Brad Hunter
November 16, 2021
-Toronto Sun
The killer of an Atlanta woman left a macabre coda on her lifeless body: They carved the word “FAT” into her skin.
Cops say 40-year-old Katherine Janness was murdered alongside her dog in a park in July. Her girlfriend found her body about 30 metres away from her pitbull Bowie.
The newly released autopsy reveals that she had been stabbed about 50 times. About 15 of the stab wounds were to her head.
Her girlfriend, Emma Clark, has described Janness as “the love of my life” and Bowie as “the sweetest, most loyal companion.”
“(Janness) was the most intelligent, kind, humble, and beautiful person I have ever known. I wanted to spend every second with her,” Clark wrote in a fundraiser that has raised more than $80,000.
“My heart is so very broken, my world will never be the same.”
Detectives say there have been no arrests and no suspects have been identified. Bizarrely, Janness was not an overweight woman, standing 5-foot-5 and weighing 155 pounds with a BMI of 25 — or, according to the autopsy, “normal.”
Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Sullivan told reporters that Janness died from “sharp force injuries of her face, neck and torso that caused injuries of major blood vessels and internal organs.”
Clark’s father, Terrell Clark, told WSB-TV that the stomach-churning autopsy makes it “more important than ever that the search for her killer be a top priority.”
He said: “The report is extremely heartbreaking to read and know the exact nature of what Katie endured in her final moments on this earth. Whoever is responsible is very disturbed and remains a danger to everyone’s safety.
“Please be vigilant and aware of your surroundings for we would hate for any family to be put through this nightmare.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ruled out the possibility it was a hate crime or that there could be a serial killer at work.
“This does not fit the description of anything that we’ve seen,” Bottoms told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
