In Unsolved Mysteries volume 5, the first episode follows the story of two friends who were murdered in a park in Cleveland, Ohio, now known as the Park Bench Murders. Unsolved Mysteries originated as a paranormal mystery and true crime series in 1987 that ran for 12 seasons. The series was recently rebooted by Netflix in 2020, and the fifth installment of episodes was recently added to the streaming platform. The new season not only explores the Park Bench Murders but a number of other cases, including The Roswell UFO incident and a ghostly entity named Becky.
In the disturbing new Unsolved Mysteries episode, audiences meet two friends, Kate Brown and Carnell Sledge. Kate and Carnell were long-time friends who had a seemingly on-and-off relationship. They would be close for a time, would separate for a while, and then would reunite as if no time had passed. Both individuals had loving and supportive families, and neither Kate nor Carnell had any dark or mysterious dealings. Thus, their sudden murders in 2019 were incredibly shocking. Even worse, the crime was difficult to solve and continues to confound police.
Carnell Sledge & Katherine Brown Were Killed In A Cleveland Park In 2019
The Timeline Of Carnell & Kate’s Murder
The story of Carnell and Kate’s murder begins on June 4, 2019. After setting up a time to meet through text messages and phone calls, Carnell and Kate met up at a park called Rocky River Reservation. The two sat on a bench and chatted. However, the pair were later found dead by a nearby couple with bullet wounds to the backs of their heads. Although the park was a busy area, full of joggers and traffic, no one had witnessed the crime occur. It seems that someone walked up behind Carnell and Kate, killed them, then disappeared.
Every Episode In Unsolved Mysteries Volume 5 | What They Are About |
|---|---|
Park Bench Murders | The murder of two friends on a park bench |
My Paranormal Partner | A paranormal investigator has a ghostly partner |
Mysterious Mutilations | The study of cattle mutilations |
The Roswell UFO Incident | A UFO crashes in Roswell, NM |
What makes Carnell and Kate’s murder even stranger is the short timeline in which it happened. According to Unsolved Mysteries’ case, Kate and Carnell communicated around 4:15 PM. Kate left the gym and Carnell left work around 4:30, and both headed toward the park. They arrived around 5:00. At 5:08 PM, it is recorded that Kate unlocked and checked her phone. Yet, it was only at 5:22 that the couple found Kate and Carnell dead. That left only 14 minutes for the crime to not only take place, but for the suspect to leave the scene.
Why Sledge & Brown Came To The Park That Day
Carnell & Kate’s Relationship Explained
One of the biggest mysteries to come out of the Unsolved Mysteries episode is why Carnell and Kate met that day. Although Kate and Carnell were friends, their family members were unaware that the two were meeting, and weren’t entirely sure why they had such a last-minute meet-up. Notably, Carnell had a family dinner to attend at 5. Therefore, the meeting was presumably urgent. In the episode, Kate’s family made it clear that Kate and Carnell would go to each other when they had problems, so it could have been that one of them had a bad day.
Another theory posited by the Unsolved Mysteries episode is that Carnell wanted to meet with Kate to confess his feelings for her. According to Kate’s sister, about a month before the murder, Kate had revealed that Carnell thought they would end up together. It is unclear whether Kate reciprocated those feelings, but regardless, Carnell may have wanted to follow up with Kate about his feelings or have a more serious conversation about it that simply couldn’t wait. Without access to their phone calls, it is hard to decipher why they met up that day.
What Witnesses Have Said About Carnell Sledge & Katherine Brown’s Deaths
Why Did No One See The Crime
A particularly shocking aspect of the Park Bench Murders is that a witness sat just a few feet away from the scene of the crime while it was happening. Around the time of Carnell and Kate’s murder, a roofer was sitting in his truck in a nearby parking lot doing paperwork. Although the bench the pair sat on was just a few feet away, the roofer apparently did not notice any violent activity. Most surprisingly, he didn’t even hear the sound of gunshots. In this way, Carnell and Kate’s deaths could have been witnessed if the roofer had looked up.
Aside from the roofer, there were no other witnesses to the crime. This was especially strange considering how busy Rocky River Reservation is, especially around 5 o’clock when people get out of work. Despite the many cars passing by, no one noticed Carnell and Kate getting shot and killed. It is unfortunate, but this is likely because nearby witnesses were too busy focusing on the road ahead of them to notice. Furthermore, the bench on which they were sitting was also shaded by a tree. In this way, Carnell and Kate were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Are There Any Motives Or Suspects For The Park Bench Murders?
The Park Bench Murders May Have Been Totally Random
The Park Bench Murders are completely unsolved, and unfortunately, there are not many leads. Some suspects that police considered were the roofer, Carnell’s ex-girlfriend, Kate’s ex-boyfriend, and a man that Kate recently went on a date with who had previously killed someone. Each of these suspects had alibis that cleared them from being Carnell and Kate’s killers. Some of Kate and Carnell’s family members believed the pair had potentially been followed to Rocky River Reservation, but there is no specific person that the crime points to. Neither Kate nor Carnell had any known enemies or motives against them.
Another theory is that the Park Bench Murders were completely random, or a hate crime.
Another theory is that the Park Bench Murders were completely random, or a hate crime. It was noted in Unsolved Mysteries that Cleveland has a history of hate groups and violent discrimination based on race, religion, etc. In this way, some believe that Carnell and Kate may have been killed simply because Carnell was African American. On the other hand, it may have had nothing to do with race and was a truly random act. Regardless, Unsolved Mysteries shed some light on this strange and difficult crime.