28 years later, family still awaits justice in slaying
The family of a woman killed in Fountain Hills 28 years ago is still seeking justice in a case that remains unsolved.
Julie Marie Patterson, 39, died the evening of Aug. 8, 1991, after she was hit on the head with a blunt instrument while lying on a sofa in her home, according to an Arizona Republic article from Sept. 15, 1991. She lived alone with her dog on the 14600 block of North Love Court at the time of her death.
Maricopa County Sheriff ’s Office Sgt. Bryant Vanegas confirmed last week that the agency still is actively investigating the cold case. Patterson’s killer has yet to be found.
“I do not know why the case remains unsolved. Our family is very frustrated with the lack of progress made. We have been very willing to cooperate with law enforcement and have remained in contact with them,” wrote Kelly O’Connor, Patterson’s niece, in an email on Wednesday.
O’Connor had a letter to the editor published in The Republic on Aug. 7 calling for a renewed interest in the case.
O’Connor was 25 years old at the time of her aunt’s murder and considered Patterson as more of a “cool older sister.”
“We ask that people not forget Julie and that if anyone knows anything at all to please contact the police,” the Nashville, Tennessee, resident said. “We desperately want justice for Julie.”
The Sheriff’s Office did not answer a Republic reporter’s specific questions regarding details about Patterson’s murder and the agency’s investigation into the matter. A request for MSCO reports related to Patterson’s murder is pending and could take weeks to fulfill, the agency stated.
Patterson’s murder was only the third to occur in Fountain Hills since its founding in 1970, The Republic reported in 2003.
Patterson’s body was found on Aug.10, 1991 by her best friend, Dori Wittrig, and neighbor, Duane Leonard, who both began to worry when Patterson didn’t return their phone calls and missed a couple of planned outings, according to The Republic reports.
Wittrig and Leonard did not immediately respond to messages via Face
book seeking comment.
The day her body was found, the Sheriff ’s Office, which still is the police agency for Fountain Hills, also responded to another homicide incident — one that would garner much more attention from the public and MCSO.
It was that day that nine people at the Wat Promkunaram Buddhist temple in Waddell were found shot to death as a result of a robbery. The incident remains Arizona’s deadliest mass shooting, for which Johnathan Doody was found guilty in 2014 and sentenced to life in prison nine times.
“I think that one of the biggest issues of this case not being solved sooner was the timing. Julie was discovered either the same day or the day after the Buddhist Temple shootings. Her case was not given the same attention or priority it would have received if the timing had been different,” said O’Connor. “There may have also been some mismanagement of her case as well.”
O’Connor declined to provide further details about her claim that the case was mismanaged.
MCSO had no motive for Patterson’s murder by September 1991, according to The Republic. Patterson had not been sexually assaulted.
The agency eliminated robbery as a motive at the time because nothing appeared to be taken from the home. However, The Republic reported in 2003 that family members said a golf club was missing.
The night of her death, Patterson’s backdoor was left open for her dog — which she apparently did often — and her front door was left unlocked, The Republic reported.
The Republic also reported in 2003 that Patterson’s mother said she believed her daughter was in some sort of trouble because she planned her own funeral a week before her death and expressed interest in buying a gun. Patterson’s mother has since died, according to O’Connor.
Patterson, who worked as a loan officer, was also involved with questionable clients who had criminal histories, according to a Republic report.
In 2003, MCSO confirmed to The Republic that it had a fingerprint from the scene of the crime that was never identified.
Despite the frustration over the unsolved case, O’Connor also remembers good times with her aunt.
“Julie had an exceptionally good sense of humor and she was well-liked by everyone she met. She was everyone’s favorite,” O’Connor stated. “She was loyal and could keep a secret. Julie made people smile — she was friendly and a lot of fun to be around. People naturally gravitated toward her.”
Patterson grew up in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and was the middle child in a family of seven, according to O’Connor. She was married once more than 15 years before her death and had no children, The Republic reported.
Patterson moved to Fountain Hills about two years before her death, according to The Republic. She became a member of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce and chaired the parade one year, said O’Connor.
“Julie was the closest in my heart other than my daughters,” Pat de Lugo, Patterson’s sister and O’Connor’s mother, wrote in an email to The Republic on Friday. “Though these years have been long, I have missed her every day and cry for her death and missing her. The pain does not go away.”
O’Connor has no guesses as to who killed her aunt or why.
“While Julie had visited my mom and me earlier that year in St. Thomas, I did not know any of her friends or much about her life in Arizona to have any idea as to what happened,” she said. “I strongly believe though, that someone knows something and has either not been completely forthcoming to the police or has not come forward yet.”
Reach the reporter at chelsea. curtis@arizonarepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels.