Who Killed This Mom While Her Children Were Sleeping In Another Room?
On the evening of Monday, October 17, 1994, Kathi Goff Kennedy was beaten and stabbed to death while her two children were sound asleep in another room.
She had been living at the Springbrook Apartment Complex in Kernersville, North Carolina, for three weeks with her husband David and their daughters, Taylor and Jordan, when the tragedy occurred.
Kathi was looking after the kids while David was on a fishing trip. That fateful evening, someone knocked on the door. Kathi’s body was found strangled and stabbed 15 times with a knife from their apartment.
At the time, Taylor was only 11 months old. Jordan was three years old, and she was the one to find their mother dead. She removed the knife from their mother’s hair so Taylor wouldn’t get ahold of it. Both girls were unharmed.
The next morning, their grandmother found them in the apartment. She came over to check on them when she didn’t hear back from Kathi.
The suspects were never captured, making this the only unsolved murder in Kernersville. Since David was out of town, he was not considered a suspect.
Kathi Goff Kennedy was born as Kathi Leigh Goff on April 9, 1959, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She married David in 1985, and they were a loving couple.
She was last seen around 7 p.m. on October 17, 1994. According to early reports, two men were seen outside Kathi’s apartment at about 9 p.m. Neighbors reportedly heard screams around this time, but no one called the police.
Investigators have ruled out the possibility that David was involved. They had a loving marriage, and there were no signs of affairs.
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Kathi also did not have life insurance. He has continued to advocate for his wife over the years while raising his daughters as a single dad.
In 2001, investigators tested a DNA sample from a suspect, but nothing ever came of it. A source familiar with the Kennedy family said that Kathi was allegedly helping a friend leave an abusive relationship, which could have been the motive for her murder. It is unknown whether this potential suspect has been discounted.
Shortly after Kathi’s death, David moved his family to a house. On New Year’s Eve of 2016, a fire burned down their home.
That day, Taylor had just gotten engaged to her boyfriend. Her father was working on a car in the garage and was just cleaning up for Taylor’s engagement party when the fire broke out.
It started in the back of the garage and spread quickly. The blaze burned down half the house. One of the only items left untouched, save for a layer of soot, was a picture of Kathi in her wedding dress.
A $20,000 reward is being offered for information on Kathi’s murder. If you have any information, you can call the Kernesville Police Department at (336) 996-3177.
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