Ep.54 - Katrina Smith

This episode takes us to Rockford, Illinois for the story of the 2012 disappearance of Katrina Smith, who was known for her warm heart and willingness to help others.

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Sources
https://www.rrstar.com/story/news/courts/2017/04/04/todd-smith-sentenced-to-59/21595366007/ 
https://www.the-sun.com/news/9380136/todd-katrina-smith-murder-where-now/ 
https://abcnews.go.com/US/hidden-past-led-katrina-smiths-killer/story?id=104055372
https://www.rrstar.com/story/news/crime/2016/03/08/witness-katrina-smith-afraid-very/32426445007/ 
https://truecrimenews.com/2017/05/09/illinois-woman-stalked-murdered-in-midst-of-affair-separation/ 
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100540182/katrina_ashley-smith 
https://idoc.illinois.gov/offender/inmatesearch.html 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the evening of Monday, October twenty second, twenty twelve,
Todd and Katrina Smith returned to their home in Rockford,
Illinois after a celebratory trip to Washington, d C. The
couple had been married for seven years, and Katrina was
especially excited about a job interview she had the following morning.

(00:21):
That night, as the thirty year old Katrina unpacked from
her trip and did some laundry, she logged onto her
computer to finalize the details of her interview. After confirming
the meeting for a human resources position, she headed out
to a friend's condominium where she was house sitting. At
about nine p m. The next morning, her husband, Todd,

(00:45):
forty four years old, who worked as an insurance and
investment broker, sent her a text message wishing her luck
on the interview. Katrina never replied. She was never seen
alive again from the south shore of Lake Erie. This
is Great Lakes True Crime. Before we continue, don't forget

(01:47):
to visit Great Lakes Truecrime dot net to learn more
about the show, and if you like what you hear,
share it with a friend. Now let's return to the story.
Katrina Ashley Edlund was born on July sixteenth, nineteen eighty
two in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. She graduated from Harlem High School

(02:09):
in Mitchesney Park, Illinois in two thousand, before continuing her
studies at Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois. A devoted
member of Heartland Community Church, Katrina was known for her
warm heart and willingness to help others. She loved working
with children and volunteered regularly in her community. But on

(02:32):
that day in October twenty twelve, hours had passed since
Todd's text message and he hadn't heard from Katrina. That evening,
he received an alarming phone call. Katrina had missed her
job interview that morning. Todd immediately began contacting friends and family,
but could not get in touch with anyone who had

(02:54):
seen or heard from her. Concerned, he went to the
police station and reported Katrine is missing. Katrina's disappearance was
out of character. She was responsible, reliable, and always in
touch with loved ones. The community was shaken and authorities

(03:14):
quickly launched a search. A Facebook page called find Katrina
Smith was created, and friends and family rallied to help.
Todd even appeared on local TV pleading for her safe return.
The next day, October twenty third, investigators began their search

(03:35):
in earnest, uncovering a number of disturbing clues. Later that day,
for example, Katrina's blue Chevrolet Cruise was found abandoned in
a residential neighborhood. It appeared the car had been wiped
down and cleaned thoroughly. One day later, on October twenty fourth,
her purse was discovered about one hundred and fifty yards

(03:57):
from the car, and a day after that, her wallet
and cell phone were found nearby, hidden in some bushes.
In her wallet were receipts from two different businesses dated
October twenty second, the night she went missing, for purchases
at a seven eleven PM and eight PM. It's not

(04:19):
known what purchases were made. The discover of these items
without locating Katrina was unsettling, to say the least, but
the situation grew even more troubling when search teams found
blood soaked paper towels in a field near the car.
As Todd continued his nightly TV appeals, law enforcement ramped

(04:42):
up their investigation. One of Tod's daughter's page recalled that
Katrina would never have simply disappeared. Quote. I asked a
lot of questions trying to understand what was happening, while
my friend tried to come up with a rational explanation,
she said. Katrina's case took a surprising turn when police

(05:07):
learned she had secretly been having an affair with a
married work colleague, whom will refer to as G. G
had a violent history with a prior arrest for domestic violence.
Investigators soon discovered numerous text messages from G on the
night Katrina went missing. Could this affair had led to
a violent confrontation. Police were eager to learn more and

(05:31):
began questioning Katrina's colleagues around the same time. It came
to light that weeks before her disappearance, Katrina had been
worried about a potential stalker. She had seen a person
in disguise handing out flyers in her work parking lot.
The flyers contained a derogatory message about Katrina, hinting at

(05:53):
her affair with G. Despite this, investigators ruled out G
as a suspect after they verified his alibi for the
night Katrina vanished. With G eliminated as a suspect, investigators
began looking more closely at Todd. He had been publicly

(06:15):
pleading for his wife's return while also hiding some unsettling
details about his own life. Todd, despite his outward appearance
of success as an insurance and investment broker, had been
accused of defrauding his clients. It was soon discovered that
the FBI was investigating him for his involvement in a

(06:36):
Ponzi's scheme, where he allegedly swindled nearly a million dollars
from his clients. The investigation into Todd's past revealed even
darker secrets. It turns out that Todd was originally named
Todd Rapbreger, and he had changed his name in nineteen

(06:57):
ninety two after being convicted of arson as a teenager.
In nineteen eighty five, at the age of seventeen, Tod
had intentionally caused a gas explosion in his family home,
resulting in a massive fire. Miraculously, all the family members
escaped unharmed. Tod confessed to the crime, stating that he

(07:20):
was angry at his mother and he wanted to frighten her.
For this crime, he was sentenced to probation and community service.
Todd eventually left home and changed his name. He met
and married a woman named Teresa, but the relationship fell
apart after years of financial strain. In two thousand and one,

(07:41):
while they were separated, Teresa was attacked outside her parents' house.
The attacker, wearing a werewolf mask, punched and kicked her violently. Afterward,
she identified the attacker as Tod based on his eyes
and build. Tod denied the accusation and was never charged

(08:02):
for the attack. As the investigation into Katrina's disappearance continued,
police uncovered even more alarming evidence about Todd. In a
search of his home on October thirtieth, twenty twelve, investigators
found his laptop and a baseball bat with what appeared

(08:24):
to be dried blood on it. The bat was sent
for forensic analysis, and on November twenty one, the lab
confirmed that it contained traces of Katrina's DNA. At this point,
authorities had enough to arrest Todd. He was charged with
four counts of first degree murder and one count of

(08:46):
concealing a homicide. Todd pleaded not guilty to all charges,
and his trial would not take place for another four years.
While in jail awaiting trial, Tod's laptop was examined again.

(09:06):
Investigators discovered a file labored super Track stick showing that
Tod had been using a GPS device to track Katrina's
car for the past three years. Although the device itself
wasn't found on her vehicle, the data showed that on
the night she disappeared, the GPS tracker was removed from

(09:29):
her car and moved to a person's body. That person
walked from Katrina's car to Tod's home, and then to
some nearby fields. With this evidence, investigators were able to
track Tod's movements on the night of Katrina's disappearance. A
search of the fields near his home led to the

(09:50):
discovery of Katrina's body submerged in the Rock River. An
autopsy confirmed she had died from blunt forced trauma to
the head, likely from that baseball bat. Todd Smith's trial
began in late twenty sixteen, four years after his arrest.

(10:10):
His defense attorneys tried to argue that there was not
enough physical evidence to link him directly to Katrina's murder,
suggesting that her death could have been the result of
a random crime. However, the prosecution presented a compelling case
based on a combination of physical evidence, forensic analysis, and

(10:30):
a deep dive into Todd's past. The prosecution focused heavily
on the key evidence that linked Todd to the crime,
that DNA found on the baseball bat, the GPS tracker
on Katrina's car, and the damning data from Todd's laptop.
They presented expert testimony that placed Katrina's body in the

(10:52):
fields near Todd's home after the GPS device had been
removed from her vehicle, making it clear that Todd had
been closely monitoring his wife's movements. The discovery of Katrina's
body submerged in the Rock River and the autopsy results,
which confirmed that her cause of death was blunt force's
trauma to the head, reinforced the prosecution's narrative that Tod

(11:17):
had planned and executed his wife's murder. The defense, on
the other hand, sought to discredit the evidence, claiming that
it was circumstantial at best. They argued that the DNA
on the bat could have been planted or mishandled by
law enforcement. They also suggested that Tod had been falsely

(11:39):
accused based on his troubled past, including the earlier arson
conviction and his financial difficulties. However, these arguments were largely
dismissed by the jury, who found the evidence overwhelming. One
of the most damaging pieces of evidence against Todd came

(12:00):
from the timeline of his actions on the night of
Katrina's disappearance. The prosecution demonstrated that Todd had used the
GPS tracking device to follow Katrina's movements and had been
aware of her whereabouts throughout the entire night, including the
exact time she left for the condominium where she was
house sitting. Investigators also pointed out how Todd's attempts to

(12:24):
cover up the crime, including wiping down his vehicle and
cleaning Katrina's car, reflected a calculated effort to hide his involvement.
The jury deliberated for five hours before reaching their verdict.
On January twenty fifth, twenty seventeen, Todd Smith was found
guilty of first degree murder, as well as concealing a

(12:48):
homicidal death and tampering with evidence. The verdict was met
with a collective sigh of relief from Katrina's family and
the Rockford community, who had long susp infected that Tod
was behind her disappearance. Many felt that justice had finally
been served for Katrina, who had been a beloved member

(13:09):
of the community. On April fourth, twenty seventeen, Todd Smith
was sentenced to fifty nine years in prison, fifty five
years for the first degree murder charge and an additional
four years for the concealing the homicide charge. The sentencing
was a bittersweet moment for Katrina's family, who had endured

(13:30):
yurets of uncertainty and grief, and while they had lost
Katrina forever, there was some relief that at least her
killer would be finally held accountable for his actions. At
the sentencing hearing, family members of both Todd and Katrina
addressed the court. Katrina's family spoke emotionally about the impact

(13:52):
of her loss, describing her as a caring, compassionate woman
who had been robbed of a bright future. Todd's family,
on the other hand, seemed torn, with some expressing disbelief
that he could have committed such a heinous crime, while
others acknowledged the horrific nature of his actions. In the end,

(14:16):
Todd was taken into custody immediately following the hearing and
transported to the Illinois River Correctional Center, a maximum security
prison in Canton, Illinois. He will be eligible for parole
in twenty sixty nine, at the age of eighty nine,

(14:38):
and though Todd Smith was convicted, the case continued to
be the subject of public interest. Many questions still linger
about his true motives for murdering Katrina. Some think that
maybe the financial express the affair and his deep seated
need to maintain a facade of wealth and success might
have been contributing factors to the crime. Others may have

(15:01):
pointed to his long history of dishonesty, criminal behavior, and
a general lack of empathy for others, which painted a
troubling picture of a man who was willing to ruthlessly
murder his wife for his own selfish gain. Katrina's death
left a profound mark on her family, her community, and
everyone who knew her. Though the trial had ended, the

(15:23):
emotional scars remained in the years that followed. Her family
has work to keep her memory alive through charitable endeavors
and by sharing her story with others. Katrina Smith's funeral
was held on November seventeenth, twenty twelve, and she was
buried at Arlington Memorial Park Cemetery in Rockford, Illinois. She

(15:45):
left behind a grieving family, including her mother, father, siblings,
three step daughters, and many close friends. Her tragic death
sent shockwaves to her community, and her extend slory continues
to be a somber reminder of the hidden secrets that
sometimes lie behind closed doors. And that's all for this

(16:08):
episode of Great Lake's True Crime. This has been Steve,
your host and producer. As always, thanks for listening buys