pinellas county homicide de detective michael holbrooke would lead the investigation. >> when the investigation team arrived, tim was hysterical and actually threw up on the front lawn he was so upset. >> reporter: and they put him in the back seat of the patrol call where he placed a call to catherine with the unimaginable news. >> he said catherine, it is tim, and she is in the floor of her apartment, and there is blood everywhere and she has bn been stabbed. >> reporter: stabbed? >> it is a horrible way, a really horrible way to die. >> reporter: the baby of the family with five older brothers suddenly gone. she had been especially close to her brother mike. >> i was at the airport, and my brother said, you better sit down. and he said, karen has been murdered. >> reporter: any theories of what had happen ded? >> i didn't know. i was trying to figure tout why. and relying on the police to do what they needed to do. >> reporter: and what they had to do was plenty. they processed the crime scene can and filmed every inch of karen's home and knocked on the doors and tried to figure out just who