FL - Katie Knudsen, 24, shot to death, Fort Myers, 23 Feb 2006

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Katie Knudson’s friends and family were uneasy with her relationship with a 26-year-old Massachusetts native, but no one quite knew why.

It was unclear how Knudson, 24, met Paul Ellslager, with whom she fell in love and shared an apartment.

Authorities now are trying to figure out why she was found slain early Thursday morning, with Ellslager critically injured nearby.

Lee County sheriff’s detectives are investigating the incident, which began with Ellslager calling 911 needing medical help about 2 a.m.

Deputies arrived to find Knudson behind the wheel of a crashed 1993 Ford Crown Victoria sitting in a ditch off Metro Parkway near Page Field.

Friends painted a positive picture of the 24-year-old south Fort Myers woman, whom they described as always smiling and full of life.

They described Ellslager — who has an extensive criminal record in his native Massachusetts — as friendly, but maybe not the best person for Knudson.

“She’s not the type of girl to be involved in that type of situation,” said her roommate, April Odegard, 22. “I think she just fell in love with the wrong guy.”

Odegard and Knudson moved in together last July, at an apartment at 7811 Reflections Cove Drive.

Odegard’s cousin, a friend of Knudson’s through a church group, introduced the pair.

They were both looking for an apartment and decided to move in together.

But Odegard said she wasn’t expecting a third roommate at their apartment.

She said Ellslager moved in almost immediately, and he and Knudson spent all their time together, much of it at the apartment.

Odegard said she spent most of her time in her room — partially to give the couple space, but also because she said Ellslager rubbed her the wrong way.

“She’s a very sweet girl,” Odegard said of her roommate. “I had a bad feeling about him. It was just an uncomfortable feeling to be (home) when he’s here.”

Ellslager was friendly — often more so than she expected — but something still seemed amiss, Odegard said.

When she suggested he pay rent, Knudson became upset.

“That didn’t go over well — she wouldn’t have him pay for anything,” she said.”

Phillip Gonzales of Fort Myers, a friend of the couple, said they got along well.

“Paul adored her and doted on her,” he said. “Nobody I know ever saw anything bad between them.”

But still, Gonzales and other friends wondered whether Knudson should be with him.

Just weeks before she was killed, Knudson, 24, considered moving to North Carolina, where her family had relocated.

Gonzales said Ellslager was not part of those plans.

“She at some point realized that a future with him was not the future she thought was best,” Gonzales said.

Knudson decided to stay in Lee County, he said, because of misunderstandings with her family.

Odegard said Knudson discussed a potential move to North Carolina, but that she decided otherwise.

After that, Knudson, a beautician, found a new job at Beverly’s Hair Affair in south Fort Myers.

Ellslager also began working as a mechanic with the Blue Bird Taxi company.

Calls to both businesses were not returned Friday night.

Ellslager remained in critical condition Friday night, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Ileana LiMarzi.

Deputies have not revealed how Knudson died, except to say the crash did not kill her or injure Ellslager.

Sheriff’s spokesmen initially indicated a shooting but later declined to discuss the cause.

The Crown Victoria appeared to have bullet holes in the front-passenger door and rear-passenger window.

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060225/NEWS01/60224021/1075
.........................................
:( I wonder how she was murdered ,sounds like she was shot if there is bullet holes in the car.
 
That's an odd one. It sounds as though friends might be having questions about him. But he may also have had a risky lifestyle. Hmmm.....
 
Suspect arrested in Metro shooting
http://tinyurl.com/rc4mc


More info
A circuit judge denied bond today to Metro Parkway murder suspect Chevis Walker. But another man who witnesses say was at the shooting is not being pursued as a suspect.

Walker, 27, of Fort Myers, surrendered to authorities in the office of attorney Brian Boyle on Wednesday. Boyle did not attend the first-appearance hearing. Instead, a judge assigned Walker a public defender.

Walker is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Katie Knudson, 24, and attempted murder in connection with the shooting of Knudson's boyfriend, Paul Ellslager, 26. He also has prior charges for marijuana and cocaine possession which date back to 2003...

http://tinyurl.com/pne96

I was wondering what had happened in this case. I'm so glad they caught the guy(s).
 

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