An Indian Orchard Cold Case, Part 2: A Person of Interest?

Above: Karen and her daughter, Jenna

After the murder of Karen Soucie, the case got cold quickly—pretty much immediately—because the cause of her death was unknown at first. Found in a full bathtub on November 3, 2000, it would be five months before the medical examiner told police that there was evidence of blunt trauma to the neck and chest, according to the autopsy, so then it was listed as a homicide.

 

And that, as far as we can tell, was just about the only evidence in the case for nearly two dozen years, other than the fact that there was no signs of forced entry into her Indian Orchard apartment, so the assailant was possibly someone she knew. It is unknown if DNA other than Karen’s was found at the apartment and preserved—but this is probably unlikely, since it wasn’t really a crime scene at first, with no signs that she had been slain.

 

Friends, family members, and Karen’s co-workers at Milton Bradley were unable to give police enough information to go on for anything substantial enough for a break in the case. If it were an instance of relationship violence, what clouds the picture is that she never brought home anyone she was dating who was important enough to introduce him—or even mention him—to her family.

 

But now, thanks to the advocacy of Karen’s daughter, Jenna Soucie-Moore, it has recently come to light that Karen might have been the girlfriend of a man in his mid-twenties in 2000. “Just following the bread crumbs,” said Jenna. This particular bread crumb trail has indeed proven productive: in the past, Jenna had the name of at least one other paramour of her mother’s, but not her boyfriend at the time of her death.

 

I’m going to refrain from mentioning his name here because, well, I don’t want to be sued! And I have to respect the fact that even though he was possibly dating her, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Karen could have met up with a different guy that night—a stranger, a friend, a past flame—who knows? Or maybe a dirtbag followed her home and pushed her into her apartment after she unlocked her door, and the possible boyfriend knows absolutely nothing about it.

 

Still, Jenna would like to contact the possible boyfriend to glean any information he might have—especially who Karen might have socialized with during that time period, and possibly her whereabouts the night she was killed. For the moment, she’ll take any info she can get about him—including photos—and how to find him.

Karen's possible boyfriend lived near her Berkshire Street apartment, possibly in the mid- to late-1990s until 2001-02. He might have black hair and blue eyes, and frequented Indian Orchard bars like Potbelly’s (153 Main Street) and Christy’s (278 Main Street), as did Karen, where she liked to play darts and shoot pool. He was 23-26 years old, which would make him 46-49 now. Karen was more than a bit older than him, but Jenna said she sometimes went out with younger guys.

 

Indeed, what Jenna did learn over the years is that Karen, after she was divorced from Jenna’s father, was a social butterfly who liked to party, and was possibly killed on Halloween, when there is an uptick in bar nightlife. If she did go out that night, maybe somebody saw something, and Jenna will be happy with even the smallest details, because they might lead to bigger ones.

 

*  *  *  *  *  *

 

Jenna has come up with this lead because of dogged determination—and the help of a small group she calls “Karen’s Warriors.” They feed her tips. They comment on and share her social media posts. “Karen’s Warriors are real,” said Jenna, proudly. I, Hell’s Acres, would like to think of myself as an honorary member of Karen’s Warriors, but I came into this late in the game, when Jenna already began turning up the volume. However, she has assured me that it’s never too late join—in fact, she insists that me coming on board when the cold case is heating up may help produce tangible results because I have a following despite the fact that I write the blog anonymously.

 

I also consider Jenna a friend—a truly nice person who suffers from c-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) because of childhood abuse (mental and emotional), and at 12 years old being crushed by the trauma of her mother’s murder. She simply did not deserve the hand she has been dealt with. But rather than becoming resigned to being a victim, she became a fighter. And she wasn’t born with that fighting spirit. She learned it from her mother.

 

 

*  *  *  *  *  *

 

As a child, Jenna was beaten down with intolerable abuse by one of her stepmothers she lived with. She was isolated for months on end and sometimes starved. In what can be accurately described as a bleak, Cinderella-like existence, she was forced to do never-ending household chores. “And if I fucked up, I knew what was coming,” she said. What was coming was a beating. However, as the abuse progressed, and got worse, not only did the Springfield Public School System start to figure it out, but so did her mother.

 

She and her brother lived with her father and her stepmother in Springfield, and one time she was allowed a weekend sleepover at Karen’s apartment.

“Mom saw right through my lies—my cover story, my protective behavior for my abuser,” she said. “Mom, a child of abuse, was quick to pick up the signs. She saw how skinny, bruised, and broken I was.”

 

At the end of the weekend, Karen drove her daughter home, knowing that Jenna had plans to go to a friend’s house that day. Karen staked out her daughter’s house, waited for Jenna and Jenna’s father to leave, and then stormed through the door, waved a knife at the stepmother, and said, “If you lay your hands on my kid again, I will kill you myself!”

 

Although this story is one of a mother’s love, Karen did something else for her daughter that day. It’s best to let Jenna tell the rest, because she is a skilled writer, especially when it comes to telling people about her crusade for justice:

 

“When I walked into that door, with cops everywhere, and the chaos, amongst it all, I couldn’t help but notice the fear in my stepmother’s face. She was terrified my mom was literally going to kill her. She was crying to cops, I mean the fear in her, that weakness—I had never seen that side of her before.

 

“My mom knew that her words were not powerful enough to break the abuse control this stepmother had over my psyche. So, she showed me that even the biggest monsters in life have weakness, and it’s okay to stand up to her. I mean, I was watching her sob to the cops. She was pitiful. Not long after this, I stood up against my abuser. I fought back, because I remembered her weakness was in there. I had seen it for myself. I finally told the truth, I stopped protecting my abuser. I was removed and placed into foster care.

 

“My mom literally saved my life that day. She showed me no matter what, don’t forget that fighter in you, even when you’re scared. She taught me even the biggest monsters have weaknesses. It’s a lesson I never forgot. It’s a lesson I integrated into my life after I was saved from my situation. I suppose that today I use that same lesson my mom instilled in me: to fight the fight against those that took her life. To say even in the darkest hours—girl, we get up, every day, and we fight back.

“I never got to thank my mom for saving my life the way she did—for turning me into a survivor and not just becoming another victim of child abuse. So mom, thank you, as I intend to use that same survivor/ fighting spirit energy into your case—to be your voice.”

*  *  *  *  *  *

While writing about her mother’s warrior spirit may be somewhat therapeutic for Jenna, make no mistake, having her life on display is difficult for her. “Being someone who’s always been so private about my hardships, this one definitely hits at the top of the list,” she said “My family and I have been fighting for 20 years, behind a curtain for so long—and now it’s out there. Constantly posting something that literally talks about how my mom was murdered kills me. I wish it was so different. I am on a rollercoaster of emotions.”

Jenna has suffered from nightmares, lack of sleep, and anxiety while fighting this fight. At one point, she deactivated her Facebook page—her main vehicle to spread the word—because of blowback over her efforts. It wasn’t long—a few days—before she felt her mother picking her back up, and she resumed.

Also making it difficult, she pointed out, is that the “defund the police” movement after the George Floyd murder had a negative effect on cold case investigations. It’s not as if the Springfield Police Department budget was slashed or anything, but Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood did say earlier this year that her force is in a “fragile” state because it is short-handed. After the racial justice protests, law enforcement recruitment and retention is a problem nationwide, and the Springfield department at the time of the interview was short more than two dozen people.

Not helping things recently is the fact that Springfield has a record-breaking 29 homicides this year, straining their investigative manpower.

“They have no resources,” said Jenna. “My mom’s case has ME—to send them strong enough leads, and they look into them.”

Yet she is heartened by the grassroots support she has been getting—especially lately. When she has her doubts, Jenna’s Warriors keep her humble and at the same time make her more resolute. On social media, she said, “every share counts” and “helps ignite the fire that is in me. I promise, until the day I die, to fight for her justice. I will never give up till her murderer is off the streets.”

Those with any information about the case—no matter how small, or how insignificant it may seem—should call the Springfield Police Homicide Unit at 413-787-6355. People can also provide information anonymously through Text-a-Tip by texting the word CRIMES (2-7-4-6-3-7) and typing the word SOLVE followed by the information.

Read Part 1