The True Story Behind the Park Bench Murders

in Unsolved mysteries Volume 5, the first episode follows the story of two friends who are murdered in a park in Cleveland, Ohio, now known as the Park Bench Murders. Unsolved mysteries Originated as a paranormal mystery and true crime series in 1987 that ran for 12 seasons. The series was recently rebooted by Netflix in 2020, and the fifth installment of episodes was recently added to the streaming platform. The new season explores more than just the Park Bench Murders But a number of other cases, including the Roswell UFO incident and a ghostly entity named Becky.

In the disturbing new Unsolved mysteries episode, audiences meet two friends, Kate Brown and Carnell Sledge. Kate and Carnell are long-time friends Which has a seemingly on-and-off relationship. They would be close for a while, would be separated for a while, and then would come together like never before. Both men have loving and supportive families, and neither Kate nor Carnell have any dark or mysterious dealings. Thus, their sudden murders in 2019 are incredibly shocking. Even worse, the crime is difficult to solve and continues to confuse the police.

Carnell Sledge and Katherine Brown were killed in a Cleveland park in 2019

The timeline of Carnell and Kate’s murder

The story of Carnell and Kate’s murder begins on June 4, 2019. After setting up a time to meet through text messages and phone calls, Carnell and Kate met in a park called Rocky River Reservation. Both of them sat on a bench and talked. However, the pair were later found dead by a nearby couple with bullet wounds to the backs of their heads. Although the park was a busy area, full of joggers and traffic, no one witnessed the crime happen. It seems that someone walked up behind Carnell and Kate, killed them, then disappeared.

What makes the murders of Carnell and Kate even stranger is the short timeline in which it happened. According to Unsolved mysteries In the event, Kate and Carnell communicated around 4:15 p.m. Kate left the gym and Carnell got off work around 4:30, and both went to the park. They arrived around 5:00. At 5:08 p.m., Kate was recorded unlocking and checking her phone. so, It wasn’t until 5:22 a.m. that the couple found Kate and Carnell dead. This left only 14 minutes for the crime to not only take place, but for the suspect to leave the scene.

Why Sledge & Brown came to the park that day

Carnell and Kate’s relationship explained

One of the biggest mysteries to come out of the Unsolved mysteries Episode is why Carnel and Kate met that day. Although Kate and Carnell are friends, their family members were unaware that the two were datingAnd aren’t quite sure why they have such a last-minute meeting. Notably, Carnell has a family dinner to attend at 5. Therefore, the meeting is presumably urgent. In this episode, Kate’s family made it clear that Kate and Carnell would go to each other when they had problems, so it could have been that one of them was having a bad day.

Another theory posited by the Unsolved mysteries Episode is that Carnel wanted to meet with Kate to confess his feelings for her. According to Kate’s sister, about a month before the murder, Kate revealed that Carnell thought they would end up together. It’s unclear whether Kate reciprocated those feelings, but regardless, Carnell may have wanted to follow up with Kate about his feelings or have a more serious conversation about it that simply couldn’t wait. Without access to their phone calls, it is difficult to decipher what they met that day.

What witnesses said about the deaths of Carnell Sledge and Catherine Brown

Why did no one see the crime

A particularly shocking aspect of the Park Bench Murders is that a witness was sitting just a few feet away from the scene of the crime while it was happening. Around the time of Carnell and Kate’s murder, a roofer was sitting in his truck In a nearby parking lot doing paperwork. Although the bench the couple was sitting on was only a few feet away, the roofer apparently did not notice any violent activity. Most surprisingly, he didn’t even hear the sound of the shot. In this way, the death of Carnel and Kate could be witnessed if the roof looked up.

Apart from the roofer, there were no other witnesses to the crime. This was especially strange considering how busy the Rocky River Reservation is, especially around 5 o’clock when you get off work. Despite the many cars passing by, No one noticed Carnell and Kate being shot and killed. It’s unfortunate, but it’s likely because the nearby witnesses are too busy focusing on the road ahead of them to notice. Furthermore, the bench on which they were sitting was also shaded by a tree. In this way, Carnell and Kate were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Are there any motives or suspects for the Park Bank murders?

The Park Bench murders could have been completely random

The Park Bench murders are completely unsolved, and unfortunately, there aren’t many leads. Some suspects that the police considered were the roofer, Cornell’s ex-girlfriend, Kate’s ex-boyfriend, and a man with whom Kate had recently had a date who had previously killed someone. Each of the suspects had alibis that cleared them of being Carnell and Kate’s killers. Some of Kate and Carnell’s family members believed that the couple was potentially followed to the Rocky River Reservation, but there is no specific person the crime points to. Neither Kate nor Carnell have any known enemies or motives against them.

Another theory is that the park bench murders were completely random, or a hate crime. It was observed in the US Unsolved mysteries Cleveland has a history of hate groups and violent discrimination based on race, religion, etc. In this way, some believe that Cornell and Kate may have been killed simply because Cornell was African American. On the other hand, it may Have nothing to do with race and was a really random act regardless. Unsolved mysteries A little light on this strange and difficult crime.