The word “ROC” written in blood shocked investigators and the public alike. But in Part Two of The Murder of Karen Pannell, the truth emerges not from what was written on the wall — but from what the evidence refused to ignore.

In this episode, Dark Dialogue follows the case into the courtroom, where forensic science, timelines, and witness testimony dismantled the idea of a dying declaration and exposed a carefully staged crime scene. Prosecutors laid out a case built on bloodstain pattern analysis, medical testimony, DNA evidence, cell-tower data, and a collapsing alibi — while the defense fought to inject reasonable doubt through challenges to interpretation, memory, and motive.

We examine the full trial: • The medical examiner’s testimony and why Karen could not have written “ROC” • Bloodstain analysis proving the message was added after the attack • DNA evidence tying Tim Permenter to a close, violent struggle — and excluding others • Cell-tower records and eyewitness timelines that placed him at the scene through the night • George Solomon’s account of a late-night confession and request for cover • Tim Permenter’s decision to testify — and how jurors weighed his explanations

The episode concludes with the jury’s verdict, the death-penalty recommendation, the judge’s ultimate sentence of life without parole, and the appellate rulings that upheld the conviction. We also return to Karen — not as evidence, but as a person — in a final victim tribute that centers her life, her strength, and the cost of intimate-partner violence.

This is not a story about a word written in blood. It is a story about control, deception, and how truth survives even the most deliberate attempts to bury it.

Original music featured in the victim tribute includes “Paper Wings” by JJ Hawk, produced by Hawk Studios, and used with permission. Learn more about JJ Hawk and Hawk Studios here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574578047424

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Listener discretion advised: this episode contains discussion of violent crime and graphic details.

In October 2003, 39-year-old airline professional Karen Pannell was found stabbed to death inside her Oldsmar, Florida villa. Near her body, written in blood on the kitchen wall, was a single word: “ROC.”

At first, investigators believed they were looking at a dying message — a final act of identification left by a woman who knew she was dying. Karen’s ex-boyfriend, whose nickname was Roc, became the immediate focus.

But the evidence didn’t hold.

In this first episode of a two-part investigation, Dark Dialogue examines how a crime scene that seemed to explain itself slowly unraveled. Forensic analysis revealed the blood writing was staged. Cell-tower data contradicted alibis. Witnesses stepped forward. And a relationship marked by control, deception, and a hidden violent past came sharply into focus.

This episode follows:

• The discovery of Karen’s body and the initial investigation
• Why the bloody message pointed investigators in the wrong direction
• How forensic science exposed staging rather than truth
• The “exit-ramp danger zone” — the statistically most lethal moment in abusive relationships
• The early cracks that shifted the case away from a framed suspect and toward the real killer

This is not just a murder story. It’s a case study in how control escalates when it begins to fail, and why leaving an abusive relationship is often the most dangerous step of all.

Part Two will take listeners into the courtroom — where lies collapse, evidence speaks, and accountability is finally forced into the open.

If You or Someone You Know Needs Help

If you are in immediate danger, call 911 (U.S.) or your local emergency number right now.

Confidential support is available 24/7:

• National Domestic Violence Hotline (U.S.) 📞 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) 💬 Text START to 88788 🌐 https://www.thehotline.org
• National Center for Victims of Crime 📞 855-4-VICTIM (855-484-2846) 🌐 https://victimsofcrime.org
• StrongHearts Native Helpline 📞 1-844-7NATIVE (1-844-762-8483) 🌐 https://strongheartshelpline.org

Leaving an abusive relationship is dangerous — but you do not have to do it alone. Advocates can help you create a safety plan tailored to your situation.

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Part Two drops next — and the truth doesn’t stay hidden forever.

…and keep the dialogue alive…

By the time the Chicago Ripper Crew finally stood before a judge, the worst of their crimes were already over — but justice was only beginning its long, uneven struggle.

In this final episode of Dark Dialogue’s Chicago Ripper Crew series, we step inside the courtrooms, parole hearings, execution chambers, and political backrooms that determined how four men responsible for some of the most sadistic crimes in Illinois history would ultimately be punished — or spared.

This episode examines what happened after the arrests: • Who received life sentences • Who was executed • Who had a death sentence erased by a governor’s pen • And who walked free decades later — legally, permanently, and without supervision

Most disturbing of all, we confront the truth that the man believed by investigators and co-defendants to be the architect of the violence was never convicted of a single murder.

Through trial transcripts, sentencing records, appellate rulings, and survivor testimony, this episode lays bare the legal mechanics that shaped the outcome of the case — plea deals, confession battles, death-penalty politics, commutations, and sentencing laws written long before anyone imagined their consequences.

We explore: • How Illinois prosecutors built cases without physical forensic evidence • Why confessions became both the system’s greatest weapon and its weakest link • How one execution became the last in Illinois history • Why another man was released in 2019 — not because of innocence, but because the law required it • And how victims’ families have spent decades reliving the worst moments of their lives just to keep killers behind bars

This is not an episode about shock value. It is about accountability, systemic failure, and the uncomfortable reality that justice does not always align with truth.

Above all, this episode gives the final word to the women — the named, the unnamed, the survivors, and those whose bodies were never recovered. Their lives mattered long before they were reduced to exhibits, transcripts, and case numbers.

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Because when the headlines fade and the verdicts are filed away, the dialogue must continue.

Keep the dialogue alive.