursuits, such as opening a tanning salon or a dog accessory boutique. She was a dog lover and owned two Yorkies. I love Yorkies.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, they're nice.

[Mike Ferguson]

They're similar to, you know, we own two Malteses. We love our Malteses, but we're like little dog people.

[Mike Gibson]

You are little dog people.

[Mike Ferguson]

At times, Paula and Kevin had a tumultuous relationship. There were domestic violence court records in both California and Michigan. In June 2009, Paula was arrested in California for hitting Kevin with a bottle. Her case was dropped in December of that year when he refused to press

[Mike Gibson]

charges and be hit with a bottle.

[Mike Ferguson]

Can't be good.

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

But what was he doing?

[Mike Gibson]

Well, that's true.

[Mike Ferguson]

We don't know because he was arrested twice in Michigan for assault. The second incident left Paula with a broken nose.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, that's not good either.

[Mike Ferguson]

That's not so. You know, we don't know who is the aggressor in every situation, but obviously it was physical quite a bit.

[Mike Gibson]

Just wonder how that relationship moves forward.

[Mike Ferguson]

Good times, bad times. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. Now, Kevin would say that this was an accident, of course. What are most people going to say? Yeah, I meant to break her nose. I broke it on purpose. You know, accident is kind of a. A go to. It's an easy out in a lot of these scenarios. In December of 2009, Paula and Kevin seemed to be in a pretty good place in their relationship. They planned a trip to Miami to attend Lady Gaga's New Year's Eve concert.

[Mike Gibson]

Okay. It's a. Sounds like a big event.

[Mike Ferguson]

It also sounds like it wouldn't be cheap.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I think it would be kind of expensive.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, first of all, you're flying from California to Miami.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And then I'm assuming the tickets were probably pretty expensive and wherever you're staying and all that. But according to Paula's mother, Patsy Watkins, Paula was originally going to Vegas for New Year's, but she found a deal online for the concert tickets and changed her plans.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, Vegas would probably be a pretty cool place to do New Year's at.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I think so.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, it's pretty raucous every other night of the year. So I can only imagine what New Year's Eve would be like in Las Vegas.

[Mike Gibson]

Just take it up a notch a little bit.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. I never went to Vegas until I was, heck, almost 50 years old. We've been twice in the last, what, four years?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

For Crimecon and.

[Booking.com Advertiser]

All right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Vegas is fun and small spurts, you know, I'm not much of a gambler and I'm not much of a drinker, so I do like the shows and I love the food. What I don't like is walking down the street in a following a plume of marijuana smoke everywhere you go. I swear, everybody in Vegas is smoking marijuana. You just, you're just bathing in it.

[Mike Gibson]

You just get high from walking.

[Mike Ferguson]

Seems like everybody is. Paula and Kevin spent Christmas in Michigan with her family. Before they left for Florida, Paula dropped her dogs off at her mom's house. She planned to pick them up when they returned on Monday, January 4th. So I talked about flying from California to Miami, but obviously they didn't do that. They went to Michigan first, and then they were going to go from Michigan to Miami. But still, I mean, you got multiple flights there.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, it's not going to be cheap.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, not going to be cheap at all. Paula and Kevin's weekend in Miami started with the lady gaga concert on January 2, 2010. The couple decided to splurge and move to a nicer hotel on South Beach. They went out to eat and chatted with a waiter about places to go. He suggested they go to Club Space, one of the city's most popular nightclubs. At the time, Club Space was only open one night a week from 11pm Saturday to Sunday afternoon.

[Mike Gibson]

Isn't that amazing. So it made enough money to be profitable by opening that one time, you know, the 11pm opening time. I can guess that not a lot of people went besides the people that wanted to get in. I think the real partying probably started like at 3, 4 o', clock, you know, at night.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. But maybe you had to go at 11 just to get in.

[Mike Gibson]

That's true.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I just wonder, having a place that's only open one night a week, did that type of exclusivity kind of lead to its popularity? Probably did in some respects. You know, you think about Club 54, right. I know you went a lot back in the day, but you know, the whole thing was not everybody could get in.

[Caller Rachel]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Which made more people want to get in.

[Mike Gibson]

Absolutely.

[Mike Ferguson]

Not to mention the fact that there were a lot of celebrities there and things like that.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. You think of Studio 54, you think of the Viper Room out in Vegas. I mean not Vegas, but la, because it's where all the celebrities were. It's all the important people seem to be. But you couldn't get in all the time. Right. You had to know somebody to get in. Or just by chance of luck you got got in that night.

[Mike Ferguson]

Or you had to be extremely good looking or something. You had to have something.

[Mike Gibson]

Something.

[Mike Ferguson]

At least in the case of Studio 54. In the documentaries I've seen, he was looking for a certain look or a certain type of person. If you weren't a celebrity, you had to have something special.

[Mike Gibson]

Otherwise you weren't getting it.

[Mike Ferguson]

Nope. He was brutal about it too. On the night of January 2nd, Paula and Kevin went to dinner and Paula bought a new dress. They went to sleep for a little bit, then woke up and got ready to go out in the early morning hours. They took a cab to club space at 5:30am on January 3rd.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, why get there any sooner? I guess.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I, I don't know. You're gonna start partying at 5:30am that's, that's crazy. Paula was a beautiful young woman who received a lot of attention from men. When she started dancing, Kevin basically had to focus on fending off the men who were trying to get close to her.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean it seems like a, a lot of work.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, and it could be a full time job.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know, and it, I guess the hazards of dating a very beautiful woman. Right. If you're a guy, that woman is going to get a lot of attention. Now do you have to fend them off? I don't know. Maybe. Does that speak to him being A little protective, a little jealous maybe?

[Mike Gibson]

I think so.

[Mike Ferguson]

I'm sure it's very similar. Like when you and Christina goes out, you know, she's got to be on her toes for all these women that are coming after you.

[Mike Gibson]

I know it. I can't control it. I tell her,

[Mike Ferguson]

I keep telling you to stop wearing that sex panther.

[Mike Gibson]

It's 60% of the time. It works every time.

[Mike Ferguson]

Exactly. There was one man in particular that Kevin noticed. He recalled the date line. I turn around for a second, he's on her, you know, he's got his hand around her waist, his crotch right up against her, and he's leaning down, kissing. And she's looking over at me, kind of like laughing and like, whatever. I'm like, okay, we gotta go. So maybe it was a little bit of more of a fending off duty than I was thinking it was. Yeah, because that seems like, like a very forward, a very aggressive type of individual.

[Mike Gibson]

That's super aggressive. You know, you hear some of these stories sometimes about, you know, when these women go out to dancing together, right? They group of them go out to have a good time and they try to find a place away from all these single guys that think, you know, they gotta brush up against them with their crotch area because some reason they think that's gonna be the thing, that it's gonna turn the girl on to you. Like, oh, yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Which I would never think that in a million years.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Doesn't seem to make any sense to me, but I could see how. I guess some guys would, would think that. I know that some of you out there right now are thinking about or have been thinking about starting your own business, but you haven't yet. Why not? Well, yeah, it can be scary. Most people quit before they even start, but it was scary for Gibby and I when we started the podcast. My advice to everyone is just go for it. But one company that can really help you in your journey towards success is Shopify. We've been using a Shopify storefront for our podcast merch for six or seven years now. And it completely changed everything about it. From setting up the store, writing product descriptions, taking payments, delivery, and you don't need to know how to code their AI tools make everything so easy. And another amazing thing about Shopify is that they have world class support and they're knowledgeable. So if you have any troubles along the way, you'll be able to talk to someone who can help you. All you need is the idea. Shopify handles the rest. If you're serious about hearing your first start your free [e-mail] unsolved today. You heard that right. Start your free trial [e-mail] unsold. That's shopify.com unsolved. You know folks, everyone is talking about GLP1s right now, but there's another side of the conversation that not everyone is talking about and that's supporting your body's own natural glp. One Response Without a prescription, that's exactly what makes Pendulum Metabolic Daily so interesting. Pendulum Metabolic Daily is a science backed probiotic designed to support your body's natural glp. One Response Help you feel fuller, longer, experience fewer cravings and make it easier to stay on track with your health goals. Just one capsule a day with food. Some customers report noticing fewer cravings and more energy and as little as a week, though individual results can vary. Pendulum Metabolic Daily was developed by PhD scientists from Harvard, Berkeley and Stanford. It's the number one GI doctor recommended Akkermansia probiotics and it's backed by Clinical research. I've been taking it for a couple of weeks now and I'm definitely experiencing fewer cravings and I feel more energetic. You can get automatic deliveries every month or every three months. Plus you may even be able to buy it using pre tax, FSA or HSA dollars. Right now our listeners can get an exclusive 20% off their first order at pendulumlife.comallthetime that's pendulum life.com all the time for an extra 20% off your first order. Again, that's pendulum life.comallthetime and get 20% off today. You know, Kevin wants to go because I think he feels like things are getting out of hand. But Paula was enjoying herself and she didn't want to leave. Kevin continued the dateline by saying, I just grabbed her around the waist and the forearm like come on baby, it's time to go. Did the boyfriend shuffle with her kind of thing? She's like, wait a minute, I don't want to go. Bam. All of a sudden bouncers are on me. They must have been watching or something, but they were on me instantly. Two guys. So Kevin was kicked out of the club by security.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh man, how rough is that? You know, like, hey, that's my girl, man. They're like, yeah, we want her to stay. You gotta go.

[Mike Ferguson]

But before he left, Paula asked Kevin for the credit card, which he gave to her. He decided he wasn't going to try to reason with Paula, so he got in a cab and headed back to their hotel. He had Paula's cell phone with him, as he always did when they went clubbing.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, you know, when you wear some of those club clothes, there's not a lot of places to put things.

[Mike Ferguson]

Oh, like a cell phone. Yeah, sure. Well, let's face it. A lot of clubbing outfits, especially female outfits, are not made with storage in mind. That's not what they're designed for.

[Mike Gibson]

Not at all. Even my singlet, you know, doesn't have a spot for a cell phone.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, but it's got spots for ones. I know that. Kevin woke up alone. He and Paula had had fights while going out before, but she always came home. By this time, he was starting to worry, and he wanted to report Paula missing. The Miami beach police told Kevin he would have to file a report with the city of Miami because that was where club space was located. However, the police wouldn't take his report until it had been 24 hours. When Kevin tried to make the report, it had only been 10 hours since he'd last seen Paula.

[Mike Gibson]

And that makes sense. You know, she's a. She's a grown adult. She went out that night partying. So she could be with some friends that she met. She could be maybe with somebody, some other guy. You just don't know. But you gotta allow some time to pass is what the authorities are trying to say.

[Mike Ferguson]

Kevin spent the rest of the day calling hospitals, jails, and club space. He went back there, which was closed at that point, to speak to the homeless people in the area to ask if they had seen Paula around.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, clearly he's concerned.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, he's worried. I also think regardless of whatever domestic situations they had been in the past, it clearly shows how much he cared about her.

[Mike Gibson]

I'm sure he's wishing that she had that cell phone on her, or he's

[Mike Ferguson]

wishing she had come home when he asked her to. He returned to his hotel room in the evening, and he got the idea to call a private detective. The next morning, Monday, January 4th, PI Dave Wasser returned his call. Wasser recalled Kevin as desperate for help. He suggested they go to the police station. And in the back of his mind, he wondered if Kevin was being truthful.

[Mike Gibson]

It's always interesting when you hear something like that, that that's one of the thoughts that somebody had. Like, I don't know if this guy's being truthful about what he's telling me

[Mike Ferguson]

or not, but he's the boyfriend.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So, I mean, if she's determined to be missing, I mean, wouldn't police be a little skeptical of him? Or at least he's going to be on radar, so. And maybe it was the story that he was telling the PI I just don't know. Yeah, maybe it was the way he was telling it. After reporting Paula missing, Kevin returned to the hotel while Wasser and a Miami detective went to Club Space to speak to the manager and two bouncers who were working when Paula went missing. There were reports that Paula left the club alone shortly after Kevin did. And that seems so strange. Yeah, she didn't want to leave when Kevin got kicked out because she was said, you know, she was having fun, she wanted to stay. Why would she leave not long after he did? By herself?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Unless she felt guilty for not leaving with him. Him being by himself on, you know,

[Mike Ferguson]

the New Year's Eve weekend changed her mind shortly after. That's. That's possible. That day, Kevin called Paula's family in Michigan to tell them she was missing. He said they were out dancing, got in a fight, and he left her at the club.

[Caller Rachel]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Not a call that's probably going to go over. Well.

[Mike Gibson]

No, I can't imagine someone calling you. You know. You know, if they were dating your daughter at that time, saying, hey, me and your daughter got in a fight, and I just left her at the club. You are not going to be gentle with that conversation.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, but I'm sure he probably explained what happened, because I don't think he wanted to leave her.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, but he didn't hang out outside the club either, waiting for it to maybe come out later.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, that's true, but it could have been. What? That place was open from 11pm to Sunday afternoon. Yeah, it could have been five, six, seven, eight hours longer. Could have been that she's there partying. I have no idea. 14 hours after Paula was last seen alive, a man called authorities to report a dumpster fire in the 1400 block of Northeast 130th street in North Miami. The dumpster was located in an alley behind a propane store about 12 miles from Club Space. Firefighters discovered a body in the dumpster, which had nothing else in it. The victim was burned beyond recognition. Okay, that's going to be a bad day.

[Mike Gibson]

It is.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I'm sure a lot of firefighters have some really bad days. You think about what they have to do. It's dangerous work, but also what they have to witness at times. I'm sure they see some dead people in their line of work, people who are burned. But this would be pretty gruesome. You know, this is not an accidental house fire. No, this is somebody who's in a dumpster. There's nothing else in the dumpster.

[Caller Rachel]

And.

[Mike Ferguson]

And they are burned beyond recognition. Police believe the victim was dead before the dumpster was set on fire.

[Mike Gibson]

And I hope so.

[Pluto TV Announcer]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because of the extensive damage to the body, it would take three days to identify the victim. On January 6, 2010, Kevin called the medical examiner's office and gave a detailed description of Paula. The medical examiner told him they were sending a detective over to talk to him. The detective asked Kevin if Paula had any body piercings. He said yes. The detective pulled out a plastic baggie that contained two earrings that appeared burnt. Kevin didn't think they were Paula's, but when the detective looked at photos of Paula, Kevin realized they were her earrings. He called it the worst day of my life.

[Mike Gibson]

I bet.

[Mike Ferguson]

Dental records confirm that the victim in the dumpster was Paula Sladowski. Kevin was taken to the North Miami station for questioning. He was questioned about his domestic violence history with Paula and provided a statement about their fight at the club. He was also asked to remove his clothing so investigators could look for scratches or injuries. He had none. And I said, right, the current boyfriend is going to be looked at. He's going to be a person of interest. I think you add in the fact that Kevin had a history of domestic violence, that's obviously going to make police even more inquisitive. Right. Of him over what happened to Paula. He was questioned for 12 hours.

[Mike Gibson]

That's a long time to be questioned.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is. Detectives accused him of killing Paula and asked him why he did it. Kevin told Dateline that he was open about their relationship problems and waived his Miranda rights because he wanted to be ruled out so police could focus on finding the real killer.

[Mike Gibson]

It's not easy to do.

[Mike Ferguson]

No. It's also maybe not the smartest thing to do.

[Mike Gibson]

I agree.

[Mike Ferguson]

When he was released, he felt like the prime suspect. He wasn't sure whether or not he was going to be arrested. And how could you not think that you might be arrested if detectives are saying, hey, we believe that you killed Paula, why'd you do it? Tell us how you did it.

[Mike Gibson]

It doesn't look great for him right now because he was with her that night. The only reason he left is because the bodyguards took him out of the club because they didn't like what he was doing, obviously, with her. And then he kind of just disappears for a while. And he's got a history, and he has that history.

[Mike Ferguson]

Investigators spoke to club space bartender Raymond Diaz, who witnessed the fight between Kevin And Paula, they were just a few feet in front of him. Diaz recalled that Kevin grabbed Paula's arm, which prompted him to call security. Club Space had almost 30 cameras, but none had a good view of the sidewalk outside. However, there was one camera over the front door that captured Paula leaving the club. The cameras also captured Kevin asking bouncers to ask Paula to leave with him. Kevin left the Club alone at 7:17am So, I mean, when you think about it that way, in the timeline, he was really only there for about an hour and a half or so. Yeah, because I think they got there like 5:30, 5:30. Kevin told Dateline. It's a decision I'm going to regret the rest of my life. I mean, this is my nightmare. I wake up thinking, if only I would have stayed an extra 10, 20 minutes. Because Paula left the club about 20 minutes after Kevin was kicked out with a man behind her.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I'm sure that will haunt you. Well, I mean, 20 minutes.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, we're all. We're always talking about the what ifs and the regrets and things like that. But there were witnesses who were outside the club who told police they saw Paula walking away with a different man, not the one in the video, according to Lieutenant Neil Cuevas with the North Miami pd. And, you know, let's face it, just because somebody walks out behind you on video, that that doesn't mean that the two people are together.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Could just mean that they're leaving at the same time. But, you know, police are going to want to talk to that person on video.

[Caller Rachel]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

Just to confirm some things.

[Mike Ferguson]

On January 7, 2010, the police publicly named Kevin a person of interest. That's a bad day.

[Mike Gibson]

It's a bad day for Kevin.

[Mike Ferguson]

According to Dateline, although he wasn't fully cleared, the security cameras provided stronger evidence that his story was true. On January 8th, Kevin's attorney released the surveillance clip of Paula with a man behind her. He maintained that Kevin was devastated by Paula's death and had no involvement. He also noted that a door manager at Club Space told a private investigator that shortly after Kevin was kicked out, Paula left hand in hand with another man.

[Mike Gibson]

That's interesting and if true, kind of helps Kevin out.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well. And would possibly make whoever she did leave with the most likely suspect in her murder.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Lieutenant Neil Cuevas would not confirm this information. He said that the surveillance video they had was very poor quality. Police would not identify Paula conclusively from the video. He. After the news came out, Lady Gaga concertgoer John Williams, who took videos of Kevin and Paula that night went on TV and said he remembered Kevin acting aggressively in the crowd. It also came out that Paula allegedly texted an ex boyfriend before they went to Miami, saying, he's trying to kill me.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, when you hear all this, if it's true, is not going to be good for Kevin.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, it certainly doesn't make him look good. Right. In the court of public opinion, and it's not going to make him look good to police. In no way is it going to help him get off their radar.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

The more this type of stuff comes out. Paula's stepfather, Richard Watkins, told FOX at the time, they had a horrible relationship. I've told them from the start that they shouldn't be together. He wasn't surprised Kevin was being investigated by the police. Wow. Paula's mother, Patsy, also told investigators her daughter was afraid of Kevin and that he threatened to destroy her life. I'm telling you, man, things just look worse and worse for this dude.

[Mike Gibson]

Really does.

[Mike Ferguson]

But again, we talked about how tumultuous their relationship was. I don't think it was good. I think it was toxic. I think it was violent.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, some people just aren't good at being with certain type of people.

[Mike Ferguson]

And let's face it, some people just aren't meant to be together.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

You know.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, jealousy is such a bad thing.

[Mike Ferguson]

It is.

[Mike Gibson]

You know, we did a case this week where that jealousy led to murder.

[Caller Rachel]

Well.

[Mike Ferguson]

And we've done a number of cases. Right.

[Mike Gibson]

Where it has.

[Mike Ferguson]

But even if it doesn't lead to murder, it's usually not great for a relationship.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Major, major jealousy. Now, Paula's sister, Kelly Farris told Dateline that she believed Kevin was getting a bad rep in the media, but she didn't believe he was completely blameless. And I get that.

[Caller Rachel]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

I mean, they're piling on Kevin. People are. Now, I don't know what she means by bad rap. Did she mean that she didn't think he had anything to do with Paula's death, but he wasn't blameless in that he wasn't a great guy.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I also think, you know, when something bad happens to an individual, you're going to recall all the bad things that other person did, that partner did during that time frame, and it's all going to surface.

[Mike Ferguson]

Oh, it's going to come out.

[Caller Rachel]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, absolutely. Maybe you don't want to talk about it while it's happening. You're like, well, it's their life. They're both adults or whatever it is. But when police come to talk to you. You're definitely going to bring it up. Kelly said he shouldn't have left her. And he's going to have to live with that the rest of his life. And he's devastated about that. He's taken that really hard. He wants to kill himself. You know, it's what he talks about all the time. When she saw Paula and Kevin at Christmas, she said they seemed happy. She noted that when they weren't drinking, they got along.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, alcohol can change people. We know that.

[Mike Ferguson]

And it might be one of the factors. Right. That led to violence in their relationship. We know that alcohol can. It can make some people more jealous, more violent, more whatever. Happier in some people.

[Mike Gibson]

Some.

[Mike Ferguson]

In others, you know, they're maybe more of the frog demon comes out.

[Mike Gibson]

Oh, man. Seen that a few times in my life.

[Mike Ferguson]

Especially if you're drinking one of those bottles that has a little worm at the bottom.

[Caller Rachel]

Oh, yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

You like that?

[Mike Ferguson]

I do, yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

You're a tequila worm eater.

[Mike Ferguson]

I like a little mezcal every now and then. Or I did back in the day, let's put it that way. Drinking mezcal and eating the worm now might kill me. I have a feeling that it might. So I stay away from it.

[Mike Gibson]

I don't think it would be good.

[Mike Ferguson]

No, I don't think it was ever good. Well, I did a really. I did a lot of really dumb things back in the day on that.

[Mike Gibson]

Didn't we all?

[Mike Ferguson]

Kelly also said that Paula was taking prescription diet pills to stay in shape for modeling and dancing. She said, you know, the combination of that and they just kind of got crazy.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. I'm thinking there's some medication that you should not mix with alcohol. I actually think it says it on the bottles. Like, don't.

[Mike Ferguson]

Most of them do.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Don't mix with alcohol.

[Mike Ferguson]

Dateline also noted that the report about Paula texting her ex boyfriend turned out to be less than advertised. The source of the report was Paula's ex who went to jail for having sex with a minor. And it turned out that the text was old. It didn't come out over that Christmas time period right before they went to Miami.

[Mike Gibson]

So it's not relevant.

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[Mike Ferguson]

Kelly came down to Miami to help the police and ask the public for information. She followed Paula's final route, hoping to find someone who had seen her. Kelly Ferris believed Paula would have put up a fight and scratched the killer with her long nails. She told the Miami Herald, what's really, really hard is not knowing if she went quick, what happened before. That's the toughest thing of all to think what my sister was going through. And I can only imagine, Gibbs, the things that must go through your mind in a situation like that where, you know, she wasn't only murdered, she was set on fire and burned up.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, and I get what Kelly's saying. You know, she has long nails. I'm sure she would have scratched somebody. That's if she was in a position to do that. I mean, if they knocked her out, if they gave her some type of medication, you know, roofied or, you know,

[Mike Ferguson]

or just took her by surprise where she didn't have a chance to fight back. But, yeah, I. I get it. Saying, you know, you think somebody in a situation like that would have, you know, fought back. I mean, heck, she did break a bottle over Kevin's head at one point.

[Mike Gibson]

That's true.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now, whether she was fighting back or she was the aggressor in that one, we don't know. Mike Samuels, the head of security at Club Space, confirmed with investigators that Paula and Kevin left separately. He saw Paula walking away with a light skinned black man with a full beard. He said the man was well built and about 6ft tall. They walked off holding hands as if they were a couple. Again, goes back to people saying they saw Paula leaving about 20 minutes after Kevin hand in hand with another male. Okay, sounds like it was this guy.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

So for as much as police, you know, might have been looking at Kevin, they gotta look at this guy, too.

[Mike Gibson]

They have to.

[Mike Ferguson]

Kevin told Dateline that Paula was too street savvy to go with the stranger. He believed that the man was hitting on her in the club and was not just a random person on the street.

[Mike Gibson]

It's still kind of random. I mean, a guy in the club. I mean.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, but it does make sense, right? You meet somebody in a club, you spend a little time with them. Yeah, I highly doubt that. She walked out of the club, met somebody, and the next thing you know, they're walking hand in hand. Yeah, that doesn't make any sense.

[Mike Gibson]

You're right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Kevin and his PI Dave Wasser, came up with the theory that two club employees who followed Paula outside were overly interested in her. Kevin reviewed the security footage and said, I see her walking out, and, you know, the bouncers eye her go out. I see three or four people fall right behind her. This one guy is kind of right behind her. Could be with her, I don't know. She walks out of frame, and then immediately after, the two bouncers, just like immediately, they go out, out after her.

[Mike Gibson]

That's always the trouble with these cameras, right?

[Caller Rachel]

You.

[Mike Gibson]

You get enough to make you wonder, but because there's no other cameras to see past that point, you're left to fill in the blanks.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I think it's like the context, right? What is the context? And a lot of times with just videotape, you don't get all of that. And she was a very attractive woman, Gibbs. I mean, she was a model. She was an exotic dancer. She was picked for the Playboy search thing.

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[Mike Ferguson]

This is a woman who I'm sure would have turned a lot of heads inside of that club.

[Mike Gibson]

And I'm sure some guys came up and hit on her.

[Mike Ferguson]

And is it inconceivable that, you know, maybe she's not happy with Kevin in that moment? We don't know how much they've been drinking.

[Caller Rachel]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Or how much she had to drink. Does she meet this guy and, you know, leave with him? Possibly.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, they're both adults. They can do what they want.

[Mike Ferguson]

Police spoke to every employee seen in the tape and considered them persons of interest because they were some of the last people to see Paula alive. Chief of Security Mike Samuels told Daeline that the tape actually showed the employees doing their job and showing an ejected patron to the street. It was club policy to eject both parties after a fight. Samuels escorted Paula to the door. The two bouncers weren't following Paula. They were following him to the door to make sure there were no more problems. He maintained that they saw Paula leave with another man. He also said every employee was accounted for that night because staff had to clock in and out with a fingerprint system.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, you know, Dalton ran a pretty tough system. There, you know, he always said, be

[Mike Ferguson]

nice until it's time to not be nice.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But now, does this make more sense as to maybe why she left 20 minutes after Kevin?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I think it's kind of adding up a little bit.

[Mike Ferguson]

If their policy was to eject both people in a fight, why they're not going to kick them out together?

[Mike Gibson]

No.

[Mike Ferguson]

If they think they're going to be combative. So maybe they kick him out first, and then they make her leave a little bit later to give them some space. But she ends up leaving with another guy. According to the people there, Samuels also believed the man Paula was seen with was not inside the club because he wasn't following the strict dress code. The man was wearing shorts, which is

[Mike Gibson]

strictly prohibited, which is why you can never, ever go to a club because you do not wear pants. You are a shorts person. I would say 11 months out of

[Mike Ferguson]

12, or 99.9% of the time, because I just don't leave the house during the winter. Well, that's true, but this is fascinating to me because you have employees saying they saw Paula leave with another man. I took that to mean she left the club.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

With another man. But if they were following her out the door, maybe they were saying she left with another man from the club, from the outside of the club.

[Mike Gibson]

And it kind of goes against what Kevin said, because Kevin said she had street salve. She would never just leave with somebody out on the street. But in this case, it sounds like she did.

[Mike Ferguson]

Possibly also. Did you say she had street sav? Yeah. Okay. You just making up like a new street sav. Word. On February 2nd, the North Miami police released a sketch of the man seen walking away with Paula. Detectives also said they were processing several cars that might be associated with the case, but they wouldn't describe the vehicles or what tips led to them. Two weeks after the murder, Club space employees were shocked when they thought they saw the man Paula walked off with out on the street. They called the police, who questioned the man, but let him go because he wasn't the right person.

[Mike Gibson]

Interesting.

[Mike Ferguson]

Well, you know, Kevin's a person of interest. Obviously, this guy, whoever he is, that Paula was thought to have left the club with, has to be a person of interest. It still seems so strange to me that she would get kicked out of the club and somehow meet a man outside and walk off with this guy hand in hand. Doesn't that seem wild?

[Mike Gibson]

It does. It seems like either she had to know the guy. Maybe he was in the club. Maybe he had Pants on in the club. He went outside and, you know, had

[Mike Ferguson]

tear away shorts underneath. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, she's not even from the area.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, Maybe he was an Uber driver or a taxi driver and said, hey, I'll get you out of here. Come on, follow me.

[Mike Ferguson]

But why would you walk hand in hand like a couple with a taxi driver or an Uber driver?

[Mike Gibson]

Is that not normal?

[Mike Ferguson]

It's not. It's not. Gotta frown upon, I don't know, it's frowned upon everywhere. It's frowned upon by me, that's for sure. I don't. I don't walk it hand in hand with taxi drivers or Uber drivers. Kevin Clem left Miami within 10 days. In Michigan, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge for one of the domestic violence cases and was given probation. The charges in the other case were dropped. Miami police still considered him a person of interest, but they started focusing more in on the unidentified man. Police still didn't know for sure whether the man was inside the club that

[Mike Gibson]

night, but I think he'd almost have to be. Either he had to be somebody in the club as a patron or worked there, you know, either in the back of the club or, you know, out in the front of the club. Somehow he had to be in there for them to meet.

[Mike Ferguson]

There's no way he could have worked there because everybody who worked there would have known exactly who he was.

[Mike Gibson]

Well, that's true too.

[Mike Ferguson]

So then you have to rule that out, I think.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. That only leaves that he had to be in there as a patron and

[Mike Ferguson]

somehow changed clothes maybe and went outside and met up with her. I mean, the alternative is she walked outside, saw this guy, and the next thing you know, they were walking hand in hand, which seems very odd to me.

[Mike Gibson]

So she had to be somewhat comfortable

[Mike Ferguson]

with the individual or extremely intoxicated or. Yeah, and I don't think that's something you can discount either.

[Caller Rachel]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Kevin told Dateline he thought he recognized the sketch and that the man was possibly a bouncer who checked Paula's ID when they entered. And that's interesting because it kind of goes to what you just talked about and what I dismissed to me. If the guy was a bouncer, everybody at the club, including the security guy and all the employees would have said, oh, yeah, that's so and so.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, yeah, she's walking off with Johnny.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Now, he was said to have been a big guy, right?

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. Muscular, six foot.

[Mike Ferguson]

Muscular, muscular. He was muscular. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. And that One just made me chuckle. Kevin eventually returned to Miami and went to Club Space on a Sunday morning around the time Paula disappeared. He tried to go undercover to find the bouncer, but he didn't find him. He said the security crew was different. The owners of Club Space told Dateline that Kevin was mistaken and their staff was the same. And I just think Kevin was wrong about that because if not, then you'd have to believe that the whole thing was a conspiracy.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, you would.

[Mike Ferguson]

That all the staff, the manager, security, they just decided not to say who this guy was, even though they knew him.

[Mike Gibson]

Just a big cover up.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. In June 2010, Paula's mother, sister, and boyfriend appeared on the Today show to voice their frustrations with the lack of progress in the case. The family's lawyer, Robert Boyer, said the club should have known better than to let Paula leave on her own. He said they essentially threw her to the wolves in an area that was a magnet for criminal activity. The club has said they did nothing wrong and have cooperated with the police. Space Club also offered a $15,000 reward for information. And I think that's a tough one. Right. This is not a child.

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Who you're casting out into the world. It's an adult.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Who you are kicking out of your establishment because she broke the rules.

[Mike Gibson]

According to them.

[Mike Ferguson]

According to them. Do they owe her any more than that? Were they required to ensure that she got somewhere safely? Because to be honest with you, I don't think a lot of bars would do that.

[Mike Gibson]

I don't think so either. I think just like anytime a patron leaves an establishment. Right. They're on their own.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah. Once they're kicked out, that place doesn't become responsible for their safety, their security. Now I get it. When people are drinking, it's a little different. I mean, how could they have known that she wasn't from the area?

[Mike Gibson]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

Maybe they didn't even know how intoxicated she was. We don't even know how intoxicated she was. So I just think that's kind of a tough one. Lt. Neil Cuevas with the North Miami PD told NBC Miami at the time, there is most definitely a killer out there. We don't know where the actual murder occurred. And since we don't have that location, we have very little physical evidence to go with one. Year later, the North Miami police had made no arrests and released no new information. Kevin was still considered a person of interest at that time. In 2020, 10 years after the murder, former lead detective Commander Mike Gaudio spoke About the case for the first time with CBS Miami. Paula's murder was a case that still haunted him. He told CBS Miami that Kevin was no longer a person of interest, which is good for Kevin, but, man, that was a long time. It was a long time that he spent right. With that cloud of suspicion over his head. And let's face it, just because this guy comes out and says that doesn't mean that everybody knows about it and doesn't mean the family's going to stop looking at Kevin as maybe the. The person who killed Paula.

[Mike Gibson]

Like we said in the past, sometimes, you know, when this thing first happens, it's on page one. Everybody hears about how this person is the main person of interest, and then when they eventually get cleared, it's like on page 14 and a little tiny, you know, article on the back. And who reads that?

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, a lot of people might not even see it. They might not know about it. The police's theory was that Paula was killed elsewhere and brought to the dumpster. Gadio believed the suspect knew the area well because the dumpster was on a dead end street in an industrial area.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah, I agree. You'd have to know the area that you felt comfortable going there, knowing that you could put the body into a dumpster, light it up, and not be seen.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah, I think that's true. Now, could you happen upon it? Yeah, maybe. But I normally think it does denote that somebody's pretty familiar. Right. With the area. Gadio said a lot of time has passed. Maybe someone is not afraid to come forward. Say they were there that night and they saw something. I would ask themselves if they had a family member who's been taken in a horrendous way, they would want help so they could have closure. Now is the time to come forward. But 16 years later, the murder of Paula Sladowski remains unsolved. There are no known sightings of Paula after she left club space and no known surveillance footage that night that captured additional movements. Police are still searching for the man in the sketch. Anyone with information about Paula's case is asked to call Miami Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. So, as we wrap this episode up, Gibbs, I mean, there is quite a bit of mystery here in the events that happened at this club and who exactly Paula left with. If you rule Kevin out, which it seems like police have, at least that guy did say that. But let's just say that for a minute, right? Kevin wasn't involved.

[Caller Rachel]

Right.

[Mike Ferguson]

You would have to believe that this unknown man that she Was walking hand in hand with. Was most likely her killer.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And I'm still mystified by how she met this man. Like you said, either he was in the club, got by the dress code, or more likely was in there with pants on, somehow came out, and then later was wearing shorts. I don't know. Or she just happened to meet this guy outside after she was ejected. Yeah, it seems hard to believe. I'm not saying it couldn't happen. It just seems very unlikely to me.

[Mike Gibson]

I feel about it, too. You know, obviously, I feel bad for her family. I feel bad for Kevin. You know, I mean, he probably to this day, still thinks about if I was just a. Stayed 20 minutes longer.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

If he didn't have anything to do with it, I do feel bad for him.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Now, that's aside from whatever issues they had in their relationship and whatever crimes he was involved with before, I don't feel bad for him for that reason, but I. I would feel bad about him being thought of as a killer if he wasn't.

[Mike Gibson]

Exactly.

[Mike Ferguson]

But I don't know how they're going to solve this one.

[Mike Gibson]

I think it's going to be tough.

[Mike Ferguson]

I think somebody's going to have to come forward. And I. And I'm sure there probably is somebody out there who knows something about this. Obviously, the killer, if he's still alive, would know if it's a male, which we believe it most likely is.

[Caller Rachel]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

But maybe there's somebody else. I. I often think that in some of these cases, there is someone else who knows, who has just been either unwilling or afraid to come forward, and maybe they will at some point.

[Mike Gibson]

It's human nature to want to tell people things that you've done. I don't know if this individual could just keep it quiet all these years. He probably felt like he or she needed to get off their chest and say, hey, remember that model that was found in the dumpster? I did that.

[Caller Rachel]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Or like we saw in a case recently, it was kind of solved by somebody getting drunk and saying some things that they shouldn't have been telling somebody.

[Caller Rachel]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

And that could happen as well. But that's it for our episode on Paula Sladowski. We got a voicemail. You want to check that out?

[Mike Gibson]

Let's hear it.

[Caller Rachel]

Hi, Mike and Gibby. My name is Rachel. I was listening to the Pearl Bruns episode, and I am just blown away by something that I didn't hear anybody mentioning when they talk about this case. So when everyone is saying, oh, she probably ran away, there Wasn't enough blood for her to be assumed that a crime happened. No one is talking about how the blood was on her half packed suitcase. Why would she start packing a suitcase and then run away with someone without the suitcase? Like, I just feel like it's all the more reason of like, yes, the blood was there, but with the suitcase. Why does no one mention that? I feel like that's so important. Anyway, love the episode I am more teen Gibby. Just because it's funny to listen to Fergie ask him if he knows what he said was so absurd. So. But Team Mike overall, have a great day.

[Mike Ferguson]

All right. Appreciate the voicemail. Yeah, I don't know, maybe just an error on our part. Sometimes we don't pick up on the. The real important things, you know, Sometimes

[Mike Gibson]

you mess up, man.

[Mike Ferguson]

And some people are smarter than we are, but actually a lot of people, the majority.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

I'm okay with it.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah. So she likes when you pick on me. I. I hear.

[Mike Ferguson]

I. I don't think she used the word pick. I think she said point out how absurd some of the things you say actually are.

[Mike Gibson]

Does that ever happen often?

[Mike Ferguson]

Very rarely.

[Mike Gibson]

I mean, it has to be rare to be absurd.

[Mike Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Mike Gibson]

Yeah.

[Mike Ferguson]

Because you would never say anything that was absurd.

[Mike Gibson]

Absolutely.

[Mike Ferguson]

All right. Appreciate the voicemail. That is it, buddy. For another episode of True Crime, all the time unsolved. So for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.

[Mike Gibson]

Sam.

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