30-year homicide case still active
Friends, family and police are working to bring Michele Kirkhoven’s killer to justice
OROVILLE » The unsolved homicide case never truly left the public eye, but on anniversaries in particular, the memory of Michele Kirkhoven is revived on social media and elsewhere as friends and family continue to seek justice for her killing.
Kirkhoven, then 22 years old, was found dead on the morning of Jan. 3, 1991, in her duplex apartment on Park Avenue near downtown Oroville.
One week ago, the homicide reached its 30- year anniversary. Debi Davis, a longtime friend of Kirkhoven’s, posted a couple of photos on Facebook — a banner advertising a $ 50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction in the case and a photo of Kirkhoven’s grave site — with a message that read simply, “Michele Kirkhoven … Murdered January 3, 1991 … STILL UNSOLVED … Please share.”
“When the anniversary comes around, it’s devastating,” said Tonya Paul, another of Kirkhoven’s friends who grew up together in Oroville. “It’s sad — very sad.”
The anniversary serves as a reminder that without an arrest or conviction, Kirkhoven’s family and friends have been unable to find closure. And without much in the way of public updates on the case over the past few years, some have been led to believe movement on the case has stalled.
However, contrary to that belief, multiple law enforcement sources in Butte County confirmed the case remains open and investigation, which has spanned several states, is ongoing.
“Investigators in this case are not letting it go cold,” Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said this week.
When Joe Deal took over nearly a year and a half ago as Oroville’s Public Safety Director, overseeing the Police Department and Fire Department, he spoke to Perry Reniff, the former Butte County Sheriff who continues to pursue cold cases and other unsolved crimes, including the Kirkhoven killing.
Deal said they talked about developments in the case and recent work that Reniff had done. Since then, Deal said the two have collaborated on the homicide case and each continue to work it.
“It is an active case — there is investigation going on,” Deal said. “Investigators have been in contact with family members, I would say fairly frequently, and very recently we’ve been in contact with various family members in the case.”
Making progress
Officials connected to the investigation have been cautious in deciding what information is shared publicly, for fear of compromising the investigation. However, Deal did say investigators have made progress in a couple of areas over the last year — they’ve identified multiple individuals who were in Kirkhoven’s apartment on the night of her death, and as forensic technology has advanced, there have been developments with physical evidence in the case that they believe could lead somewhere.
“We have identified people that were in the home the night that this crime occurred, and we are continuing to work and investigate that information,” Deal said. “And, over the course of the last several years forensics have progressed. Obviously, with DNA and different things like that (forensics) have gotten better. We have identified some evidence in the case — I just want to leave it at that.”
Even after 30 years, people who knew Kirkhoven can’t make sense of why or how someone could possibly harm the bright 22-year- old with a positive spirit they remember.
“She was very well known, popular, bubbly, make you laugh, she was always giggling, she was just the most happy- golucky person,” Paul said. “Why would somebody want to hurt her? I don’t understand.”
Fewer family members
Over the years, some of her family members made multiple public appearances to keep pushing for the case to get solved, but that number has dwindled. Her mother, Tina Kirkhoven, died in 2012, and her sister, Kim Kirkhoven, died in 2019. According to Paul, Michele Kirkhoven’s daughter, who was three years old at the time of her death, has largely chosen to stay out of the picture.
There was also a March 2017 press conference, attended by Kirkhoven’s uncles Thomas Soerensen and Ray Lloyd Sr. that coincided with the installation of billboards in Chico and Oroville adverstising $50,000 rewards seeking information in two unsolved cases, one of them being Kirkhoven’s.
During the press conference, Soerensen openly questioned the dedication of the Oroville Police Department to the case and asked if an officer, in addition to Reniff, was actively working it. Reniff, who was also in attendance, told Soerensen the department has put a significant amount of time into the case, and the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have been “instrumental” in the investigation, this newspaper reported.
“A lot of times in these cases, you’ll have family or friends say, ‘ Nothing is happening. Nothing is going on,’” Deal said. “This case has been worked pretty thoroughly for a significant amount of time.”
Those frustrations still exist, even while the department and other investigators insist they are continuing to probe.
“Something needs to happen,” Paul said. “If there’s DNA, if there’s a family member that can give permission to exhume her body and find out what the hell is happening to let this rest, because we’re all heartbroken over this. It’s heartbreaking, it’s sad, because she was such a wonderful person and it did not need to happen.”
Use of DNA
Previously in 2006, there was a DNA profile considered to be a match with a suspect, but it was only conclusive enough to rule out certain previous suspects. Around the 20th anniversary of the homicide in 2011, Detective Jason Barkley told this newspaper, “The DNA at this time is not specific enough to identify any one person.”
That was 10 years ago. Deal said the physical evidence collected in the case is still retained.
“It’s not uncommon for DNA to be collected from a crime scene, and let’s say we collected DNA today and we didn’t get anything on it … as science and forensics develop, there’s a possibility that it can work and you can get something off of it years down the road,” Deal said.
Deal said the Oroville Police Department is still welcoming any additional information related to the case, should anyone decide to come forward. People may contact the Oroville Police Department at 530538-2448.
“Each type of case like this has its own challenges This case has had those, and we have not given up on doing a full investigation,” Deal said. “Our ultimate goal is to bring the suspect to justice and provide some sort of closure for the family.”