Photo: cbsnews.com
It has been five years since their brutal murders.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Apr 30, 2019
Five years ago, Kathy Netherland and her 16-year-old daughter Samantha were found shot to dead inside their Bardstown, Kentucky home on April 22, 2014. They had been killed the previous day. To this day, exactly five years later, Kentucky State Police have never had a real break in the case. The only pice of evidence in the case is a surveillance video of a black Chevy Impala. Police are urging the public to come forward with any information they have related to this case. Stacey Hibbard, Kathy's sister, said: "There's nothing that Kathy or Samantha ever did in life that would ever explain the violence that was brought to their home." Now a new Oxygen show called The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers is taking a fresh look at the murders. Who are Kathy and Samantha Netherland?
1. The murders were brutal
On April 22, 2014, Kathy's father discovered the bodies of his daughter and granddaughter after she failed to show up to work at Bardstown Elementary School, where she was a special education teacher. Kathy had been shot multiple times. Samantha had been bludgeoned in the head. Both had knife wounds to their necks.
2. The inmate
In The Disappearance of Crystal Rogers, reporter Stephanie Bauer spoke with an anonymous prison inmate who claimed that Kathy and Samantha were killed during a gang initiation. When he was pushed for details, he said: "Well, I know they was tortured. I know that they were tied to their chairs. I know that one of 'em had her throat slit. They was stabbed, and one was shot. I know that trinkets were taken as trophies." The inmate also claimed that a cellphone jammer was placed near the front door of the Netherland home to "kill all the signal in the house."
3. A possible theory
Bauer dove into investigating the inmate's theories and met with Kathy's daughter and Samantha's sister, Holly Netherland Williams. Holly was not able to confirm the claims of the inmate, but she thought his theories about a gang initiation were possible. About the cell phone jammer, she said: "This is news to me. I mean, that would explain why they didn't get a call off because I know my mom always had a phone in her hand. ... Samantha, she ... I'd like to think that if something happened to Mom that she would have tried to get a call off. ... She would have had [a cellphone]."
4. The lone piece of evidence
The sole piece of evidence that Kentucky State police detectives are still investigating is a photo of a black Chevy Imapala that may have been at the Netherland's house on the day of the murders. Kentucky State Police spokesman Scotty Sharp said: "We feel like the Impala is a central part of the investigation, as we have said since day one. We continue to look for that black Impala." The car was caught on a surveillance camera about a half mile from the Netherland house.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.