Park Bench Murders: Episode 1, ‘Park Bench Murders’ covers the story of two friends who were shot dead while sitting on a bench at a busy park on a sunny afternoon at Rocky River Reservation and how the killer manages to escape from the scene unseen.
Who were the Nell and Kate?
Carnell Sledge(Nell) and Katherine Brown(Kate) were good friends who were shot dead in a park at Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio in 2019. People who knew them were in deep shock as to how somebody could kill them and leave their bodies facing in the mud water near the lake and nobody saw anything. On June 4, 2019, when Tony and Kaitlin Vacha went near the Rocky River Reservation to see if they could do Kayaks, they noticed two dead bodies lying near the river with a bullet shot in their head so they immediately called 911.
Detective Don Sylvis was the first officer to reach the crime scene with three other officers. He noticed that both the dead bodies were lying down the black man had been shot twice and the white lady had been shot once 6 feet away from the bench they were sitting. The police searched the entire surrounding looking for more evidence but all they could find was three bullet shells lying near the dead bodies.
This indicated that the suspect was standing near the victims while shooting them and it was a double murder case and not a murder-suicidal case which they initially suspected. They also found two unoccupied vehicles 100 feet away from the bodies and found out they were the victims.
The police also informed their parents about this incident which left them in deep shock. These type of killings in the Metroparks were very uncommon as the last homicide they had was around 20 years ago and this double murder case took place in where traffic kept going throughout the day so it was very suspicious how this could have happened without letting anyone know. At the time, both were shot dead, a courier delivery guy was sitting in his van but after extreme examination, the police believe that the killer might have used a silencer which would have made the firing very quiet as the bullets were shot from a short caliper gun.
When the police investigated the dead bodies, both victims’ cell phones and other belongings were still there with them so it was not a robbery-murder case. After trying many ways but ending up with no evidence, Metropark Police Department asked FBI to assist in this case as usually the FBI doesn’t interfere in such cases. As the days passed, Carnell E. Sledge and Katherine C. Brown’s family and the police were searching for answers. Many agencies got involved in solving this case.
On that day, Kate and Nell texted each other to meet up at the park to discuss something but this plan of theirs was not informed to anyone. To date, their family still wonders what was so important to discuss that they wanted to meet in person. Their family also informed the police that they both had their rest of the evening plans and dinner schedule.
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There is a theory that, as racism was peaking during those times so it is possible that someone who might be carrying a gun and saw a black man sitting with a white girl would have provoked him and in impulse, he would have shot them.
Even now, the police officers still wonder why they were killed. Who was the real target? Was it Kate? Was it Carnell? And what was the reason behind these killings?
The police even took a close look at Carnell’s ex-wife but she had nothing to do with these murders. In the Netflix series ‘Unsolved Mysteries Volume 5, family members of Kate and Nell as said that they still believe that whoever has done this will be caught one day. At the end of episode 1, it is mentioned that if you happen to have any information about the murders of Carnell Sledge and Kate Brown, then call crime stoppers of Cuyahoga County or submit a tip on 25crime.com or unsolved.com.
