The Murder of Kathy Lynn Beatty

[Richard]

The attack on Kathy occurred exactly 4 months and 4 miles away from the abduction of the Lyon Sisters. It was originally posted in this thread on the possibility that the cases are related.

It remains officially unsolved. I wonder if LE made any attempt to link the two cases after naming Lloyd Lee Welch Jr. their suspect.

 

[gregjrichards]

The attack on Kathy occurred exactly 4 months and 4 miles away from the abduction of the Lyon Sisters. It was originally posted in this thread on the possibility that the cases are related.

It remains officially unsolved. I wonder if LE made any attempt to link the two cases after naming Lloyd Lee Welch Jr. their suspect.

Good question Richard I wish we knew.

 

[Richard]

According to the North Carolina Prison Inmate Locator, Fred Coffey will be up for a Parole Hearing on 1 November 2018.

Please take the time to let your thoughts on this matter be known.

LINK:

NC DPS Offender Public Information

 

[Richard]

Fred Coffey has a new photo:

​

FRED H COFFEY
Offender Number: 0081135
Inmate Status: ACTIVE
Gender: MALE
Race: WHITE
Ethnic Group: EUROPEAN/N.AM./AUSTR
Birth Date: 03/20/1945
Age: 73
Current Location: PENDER CI

 

[Rhett]

Richard, He is on death row for murder. How in the world is he up for parole? I went to the site but did not see where to let them know he should never be released. Write a letter I assume?

 

[Richard]

Richard, He is on death row for murder. How in the world is he up for parole? I went to the site but did not see where to let them know he should never be released. Write a letter I assume?

Fred Coffey was given the Death sentence for the 1979 murder of little Amanda Ray, age 10. He was given a re-trial and Again sentenced to Death. He appealed on the basis that during the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury was informed of nine convictions for child molestations that he committed in 1986. Because they occurred AFTER he murdered Amanda, and he argued that he COULD have become a child molester after he murdered Amanda. Therefor (in the convoluted logic of his Defense) introducing the information about the Molestations were prejudicial to his case.

The appellate court agreed and ordered a third sentencing trial. At that trial, the jury voted 10 to 2 for the Death penalty, but since it was not unanimous, Coffey's death sentence was commuted to Life with him immediately eligible for parole. He has been denied Parole every time he has been considered for it.

Coffey is a strong (in fact the only) suspect in the 1981 murder of Neeley Smith (age 5) and the 1986 murder of Travis Shane King (age 8), but he was never charged or tried for those murders.

Coffey's Navy career came to an end in 1974 after 12 years when he raped the 13 year old daughter of a fellow Navy man.

If you would like to express your feelings and thoughts to the North Carolina Parole Commission, you can contact them via e-mail at: Parole.Commission@ncdps.gov.

LINK:

Parole.Commission@ncdps.gov

 

[Richard]

Kathy Lynn Beatty murdered 1975


LINKS:

Help Solve the Murder of Kathy Beatty

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28686147/kathy-lynn-beatty

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...b88-8f1e-f354239f470d/?utm_term=.71b4e9f53b68

 

[Richard]

Kathy Lynn Beatty murdered July 1975

 

[Richard]

This Wednesday is the 44 year anniversary of the abduction of Kathy Lynn Beatty. Her murder is still unsolved.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

For decades, it’s been a living nightmare for Kathy’s family as they continue to find closure. A website and Go Fund Me page have been created in hopes for answers. “I want what Kathy’s mother wants. She wants to know the truth of what happened to her daughter. At this point, that doesn’t necessarily mean prosecution. She just wants to know. Her mother is getting up there in age, and her wish is: before she dies, I hate to say it, but she wants to know what happened to Kathy,” Kerpelman stated.

Detectives urge anyone with information on Kathy’s murder to call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County at 1-866-411-TIPS. You may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $10,000. The family is offering additional rewards for any information to help with this case. Kathybeatty.com

Cold Case: 40 years later, Montgomery County still seeking who killed Kathy Beatty

 

[Richard]

Remembering Kathy

 

[Jim_M]

Fred Coffey was given the Death sentence for the 1979 murder of little Amanda Ray, age 10. He was given a re-trial and Again sentenced to Death. He appealed on the basis that during the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury was informed of nine convictions for child molestations that he committed in 1986. Because they occurred AFTER he murdered Amanda, and he argued that he COULD have become a child molester after he murdered Amanda. Therefor (in the convoluted logic of his Defense) introducing the information about the Molestations were prejudicial to his case.

The appellate court agreed and ordered a third sentencing trial. At that trial, the jury voted 10 to 2 for the Death penalty, but since it was not unanimous, Coffey's death sentence was commuted to Life with him immediately eligible for parole. He has been denied Parole every time he has been considered for it.

Coffey is a strong (in fact the only) suspect in the 1981 murder of Neeley Smith (age 5) and the 1986 murder of Travis Shane King (age 8), but he was never charged or tried for those murders.

Coffey's Navy career came to an end in 1974 after 12 years when he raped the 13 year old daughter of a fellow Navy man.

If you would like to express your feelings and thoughts to the North Carolina Parole Commission, you can contact them via e-mail at: Parole.Commission@ncdps.gov.

LINK:

Parole.Commission@ncdps.gov

Looks like he is coming up for review once again in December.
I believe it's time to start sending those emails! IMO of course

Next Custody Review: 12/01/2019

Taken from NC DPS Offender Public Information

Incarceration Status: ACTIVE
Total Incarceration Term: LIFE
Conviction Date: 01/21/1987
Projected Release Date: LIFE
Primary Crime: MURDER FIRST DEGREE (PRINCIPAL)
Primary Crime Type: FELON
Special Characteristics: LIFE
Current Status: FELON
Admission Date: 02/02/1987
Admitting Location: CENTRAL PRISON
Control Status: REGULAR POPULATION
Next Control Review: UNKNOWN
Custody Classification: MEDIUM
Next Custody Review: 12/01/2019
Number Of Infractions: 1
View Infractions
Last Infraction Date: 09/26/2012
Current Location: PENDER CI
Previous Location: NOT PUBLIC INFORMATION
Last Movement : NOT PUBLIC INFORMATION
Last Movement Date: 09/02/2016

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[Richard]

Looks like he is coming up for review once again in December.
I believe it's time to start sending those emails! IMO of course

Next Custody Review: 12/01/2019

…

Fred Coffey was sentenced to death twice for the murder of a 10 year old little girl. He molested many other children and most likely murdered at least two others, But because of a technicality in the law, none of this could be introduced in the sentencing phase of a third trial. The Jury voted 10 to 2 for capital punishment, but since it was not unanimous, Coffey's sentence was changed in 1995 to "Life in Prison" and he became eligible immediately for parole.

This process has gone on every year, sometimes every three years. He has been denied parole every time so far.

Here we go again. Take the time to let the North Carolina Parole board know whether or not you think he deserves to be paroled.

 

[Richard]

Kathy Lynn Beatty has her own thread in the Websleuths Cold Case section:

MD - MD - Kathy Beatty, 15, Aspen Hill, 24 July 1975

 

[Rosescorned]

Any thing new on this case? I read this whole thing and i cant help but feel so bad for her and her family.... Such an awful way to go out of this world to not know how youll be found... And then her sister is the one to find her.... Smh i hope the person(s) who has done this rot in the worse way possible.

 

[Richard]

Kathy Lynn Beatty, age 14, Unsolved Murder July 1975, Aspen Hill, Maryland

 

[Richard]

Fred Howard Coffey, Jr. was moved from Pender Prison to Greene Correctional Institution in Maury, North Carolina on 27 June 2023.

Greene Correctional Institution is a designated reentry facility, where a variety of programs and services are offered to assist offenders nearing their release dates to transition back to their communities. Coffey has come up for parole numerous times and was always turned down. Hopefully this move is not in anticipation of him actually being released back into society.

He is a convicted serial child killer who worked at Vitro Industries which was located between Kathy Beatty's home and the K Mart shopping center where her body was found.

This July marks 48 Years since Kathy's brutal murder.

 

[DD Byrd]

I think LE knows who did this, and there's not enough evidence and/or there are other roadblocks towards justice. My sticking points:
1) Multiple times it is mentioned police thought it was someone who knew her, and could have been a teenager...so
2) Were the keys compared to the camper? Was an investigation attempt thwarted as the boys were juveniles, and/or family were LE or Government adjacent?
3) She was barefoot. Doubtful she'd leave like that unless under duress or she woke from a nap and the house was burning down. I think she went elsewhere to see someone and was killed. Her shoes were left behind unnoticed after she took them off while hanging out, or fell off in an assault or transit and were destroyed later. I don't think she was killed behind K-Mart, so why leave her there? It was known, dark and (believed to be) secretive. In a panic it probably seemed logical. If you kill someone, esp accidently, I think the reflex is to get the body away, away, away asap. Any hairs or fibers on her were collected but it's hard to compare them if you can't get a warrant.
4) Meanwhile, Coffey would have fled even if he wasn't involved. HE knew what he was guilty of, and anything like this would trip his flight response. Exponentially trip it, as her attack was so horrific and so close to his workplace...too close for comfort. If police start canvassing and questioning, he wants to avoid suspicion if he starts acting anxious, more so if he anticipates fingerprinting, etc. and gets nailed for his own crimes. Better to get the hell out of dodge.
5) And the clincher for me...she was left alive. I don't think Coffey would leave until he was positive she was dead, unless interrupted, spooked or thought he was seen. He's calculating, relatively speaking, and likely wouldn't make that rookie mistake. A freaking out, and potentially high teenager would. Killing someone with a blow to the head is not as personal as strangulation, this murder feels 'necessary', not enjoyable.

As others have said, I don't believe this was the intended outcome. Maybe she resisted an advance or threatened to tell and that was the point of no return. I never buy "fell and hit her head" in murder scenarios; she was eventually intentionally clobbered with the intent to kill. You don't accidently have a depressed skull.

Even if not the camper boys, I still think it was teenagers. Like others have said, it's not at all uncommon for witnesses (or acquaintances who suspect one of their own) to clam up. You can't get be involved if you don't get involved.