Karen Pannell: Written off Too Soon

Tim Permenter Pins a Murder on Another Ex
(“Writing on the Wall,” Forensic Files)

Tim Permenter isn’t the first Forensic Files killer to cast suspicions on multiple dupes so if investigators cleared one, they could target another. But he did distinguish himself by doing so in a speedy manner.

Murderers Christopher Porco and Richard Lyon, for example, brewed up multifaceted plans — including blaming the Mafia and a victim’s own brother — well ahead of their crimes. Tim, on the other hand, made a spontaneous decision to kill, then brainstormed with himself on a cover-up while eating pizza at the crime scene.

Accused in print. Of course, Tim had a lot more experience in manipulation than the others: He was a former pimp.

Tim’s onetime girlfriend, popular airline professional Karen Pannell, 39, didn’t learn about that particular aspect of his past until a few months into the relationship. When she insisted on breaking up, he flew into a rage and stabbed her to death in her townhome in Oldsmar, Florida, in 2003. Then, he scrawled the name of her ex-boyfriend on the wall in hopes that he would take the fall.

For this week, I looked into how investigators picked off that and other false leads one by one. I also searched for more information on murder victim Karen Pannell and on Tim Permenter’s whereabouts today — as well as some details on his early career as an escort-service owner.

Kid sister. So let’s get going on the recap of “Writing on the Wall” along with extra information from internet research:

Karen Pannell was born the last of a family of six kids and the only girl on February 10, 1964, in Germany, where her father was serving in the Air Force.

She had a vivacious personality, symmetrical features, and a beautiful smile — the kind of individual any business would want as the face of its brand. She worked as a model and then got a job as an American Airlines gate agent at the Tampa International Airport, where she acquired a reputation for being able to pacify irate travelers. She worked her way up to customer service supervisor.

Drama king. In her spare time, she liked diving and other outdoor activities and also became her family’s informal event-planner. She encouraged togetherness as her brothers grew into adults.

“Karen, being the only girl and the youngest, she was always very special to her brothers,” Randy Pannell told the North Pinellas Times.

In October 2003, Timothy Permenter dialed police, telling them that he dropped by Karen’s house at 2030 Montego Court and found her dead on the kitchen floor. He used a teary, pitiful voice on the phone. He was so upset that he threw up in the front yard after law officers arrived.

Furniture fight. The word “Roc” was written in blood on the wall — it looked as though Karen used her right index finger to spell out the name of her attacker as her last act before dying.

Someone had stabbed Karen 16 to 17 times in her back, neck, and heart and left her face-up in a pool of blood.

She had a previous boyfriend named Roc Herpich, an insurance adjuster known to have struggled with drug problems and minor legal troubles. The couple had lived together for about a year and were still in a custody battle over a $900 roll-top desk.

Nice try, buddy. Karen and the Harley-Davidson-riding Roc had a stormy relationship in general and she had filed a domestic battery complaint against him. He admitted to kicking in the door after they had a fight.

If all was as it appeared on the surface, police had an open and shut case against Roc.

Or so the real killer thought.

The forensics indicated someone wrote “Roc” over spots of blood splatter that had dried earlier than the letters, suggesting that it had happened after Karen died. And Karen’s right hand had formed the letters, despite that she was left-handed.

MS diagnosis. After suffering minor indignities like having police photograph the bottoms of his feet and take nail clippings, Roc was cleared.

At the time of the murder, he was home with his current girlfriend and her son, who was having a backyard sleepover with a bunch of his little buddies.

The ever-helpful Tim advised investigators to check out Karen’s dark and handsome former husband, Jeff Paine. The two had been married for five years and were now having an alimony dispute. Karen needed more money because she had recently found out she had multiple sclerosis.

Ransacking ruse. But Jeff proved he was in South Florida on a diving trip at the time of the homicide. And a British Airways pilot who Karen had once dated was out of the country.

By this time, officers had also ruled out a theft as the cause of the murder, although they found some disarray — an overturned birdbath, a purse with its contents emptied — at Karen’s place. Random home invaders don’t generally overkill their victims or know the names and spellings of the homeowner’s former boyfriends.

Meanwhile, Tim was cooperating with police. He answered questions and allowed a search of his home.

Ready for his closeup. And Tim had one more trick up his sleeve: an alibi. He had been with his friend and former co-worker George Solomon in New Port Richey, he said.

Soon enough, however, police discovered that a cell phone call to George that Tim had made around the time of the murder bounced off a cell tower near Karen’s home.

Having cleared all of Tim Permenter’s intended patsies — Roc, the ex-husband, and the fictitious surprised burglar — investigators could at last turn all eyes toward Tim and only Tim.

Engine trouble. So who was this guy and how did a nice woman like Karen end up with him?

Tim Permenter was born on May 10, 1967, to a teenage mother, Donna Finch, and had little contact with his father, according to a Tampa Bay Times account. Donna’s parents helped bring up Tim. His grandfather, Alex Finch, a lawyer and onetime mayor of Clearwater, was murdered by a client in 1989.

Karen met Tim, who drove a blue BMW convertible, when he was working as a VW salesman. She was shopping for a new vehicle.

Passed intelligence test. They began dating. He took a page from the classic sleazy-criminal playbook (Richard Crafts, John Meehan ), using fake war stories to gratify his ego. Tim falsely claimed that he served as a Navy Seal and participated in a mission.

But the Pannells had no reason to suspect that he was lying. Tim seemed bright, according to Michael Pannell, brother of the victim. The Ph.D.-holding Michael noted during his Forensic Files appearance that Tim impressed the family by beating him at Trivial Pursuit.

But there was some knowledge about Tim that the Pannells had yet to discover — and it wasn’t trivial.

Interesting ‘hook.’ Tim had at one time operated a small chain of prostitution outfits in Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida. After the law caught up with his criminal enterprise, he explained that he started by placing newspaper ads for escorts. He discussed his best practices with the Associated Press:

“You could tell over the phone if a woman knew what she was getting into or not. For example, if a woman called up and said, ‘What exactly is this escort service?’ they wouldn’t be hired.“

Tim’s service, called Esquire Escorts, charged $100 per hour; the woman would get $65 and Esquire got $35. (One source noted that new hires had to go out on a practice date for free with a member of Esquire Escort’s management team.)

Pimp vs. pimp. He grossed $6,000 to $7,000 a day by the time he turned 20, he told Dateline during an episode titled “Written in Blood.”

But Tim was hungry for more. In 1990, at Tallahassee’s Capital Ridge Apartments, Tim had a shoot-out with a pimp who owned an escort service called Exclusively Yours. According to the Solved episode “Written in Blood,” Tim was the aggressor, and he shot the rival pimp twice.

Tim’s name had also popped up in the media amid allegations that a University of Florida supporter had paid for prostitutes supplied by Esquire Escorts to have sex with basketball player Dwayne Schintzius.

(The mullet-wearing Schintzius survived the scandal and went on to play professionally before dying of leukemia at 43 in 2012.)

Cash frittered away. Esquire Escorts also figured into the downfall of University of Central Florida president Steve Altman, who claimed he used the service for nonsexual massages only.

Although Tim said he started his empire to finance his University of Florida tuition, he also admitted to the AP that he blew all the money on “cars, a motorcycle, Jacuzzis, that sort of thing.”

He spent 12 years in prison for attempted murder, racketeering, and other related crimes.

Bad marks. Toward the end of his three-month relationship with Karen, he had given her a watered-down version of his criminal record. (Not sure how he explained the “Escort King” tattoo on his arm, however.)

When Karen told Tim it was over, he reportedly tried to choke her. Her airline colleague Catherine Mallet said that Karen had worn a turtleneck to work on a hot day and pulled it down to show her the strangulation marks.

Authorities investigating Karen’s murder slowly put together a case against Tim. At the crime scene, they found his prints on a pizza box with three missing slices (Karen’s autopsy found no pizza in her stomach). The delivery time of the pizza contradicted his contention that he left Karen’s place at 7:30 p.m.

The Pizza Hut deliveryman, who chatted with Karen in the doorway for around 10 minutes, told investigators that Tim had scowled at him.

Tim’s skin was found under Karen’s nails.

Poor placement. Investigators believe Tim went to her house in hopes of rekindling the romance. They ordered a pizza at some point, but when Karen made it clear she wanted to discontinue the relationship, he got angry and strangled her. While figuring out how to foist the blame on someone else, Tim ate three slices of pizza.

Next, he used Karen’s lifeless right index finger to write “Roc” in order to frame Roc Herpich. But the letters were too high up on the wall for a partially disabled victim to write.

Lab tests showed Tim’s DNA mixed in with Karen’s blood at the scene.

Horrible death. Tim was indicted in 2004. The trial wouldn’t take place for three more years, but the law took him into custody right away for violating his parole for crimes related to his pimping; he had traveled to Pasco County to see a friend without permission from his parole officer.

Prosecutors maintained that Tim started the attack by surprise, putting a knife in Karen’s back, which paralyzed her. Blood splatter placement suggested he then got on top of her and continued to stab her. “She was looking up into the eyes of her murderer,” according to Assistant State Attorney Bill Loughery. 

In court, the prosecution decimated Tim’s already-compromised alibi about visiting George Solomon. George, his ex-colleague from the car dealership on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard, testified that on the night of the murder, Tim met him at a gas station, where he asked him to provide an alibi. Later, over drinks, he confessed to killing Karen. “She’s gone. I killed her. I killed Karen,” Tim said, according to George’s testimony.

Loose lips. Tim said the two had argued after he told Karen that he had just quit his job at the car dealership, according to George Solomon.

Also to Tim’s detriment, after finding the body, he had called Catherine Mallet to let her know Karen had been stabbed — before investigators made the determination of cause of death.

Tim’s defense team came out swinging.

They labeled George Solomon a “big fat liar” and pointed out that Tim had no blood on his clothing the night of the gory murder.

Missing wardrobe. Tim, who testified calmly at the trial, said that his statements about the logistics regarding the cell phone and his arrival at Karen’s house were simple errors. During an appearance on the On the Case with Paula Zahn episode “Message in Blood,” he maintained that he didn’t wear a wristwatch and often didn’t keep track of the time.

“I’ve been off on times,” Permenter told prosecutor Bill Loughery. “Does that make me a murderer? No, sir.”

Police never found the murder weapon, believed to be a knife taken from Karen’s kitchen, or any of Tim’s bloody clothes.

Kind souls. Aside from his mother, known as Donna Finch or Donna Markham, Timothy had no supporters in court, according to the Tampa Bay Herald. Donna had cancer and sometimes came directly to court after chemotherapy treatments, the St. Petersburg Times reported.

After deliberating for four hours, on October 24, 2007, a jury found Tim guilty of first-degree murder.

While pleased with the verdict, Karen’s camp showed sympathy for Tim’s mother. “My heart goes out to her,” said Karen’s stepmother, Yvonne Pannell. “I know his mother is in pain. And we’ve been in pain for four years.” 

Eye kept on guy. In November 2007, the jury voted 7-to-5 for the death penalty, but the judge sentenced Tim to life without the possibility of parole, which disappointed Karen Pannell’s family, according to her brother Randy.

Tim’s various efforts for a new trial have failed. In 2013, a U.S. district court denied a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

Today, Timothy Permenter is inmate #570672 at Liberty Correctional Institution in Bristol, Florida. The state lists him as in close custody, meaning he requires armed supervision at all times.

Wait, there’s more. Sadly, Roc Herpich, whose animated personality livened up the Forensic Files episode, died in 2018 at the age of 60. (Thanks to reader Joe for writing in with the tip).

If you’d like to check out other true-crime programs about the case, you can choose from a few. You can see the Dateline episode, divided into six segments with different URLs, on the NBC News website. It costs $1.99 to view the On the Case with Paula Zahn episode on Amazon.

The shows aren’t as compact and easy to watch as Forensic Files, but nothing is.

That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR

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Watch the Forensic Files episode on YouTube or Tubi