Catherine Corkery: Police search for answers in 1989 unsolved killing
DORMONT, Pa. (KDKA) — Police are still searching for the killer in the 1989 brutal slaying of 22-year-old Catherine Corkery.
"It was absolutely the most horrific case that I had ever personally been involved with," retired Dormont police officer Gary Scheimer said.
It's been 33 years since Corkery was killed. She was sexually assaulted, savagely stabbed, strangled and then burned.
Scheimer responded to the scene when she was found on July 22, 1989.
"This wasn't a spontaneous action," he said. "This was something that was carefully planned so he could do what he did and not get detected."
Scheimer said a person living on Voelkel Avenue discovered Corkery's naked body under a tree in his backyard near the trolley tracks. She was found not far from her Dormont apartment.
Before being discovered, she was at a crowded party in Mt. Lebanon on Academy Avenue. Police could not determine if she left the party alone or with someone else or if she got into a vehicle or walked.
"Nobody reported seeing her leave," Scheimer said. "She was just not there anymore. We don't where the homicide occurred. And unfortunately, we still don't know who did it."
No murder weapon has been found, and the clothes Corkery was wearing have also never been found.
"It's very difficult when you have no eyewitnesses, no physical evidence left at the scene except for the body," Scheimer said.
He hopes advances in technology may help crack the case.
"This poor victim died in this manner has just stuck with me, and I always wanted to see the person that did it held accountable," Scheimer said.
Police are asking anyone with information to come forward.