A woman has been brutally killed in Sandhill Village. The victim is 43 year old Dorla Pitterson. She was killed between 9 last night and early this morning when her body was found in the back yard of a popular bar. It was an unexpected and violent end to the life of a woman no one in the village could say a bad thing about. Keith Swift begins our coverage at the crime scene.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Dorla Pitterson’s body was found in the back yard of Sylvia’s Cool Spot, a popular karaoke bar in Sandhill Village. Her shoes were found near the entrance but her body was inside this pit latrine – an outdoor toilet – it was nude and there were obvious injuries to the face. A villager
made the gruesome discovery this morning and by early afternoon, Police Scenes of Crime personnel began removing the body.
No family member was on the scene but Dorla was like a sister to Esmerelda Alvarado.
Esmerelda Alvarado, Friend of the Deceased
“I saw her yesterday evening after 5. We just got the message to come to the scene but I don’t have no idea, I don’t have no idea what exactly went wrong but she is a very friendly person and I don’t know whop would do something like that to her.”
Keith Swift,
You knew her well?
Esmerelda Alvarado,
“I knew her very well.”
Keith Swift,
We’ve heard that she had a mental condition but she kept that under control.
Esmerelda Alvarado,
“Yeah she used her medication and when she used her medication and she eats regularly and take her vitamins she is okay. She is a well educated person and she is very smart.”
But Alvarado suspects that recently, Dorla Pitterson had stopped taking her medication. But despite her condition, she was well known and well loved in the community and she was a regular churchgoer.
Miss Augustine, Sandhill Resident
I know Dorla. Dorla doesn’t interfere with nobody. Dorla walks this road and she doesn’t trouble nobody and any time you say hello to her she says it back to you and she is respectable and she doesn’t trouble people so I don’t know why whosoever did it, did it to Dorla.”
About two dozen villagers looked on as the body was removed from the latrine and placed in the back of a police mobile for transportation to the morgue. Many knew Dorla and the loss was personal. But her violent death left many in this small village frightened.
Esmerelda Alvarado,
“Nothing like this ever happened here and this is a very friendly community, a very loving village and I know it will shock the whole community.”
Miss Augustine,
“These kind of things never happen in our village yet. It makes us as parents, we have kids scared and it is not fair. I think justice has to be done and whosoever did it has to punish for it because a lot of people have daughters and the criminal who did it is still out there.”
Cynthia Fuller, Sandhill Resident
“I have my daughter and I am scared because I don’t know what will be next. I wish justice come and they do something about it. My hair start raising on my head, I am scared about it.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
What were the injuries?
Sinquest Martinez, Lead Investigator
“Physical injury to her face.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
Like scratch marks, cut wounds?
Sinquest Martinez,
“There were as I said, physical injuries to her face.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
Have the police been able to determine whether or not she was raped?
Sinquest Martinez,
“When the post mortem is being conducted, the doctor will tell us if she was raped or not. At this time we cannot say.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
Villagers have told 7NEWS that they know who it is, the person who committed this crime. Do the police have idea of who the suspect is?
Sinquest Martinez,
“Yes we do.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
Is he from the area?
Sinquest Martinez,
“He is from the area. He is from Sandhill.”
So far that suspect has not been detained but police expect to have him in custody by tomorrow.
