Lester Garnier case revisted, who did it and what was the motive?

[XCalibur]

I hadn't seen this one talked about in awhile, thought it was worth revisiting. to refresh everyone's memory, he was the police officer murdered in California in 1988 in his 1984 corvette. He had been shot twice.

there is now a prime suspect named Catherine Kuntz, who apparently has a criminal past, fingerprints in Lester's car, and she matches the description of one of the women seen leaving Lester's car. she also lived in the area at the time and was a prostitute, which Lester investigated often. However apparently the authorities have never accumulated enough evidence to charge her.

What do you all think happened? Personally i've always felt this was a somewhat strange murder. it was very risky for one thing in a public parking lot, and although it was night time there were people around who heard the shots and saw the two women near the car even if they didn't witness the murder itself.

Seems like the most obvious theory is that Lester was trying to bust Kuntz or someone else for prostitution and they got the drop on him. However, Lester was supposedly off duty at this time so I don't know if he did investigations in off hours.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

I hadn't seen this one talked about in awhile, thought it was worth revisiting. to refresh everyone's memory, he was the police officer murdered in California in 1988 in his 1984 corvette. He had been shot twice.

there is now a prime suspect named Catherine Kuntz, who apparently has a criminal past, fingerprints in Lester's car, and she matches the description of one of the women seen leaving Lester's car. she also lived in the area at the time and was a prostitute, which Lester investigated often. However apparently the authorities have never accumulated enough evidence to charge her.

What do you all think happened? Personally i've always felt this was a somewhat strange murder. it was very risky for one thing in a public parking lot, and although it was night time there were people around who heard the shots and saw the two women near the car even if they didn't witness the murder itself.

Seems like the most obvious theory is that Lester was trying to bust Kuntz or someone else for prostitution and they got the drop on him. However, Lester was supposedly off duty at this time so I don't know if he did investigations in off hours.

What am I? 12 years old? Yeah, I chuckled when I saw the name.

AND the case has to do with prostitutes..

I'm not at all familiar with this one. Don't remember it whatsoever.

So.. ahem.. Catherine.. Has apparently been IDed since 2008 as one of the women who was in his car the night he was shot. She has been deported to Scotland.. But, there's someone else who was in the car that night.

Catherine.. Tried to have her husband killed.. And spent about 17 years in a Virginia prison for that. 1991-2008

Involved? Probably. Did she pull the trigger? Maybe.

But.. This guy.. Seems that he had everyone gunning for him. Prostitution seems the weaker angle on this.. I'd probably more focus on the drug aspect. But.. When people are backed into a corner.. Who knows what they'll do to get out. Dirty cops is just as valid a reason as well. and it's stated that he was investigating civil officials as part of the prostitution investigation.

Surely Catherine was interviewed.. and if they didn't get any info out of her to help things move forward.. I can't see how they would get anything new now. Unless there's trace DNA evidence or something.

[TheCars1986]

Since Catherine Kuntz was a local prostitute, and Lester had previously worked undercover to bust prostitutes, I think he was killed over something related to that. This article suggests that it was could have been a dirty officer based off of the weapon used to kill him. Kuntz was probably there as a distraction or part of the setup.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Since Catherine Kuntz was a local prostitute, and Lester had previously worked undercover to bust prostitutes, I think he was killed over something related to that. This article suggests that it was could have been a dirty officer based off of the weapon used to kill him. Kuntz was probably there as a distraction or part of the setup.

Yeah.. lots of ideas/theories. Few cold, hard facts.

Prostitution, though.. I mean.. That's not generally a killin' offense. Sure, you get into trafficking and the like and it turns much more serious..

That's why i'd more lean towards the drug side of things.. Which can and does often overlap with the prostitution.

I concur with you that she was part of the setup. I don't particularly see her pulling the trigger herself.

Plus, the point that she's been known to LE for over 15 years now.

[XCalibur]

Originally Posted by Labonte18

Yeah.. lots of ideas/theories. Few cold, hard facts.

Prostitution, though.. I mean.. That's not generally a killin' offense. Sure, you get into trafficking and the like and it turns much more serious..

That's why i'd more lean towards the drug side of things.. Which can and does often overlap with the prostitution.

I concur with you that she was part of the setup. I don't particularly see her pulling the trigger herself.

Plus, the point that she's been known to LE for over 15 years now.

I just wonder what her story was. I'm assuming they interviewed her about it and she denied any involvement since there was no arrest. Did she admit being with him and if so why? Though Lester did investigate prostitutes, he apparently was not on duty that night so did he solicit them in his off hours? Apparently he was something of a ladies man so it seems odd he would need to actually solicit prostitutes, but not impossible for sure.

But since her fingerprints were in Lester's car, she could not really deny being there.

What is odd to me is that the women seen leaving Lester's car, at least the way it was depicted in the reenactment were just casually walking away from his car. That seems strange for someone who just committed a murder, especially in a place where there were potential witnesses. It just looked odd to me. Of course with reenactments you never know for sure if this is what was actually seen or how accurate they are, but if they were accurate that definitely seems off.

[Huskerz85]

Lester was set up. By who, is anyone's guess. He was (unintentionally) getting close to stumbling onto someone's activities though I think and whoever was responsible, hired Catherine Kunz and the other woman to take care of him (probably knowing that Lester worked Vice and this could throw investigators off the actual trail).

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by XCalibur

I just wonder what her story was. I'm assuming they interviewed her about it and she denied any involvement since there was no arrest. Did she admit being with him and if so why? Though Lester did investigate prostitutes, he apparently was not on duty that night so did he solicit them in his off hours? Apparently he was something of a ladies man so it seems odd he would need to actually solicit prostitutes, but not impossible for sure.

But since her fingerprints were in Lester's car, she could not really deny being there.

What is odd to me is that the women seen leaving Lester's car, at least the way it was depicted in the reenactment were just casually walking away from his car. That seems strange for someone who just committed a murder, especially in a place where there were potential witnesses. It just looked odd to me. Of course with reenactments you never know for sure if this is what was actually seen or how accurate they are, but if they were accurate that definitely seems off.

No one involved in the segment was actually there. So.. Dramatic license. Or perhaps that's how the witnesses described it. Can't read too much into that.

Originally Posted by Huskerz85

Lester was set up. By who, is anyone's guess. He was (unintentionally) getting close to stumbling onto someone's activities though I think and whoever was responsible, hired Catherine Kunz and the other woman to take care of him (probably knowing that Lester worked Vice and this could throw investigators off the actual trail).

I think the two women were likely distractions.. But, you do have to hold open the possibility that one of them pulled the trigger themselves.