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TV reporter's killing stuns Abilene - Police hope forensic results will help solve recent murder
The Dallas Morning News ^ | October 5, 2002 | By KIMBERLY DURNAN / Dallas Web Staff

Posted on 10/05/2002 3:18:36 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP


TV reporter's killing stuns Abilene

Police hope forensic results will help solve recent strangulation

10/05/2002

By KIMBERLY DURNAN / Dallas Web Staff

A small-town TV reporter from small-town Montana is strangled in her apartment. Few clues, no witnesses, no suspects and a grieving mother.

Fresh out of college, 22-year-old Jennifer Servo arrived in Texas this summer as a general-assignment reporter to cover the Big Country for NBC affiliate KRBC in Abilene.

Those who knew her said she was one of Montana's brightest stars - a top student at the University of Montana, an education she paid for with a stint in the Army Reserve. The first to sign up for part-time jobs at television and radio stations to gain professional experience, she made it known to everyone that she intended to "go all the way" in broadcasting and become a news anchor on national TV.


Jennifer Servo . . . "Her goal was to be Katie Couric," friends say.
(COURTESY)

"Her goal was to be Katie Couric," said Bill Knowles, chairman of the Radio and Television Department at the University of Montana. "She would have made it. She was that good. She had that kind of drive. She understood how to find people to tell the story."

Abilene police have offered few details about the crime other than to say they are waiting for forensic test results, which they hope will lead them to the killer. The medical examiner said the young woman died from strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head. She had cuts and abrasions all over her face and head.

There was no forced entry into the apartment. Ms. Servo's body was found Sept. 18, two days after she was last seen.

Second slaying this year

It was Abilene's second slaying of the year. Both killings occurred at the same apartment complex in two units of the same building.

Police say the killings are unrelated but that both had a KRBC connection. Allan Wayne Brubaker was charged in June with killing his roommate, Russell Crowley, with a hammer. Mr. Brubaker first confessed to KRBC employees when he rode his bike to the news station and knocked on the back door. The slaying took place about a month before Ms. Servo moved to Texas.

Abilene seemed like a safe place for her daughter to live, said Sherry Abel, Ms. Servo's mother. The family was more worried that she would be sent overseas with her Army Reserve unit.

"I didn't feel bad leaving her in Abilene," she said. "It was like Montana. The people were friendly, and it's a nice, clean town. We knew she would be fine. Instead her life was so horribly cut short. It's not fair."

Ms. Abel said police have asked her not to discuss details of the case. She said a male friend of her daughter's had moved to Abilene with her. Ms. Abel said that her daughter was not romantically involved with him and that he has been cooperating with police.

"In my heart I think there is a suspect, but I hope it's not him," she said. "He was so nice and said he would take care of Jen and be friends with her and help her if she needed it, and now she's gone."

Police declined to talk about him since he has not been arrested and has not been named as a suspect.

This week, investigators interviewed a possible suspect after getting a tip about a man in custody in DeRidder, La.., on probation violation in a domestic abuse case.

The tip suggested that someone communicated with Ms. Servo via computer and then visited her around the time of her death.

"We are following up on a bunch of loose ends, interviewing co-workers and friends," said Detective Jeff Bell. "I feel this is going to drag out a little bit."

Officials have DNA samples from potential suspects and are awaiting test results from the crime scene and victim. Police are also trying to locate missing items from Ms. Servo's apartment including DVDs, a cellphone and purse.

The day Ms. Servo's body was found, KRBC canceled its 5 p.m. newscast.

Although Ms. Servo had only been in Abilene a couple of months, her gregarious personality left a lasting impression, especially among colleagues at KRBC. In her short time in Texas, she had already taken trips with her new friends to Mexico, New Mexico and to see a Texas Rangers game in Arlington.

Police found Ms. Servo's body after she failed to return phone calls from work. Ten minutes later the newsroom heard the news over the police scanner, news director Toby Dagenhart said.

Station's tribute

The 6 p.m. newscast, delivered by shaken anchors, only reported Ms. Servo's death. The remainder of the show went silent with only a photograph of Ms. Servo, her date of birth and presumed date of death.

More than 300 people crowded Northridge Lutheran Church in Kalispell, Mont., to attend Ms. Servo's funeral. She was buried with military honors.

Ms. Servo's friends and co-workers say it was a senseless death that took a young life filled with potential.

"She was just an amazing person," said Dara Freimann, one of Ms. Servo's friends from Montana. "She truly lived life a little fuller than most people. She went to school, she was in the reserves, she worked and she was social. She could run on two hours of sleep. She was a really outgoing, happy, funny person."

E-mail kdurnan@dallasnews.com


Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/100502dntextwodead.c418b.html


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: Montana; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: abilene; jenniferservo; murder; nbcaffiliatekrbc; strangulation; texas
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1 posted on 10/05/2002 3:18:36 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
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To: MeeknMing
I feel bad for this loss but I have to say....

"Her goal was to be Katie Couric," friends say.

This remark leaves a lot to be desired for Jennifer's ambition.

2 posted on 10/05/2002 3:26:48 AM PDT by HitmanLV
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To: HitmanNY
Your remark leaves a lot to be desired.
3 posted on 10/05/2002 3:32:51 AM PDT by leadpenny
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To: MeeknMing
I am new to Texas, but I get the feeling that many people here, and in other parts of the US, are still living in the 1960's. Oh sure, people are friendly and all that, but there are predators among us. They have full mobility and anonimity. They can monitor police radios with scanners. They have the time, money and ability to wreak havoc and then disappear into the "wallpaper" of society. People may think I am crazy for monitoring my children's activities so closely, and for teaching them the basics of being situationally aware, but WE NO LONGER LIVE IN THE AMERICA OF THE 1960'S! This murder may be easily explainable (a love triangle, perhaps) when the facts are uncovered, but we need to teach our kids, whatever their age, to beware of predators.
4 posted on 10/05/2002 3:56:54 AM PDT by whipitgood
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To: whipitgood
I have a different view on all this. I grew up in an inner-city high school in Michigan. There were drugs, sex, race riots, all sorts of mayhem. Over half my high school class that started in 10th grade, did not graduate. Believe it or not I did get a great education, because the ones that wanted to learn did.

Now with children in high school in the south, I only see a marked improvement in the education. The rules are screwy but the environment is much better even in a public school. We are lucky that they go to one of the best public schools in Florida.

Now your comments about the predators, my mother is a retired social worker for a school district in Michigan. The stories that she tells every once and a while will curl the hair on the back of your neck. I think there were more strange people back then than there is today. The problems the schools and police knew, but they were kept out of the paper as much as possible.

Maybe we're from different areas, but the nut cases have been around since before Mohammad. The problem is the media's hyping the problem, but it still is a problem that needs to be dealt with severly, with out mercy, but it does not need a telethon.

ps like the screen name, haha.

5 posted on 10/05/2002 4:21:22 AM PDT by Quick Shot
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To: MeeknMing
" Allan Wayne Brubaker was charged in June with killing his roommate, Russell Crowley, with a hammer"

Mothers, don't let your sons grow up with 'Wayne' for a middle name . . .

6 posted on 10/05/2002 4:26:10 AM PDT by Crowcreek
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To: HitmanNY
Actually think about it - the girl was in the Army reserve.. that shows a fair amount of right rather than left leanings..
7 posted on 10/05/2002 4:38:21 AM PDT by pamlet
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To: dighton
" Allan Wayne Brubaker was charged in June with killing his roommate, Russell Crowley, with a hammer"

Mothers, don't let your sons grow up with 'Wayne' for a middle name . . .

Yet another killer with Wayne as the middle name..

8 posted on 10/05/2002 4:45:56 AM PDT by csvset
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To: pamlet
Actually think about it - the girl was in the Army reserve.. that shows a fair amount of right rather than left leanings..

You'd be surprised at how man left-wingers are in the Guard and Reserves. So many see an opportunity for a little extra income. I was in the GA Air Guard for 7-years. Those who were most political were diehard liberals.

9 posted on 10/05/2002 4:47:10 AM PDT by AlGone2001
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To: MeeknMing
" "Her goal was to be Katie Couric,"

Katie did it.
10 posted on 10/05/2002 4:55:21 AM PDT by billhilly
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To: HitmanNY
Uncalled for remark.
11 posted on 10/05/2002 5:15:31 AM PDT by cubreporter
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To: MeeknMing
This could be somewhat like the movie To Die For
12 posted on 10/05/2002 5:25:26 AM PDT by glorgau
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13 posted on 10/05/2002 6:03:48 AM PDT by William McKinley
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To: HitmanNY
"Police say the killings are unrelated but that both had a KRBC connection.:

Well, I guess that makes these crimes related in some way. . .also strange that this is second murder in same complex. . .(very strange in fact). Bet new rental/arrivals are not aware of this. . .

That said, this is such a sad story. . .seems we cannot escape the harsh realities of our times.

14 posted on 10/05/2002 6:33:26 AM PDT by cricket
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To: Crowcreek
How about Wayne "No Offense"?
15 posted on 10/05/2002 6:56:15 AM PDT by Crawdad
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To: MeeknMing
Anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruitt of KIMT-TV, Mason City, Iowa, missing and declared legally dead since 27 June 1995, though her remains have never been recovered:

*Details here*

and Iowa State Police information *here*


16 posted on 10/05/2002 7:49:57 AM PDT by archy
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To: MeeknMing
There was a very similar story in Mason City Iowa a few years ago where the TV anchor lady was killed.
17 posted on 10/05/2002 7:56:23 AM PDT by Ranger
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To: MeeknMing
Either the picture in the news story wasn't one of her best photos or Katie had nothing to worry about.

This sort of stuff doesn't happen in Abilene much the same way as nothing ever happens in Norfolk, NE.

Sad to see a news reporter die so young but the herd does need thinning...

18 posted on 10/05/2002 8:19:52 AM PDT by Tall_Texan
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To: Quick Shot
I'm grateful for the perspective, Quick Shot. Could we assume that the number of predators as a percentage of the total population has remained fairly constant? If that is the case, then the total number of predators stalking the earth is much greater than in the days of Mohammad. Even if not, I agree that the way to deal with them is quickly and severely. The telethon (I assume you mean the media coverage) may only serve to inspire more of them.

19 posted on 10/05/2002 9:30:21 AM PDT by whipitgood
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To: Crowcreek
Mothers, don't let your sons grow up with 'Wayne' for a middle name . . .

heh heh ! I keep hearing that, but, just for the record....I've never killed anybody.

20 posted on 10/05/2002 9:44:59 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
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