Tracey Wofford-Bunn's murder solved!

[crystaldawn]

I'm not sure how many of you were aware of this. For those of you who need your memory refreshed she was the lady from Baton Rouge who was found raped and murdered in her car. She had left late the night before to walk to her car to retrieve it as the stick shift had broken off. This segment was on LRW last night and there was an update that 18 years after her murder there was a dna match to her killer. After doing a little digging I found out his name was Freddy McKinley and he had already died in prison so the case is now considered closed. Here is the link (Tracey is mentioned at the bottom):

http://brgov.com/dept/brpd/news/pdfs...Old_Murder.pdf

[UMfan77]

Now at least her family can finally have some closure on the murder of Tracy. I wonder what the motive was? Was it a random killing? A robbery gone wrong? I'm afraid we'll never know since the killer is dead.

[baton_man]

I remember this case. It was where the stupid boyfriend allowed his girlfriend to walk alone in the middle of the night to get her car. What a jerk.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

You'd be surprised at how those boyfriends later blame themselves...

I'm sure that I mentioned I used to volunteer at a rape crisis line. One of the people who came in was a boyfriend of a victim. He and his girlfriend were fighting, and she jumped out of his vehicle and stormed off... to later be grabbed on the street and raped. Even though he had no control over his girlfriend jumping out of the car or the actions of the rapists, he blamed himself for the incident because he didn't get his girlfriend back in the car...

I can't imagine what he must have felt like. In any case, I don't remember if Tracy and her boyfriend were on good terms at the time this happened. I'm sure there was a lot of self-blame, though.

Nice sleuthing, CD!

[crystaldawn]

They really didn't paint her boyfriend in a very good light in the segment imo. She seemed really annoyed that her car had broke while he was driving it. I agree it was very tacky to let her walk 1/2 mile to get it by herself in the middle of the night. I'm sure looking back he regrets not going with her but it should have been common sense at the time. I am also curious about the man who killed her. I wonder what he was in prison for when he died. Was he a serial rapist or a serial killer? I always thought Tracey's case seemed like the work of a serial killer. I'm also curious if he was ever considered a suspect.

[Awsi Dooger]

That was the most lame update ever. You can't even freeze the screen on the articles and read them because the text is so fuzzy.

Plus they screw up the basic math. The update says it was solved 18 years later. But the murder was in April 1989 and the link indicates it was solved in August 2005.

[justins5256]

Reposting these in chronological order. Sorry about the previous post :-/

==================================================
Body of woman found dead identified

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)
April 3, 1989
Edition: THE BATON ROUGE STATE TIMESNEWS
Section: NEWS
Page: 5-B
Record Number: 1064321


The body of a woman found dead Saturday morning in a car parked
at a South Baton Rouge housing project has been identified as that of
26-year-old Tracy Woford Bunn, a Baton Rouge Police Department
spokesman said today.
Investigators listed two addresses for Bunn, who was a Ramada Inn
employee, Officer Jeff Wesley said. The addresses are 150 Leaway Ave.,
Baton Rouge, and 2026 W. Atkinson Ave., Apt. 4, Milwaukee, Wis.


The woman's body was found in the lot of the Oklahoma Street
Housing Development at 550 Oklahoma St.


An examination of the body by an assistant coroner on the scene
showed that the woman appeared to have been strangled, Sgt. Carl
Thompson said.


A housing project resident discovered the body about 9:30 a.m.
Saturday, Tenant Advisory Council president and housing project
president Anniece Jenkins said.


Thompson said it appeared Bunn died sometime late Friday.




Copyright 1989 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.


==================================================
Body identified

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)
April 4, 1989
Edition: THE BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATENEWS
Section: NEWS
Page: 4-C
Record Number: 1064429


The body of a woman found dead Saturday morning in a car parked
at a south Baton Rouge housing project has been identified as that of
26-year-old Tracy Woford Bunn, a Baton Rouge Police Department
spokesman said Monday.
Investigators listed two addresses for Bunn, who was a Ramada Inn
employee, Officer Jeff Wesley said. The addresses are 150 Leaway Ave.,
Baton Rouge, and 2026 W. Atkinson Ave., Apt. 4, Milwaukee, Wis.


Deputy Coroner Norris Deville said Monday night that an autopsy
had been performed on the woman, but he did not know the results.
Several messages left at the coroner's office for investigators during
working hours Monday were not returned.


The woman's body was found in the lot of the Oklahoma Street
Housing Development at 550 Oklahoma St.


An examination of the body by an assistant coroner on the scene
showed that the woman appeared to have been strangled, Sgt. Carl
Thompson said.


A housing project resident discovered the body about 9:30 a.m.
Saturday, Tenant Advisory Council president and housing project
president Anniece Jenkins said.




Copyright 1989 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.


==================================================
TV crew filming segment on 1988 slaying in BR

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)
February 7, 1992
Edition: Morning AdvocateNEWS
ANDY CRAWFORD
Section: NEWS
Page: 1-B;X
Record Number: 12922


Soloman Bunn believes he survived an Aug. 22, 1991, shooting in
his Milwaukee home for one reason: To help solve the 1989 slaying of
his wife in Baton Rouge.
"I think my mission is to help solve this. Then I will be able to
sleep at night," Bunn said Wednesday at city police headquarters.


Bunn got his chance to help this week during the filming of an
"Unsolved Mysteries" segment about the killing. He was flown to Baton
Rouge to share his thoughts about his wife.


A filming crew for the NBC show, now in its fifth year, came to
Baton Rouge on Monday to begin work on a segment about the April 1,
1989, strangling death of 26-year-old Tracy Woford Bunn. A date for the
airing of the segment will not be set until the segment is edited.


Tracy Bunn, who had moved to Baton Rouge from Wisconsin in
August 1988 after she and Bunn experienced marital problems, was found
strangled to death in her car in a parking lot at 550 Oklahoma St.


No one has been arrested in the killing.


"This is something I want fulfilled, answered. I want it done,"
Bunn said.


City police Detective Crawford Wheeler _ who originally was
assigned the case _ shares Bunn's determination to solve the case, so
he contacted "Unsolved Mysteries" to get help.


"I felt sorry for the girl _ coming all this way and then
getting killed. It just kind of stuck with me," Wheeler said.


"Unsolved Mysteries" researcher Hilary Roberts said Wheeler's
yearning to put the case behind him was apparent in a letter he wrote
to the television show.


"Obviously, he just wanted to get the case solved so badly. He
was just so passionate in his letter," Roberts said in a telephone
interview Thursday.


So the cameras rolled into Baton Rouge on Monday, crews began
interviewing everyone involved with the case and re-enacting all known
events leading up to the discovery of Tracy Bunn's body. The crew will
be in town until Sunday.


Segment Producer Annie Azzariti, who is in Baton Rouge with the
filming crew, said the Bunn killing was interesting for two reasons.


"The first thing we look for in a story is is there the
possibility of doing any good? The second thing is ... it has to be
something we can dramatize," Azzariti said.


Wheeler said he thinks the show could prove to be the best
chance he has of clearing the case.


"A lot of times, people think crimes have been solved. I hope
that this will refresh everybody's memory and somebody will come
forward so we can solve this," he said.


The victim's sister, Danyel Simmons of Milwaukee, agreed with
Wheeler. Simmons was flown to Baton Rouge this week with Soloman Bunn.
Simmons was attending LSU when her sister was killed.


"It may jog a few memories and shake some kind of information
loose," Simmons said.


Members of the "Unsolved Mysteries" team realize the segment
could be vital in solving the case, so close attention is paid to every
detail _ no matter how minute.


"We need to make it as precise as possible. This could be a
clue for somebody who saw something that night," Azzariti said.


Wheeler said this attention to detail took him pleasantly by
surprise.


"I think they went to extreme lengths _ they found a car just
like the one Tracy was found in, they dressed the actor like the real
Tracy. They put a great effort into making this thing as realistic as
they could," he said.


Also, Wheeler was required to spend more time with the crew
than he anticipated. He was interviewed about the case and then played
himself in the re-enactment of the homicide scene.


"I definitely thought it would be a one-, two-day thing. I
didn't think it would go into a week," he said.


However, Wheeler said the effort will be worthwhile if the
killer or killers of Tracy Bunn are identified.


"It's been a long week, but I hope it will be beneficial to the
Baton Rouge Police Department," Wheeler said.




Copyright 1992 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.


==================================================
"Unsolved Mysteries" re-enacts local homicide

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)
April 29, 1992
Edition: Morning AdvocateNEWS
Section: NEWS
Page: 1-A;S
Record Number: 30152


The re-enactment of a 3-year-old, unsolved Baton Rouge homicide
will be aired tonight as part of the "Unsolved Mysteries" TV show.
The show begins at 7 p.m. on WVLA, Channel 33.


During the television show, the events leading up to the April
1, 1989, death of 26-year-old Tracy Woford Bunn will be re-enacted.


Bunn was found strangled to death in her car in an apartment
complex parking lot at 550 Oklahoma St.


Television crews were in Baton Rouge in February working on the
segment.


"Unsolved Mysteries" decided to film the segment after city
police Detective Crawford Wheeler wrote to the show asking for help.


Wheeler, who is the original investigator in the case, said he
hopes the segment will lead to new developments in the case.


Anyone with information about the slaying is asked to call
389-3844.




Copyright 1992 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.


==================================================
Police: DNA leads to suspect in 1985 killing of BR woman

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA)
January 26, 2007
Edition: NewsMain
KIMBERLY VITTER and MARK F. BONNER
Section: News
Page: 01A
Record Number: MERLIN_2311052


After almost 22 years, Rita Goldsmith finally got the phone
call she was hoping for.
A Baton Rouge police detective told her Wednesday that DNA
evidence links the murder of her daughter to 51-year-old Vernon
Kennedy, who is serving time in Georgia for a 1995 murder.


"The flood of emotions is more overwhelming then I expected,"
Goldsmith said Thursday from her home in Sedona, Ariz. "I really didn't
think they would find him."


Her daughter, 19-year-old Tina Marie Kristynik, was raped and
beaten to death Sept. 18, 1985, inside her Silverthorn Avenue home in
Baton Rouge.


Baton Rouge police have issued an arrest warrant for Kennedy,
said department spokesman Sgt. Don Kelly.


Kristynik's body was found by a roommate in a bedroom, police
said at the time of the killing. Kristynik died from a blow to the head.


"My nightmare began that day," Goldsmith said. "This man
changed my life forever."


Evidence from the crime scene was given to Louisiana State
Police the day after Kristynik was killed, Kelly said. A DNA match was
made in May, he said. Follow-up tests confirming the initial results
were recently received by Baton Rouge police, he said.


State Police spokesman Lt. Lawrence McLeary said Thursday that
though he is aware of the Kennedy case, he had no other information and
deferred further comment to Baton Rouge police.


Kennedy has been incarcerated for 10 years at Ware State
Prison, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections Web site.
Kennedy was sentenced to life for murder and possession of cocaine
convictions.


Before that, Kennedy was imprisoned for seven years for armed
robbery. Released in June 1995, he was free only four months before
committing the crimes he is jailed for now, according to the Web site.


Details about the crimes were unavailable Thursday.


Kennedy grew up in Walker, said his brother, 52-year-old George
Kennedy of Denham Springs.


"I thought he was one of those guys who had been in prison so
long that when he got out, he couldn't function right," he said.


He said his brother went to Walker High School and worked at
his father's gas station and truck stop. Kennedy said his brother
dropped out of school and quit his job.


"He got to hanging around the wrong people and he never
corrected it," he said. "The guy had a heart, he'd give you the shirt
off his back, but he got to fooling with drugs."


He said Vernon Kennedy went "over the edge" with a 1974 armed
robbery of a convenience store on Florida Boulevard. An Advocate news
story from the time says Vernon Kennedy and an accomplice made off with
only $85 and were quickly arrested.


George Kennedy said he hasn't seen or heard from his brother in
nearly 20 years.


"It's been a long time, and I don't have any contact with him,"
George Kennedy said.


He said he sympathizes with the Kristynik family


"I really feel for them, I really do," he said.


Kelly said police do not yet know whether Vernon Kennedy will
be brought to Baton Rouge and tried in Kristynik's killing.


Goldsmith said Vernon Kennedy is eligible for parole in 2009.
She said she doesn't care if he lands in a Baton Rouge courtroom as
long as he never steps foot from a prison cell.


"He's not getting out," she said. "Not if I can help it."


Goldsmith added that she would like to meet him.


"I want to look him in the face and ask him why he killed my
daughter," she said. "I know how, but I want to know why."


Since her daughter's death, Goldsmith has been active in
Parents of Murdered Children. She was president of the national
organization for three years and is still the spokeswoman for the group.


Goldsmith said her role with the organization has made her
"painfully aware" of how infrequently decades-old murder cases wind up
being solved.


"I'm sure that all other survivors of violent crimes out there
are just as hopeful as I am that their case will eventually get
solved," she said.


Kelly said Kristynik's death is the second Baton Rouge homicide
solved through the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory's Combined
DNA Index System.


Police cleared the death of 26-year-old Tracy Woford Bunn three
days before Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, he said. The
man linked to her strangling, Freddy McKinley, died in 2002 while
serving time in prison, Kelly said.


"These are two cold cases that probably would have gone
unsolved without this data," Kelly said.


He credited State Police.


"They really solved this case, not us," he said.




Copyright (c) 2007 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

[Awsi Dooger]

Thanks for those articles, justin.

I was wondering a few hours ago whether the timetable contributed to the lack of info on Wofford Bunn's case, that it had been solved. When I read August 2005 that put it smack in Katrina timeline.

The last article says Wofford Bunn's murder was solved only three days before Katrina. Not unlikely that any newspaper or TV station planning to do an extensive report on it had those plans derailed by the realities of Katrina. Baton Rouge is only about 80 miles away from New Orleans and was dramatically impacted via Katrina, hundreds of thousands of evacuees relocating in Baton Rouge.

Also, it's unclear whether there is one F in Wofford, or two. The UM segment has two but all of the articles say Woford.

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by Awsi Dooger

Also, it's unclear whether there is one F in Wofford, or two. The UM segment has two but all of the articles say Woford.

Yeah, and the article crystaldawn found had a double F in the spelling as well.

I tried searching several variations of spelling. What you see is all I found, unfortunately.

[Awsi Dooger]

Originally Posted by justins5256

I tried searching several variations of spelling. What you see is all I found, unfortunately.

One problem is the timing. Many newspapers went out of business from the time of her murder in '89 to today. The first article is an example of that. The Baton Rouge State Times-News, an afternoon paper. I knew I had heard of it but didn't remember anything recent so I looked it up and sources said it went out of business in October 1991. It had an emphasis on local news so no doubt there would have been something from them on this case when it was solved. Afternoon papers with a local slant have been particularly hard hit by the newspaper decline. My favorite in Miami was the Miami News which is long gone. Same thing with the LA Herald Examiner. Here in Las Vegas the Sun has been reduced to an insert inside the fish wrapper Review Journal.

On this forum it's fairly routine to search for info on obscure older cases and very little, if anything, shows up. That's directly attributable to fewer and fewer newspapers. The internet is an awesome resource but there was a trade off, not unlike Walmart. Very few cities maintain daily competing papers with different slants and emphasis. And single papers in smaller towns have gone out of business completely as the population and number of businesses decline. This wasn't meant as an anti-Walmart rant but it's also reality that Walmart does not advertise in the small local papers. It has no need to. So it's like a slow die off, a chain reaction. The small local businesses can't compete with Walmart so they go out of business, and that also cuts into newspaper revenue since local businesses do advertise with the hometown paper.

[wiseguy182]

It's good to know that this McKinley is off the streets.

I'm glad for the update, shocked as well. The segment didn't really portray any suspects, except for the vague mention of a drug dealer that either Tracy or her sister knew. I wonder if this was the same person?

[*U think u Know*]

I'm happy that they finally solved the case

[kadrmas15]

It is good to know this case was solved. I hope now the family can get some type of closure if that is possible. At least they now know who was responsible for the murder and that he passed away in prison and will no longer be able to hurt anyone else. I doubt he was in prison for murder or rape either because I think it probably would have mentioned it if he was.

[Kane]

One has to wonder if McKinley had been previously associated with Tracey. I say this because the segment mentioned that the detectives believed Tracey knew her killer because there was no sign of a struggle.

Oh well, I guess what matters most is that Tracey's killer has been identified, and can no longer harm anyone.

[Corky Kneivel]

Originally Posted by Kane

One has to wonder if McKinley had been previously associated with Tracey. I say this because the segment mentioned that the detectives believed Tracey knew her killer because there was no sign of a struggle.

I also would like to know if they were able to place how those burns might have arisen o nher legs.