
Texas Cold Case: Karen Douglas ‘Fought Like Hell’ To Save Her Baby
On January 6th, 1981, Karen Lynn Douglas, a 22-year-old new mother, was brutally stabbed to death in her own home. She had over 25 stab wounds on her body.
The murder happened sometime after her husband, and high-school sweetheart, Randy left for work. Karen's mother discovered her daughter around noon when she came to take her to a doctor's appointment.
It had only been two hours since she was last seen alive.
Investigators would say that Karen had "fought like hell" to protect her three-month-old baby girl. They also knew her husband Randy could not have been the murderer.
Randy had an old injury to the tip of his finger- when he was 15 he caught it in a motorcycle chain. Therefore, it was not possible for him to have left the fingerprints found at the crime scene.
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Investigators looked away from Randy and towards an infamous serial killer- Henry Lee Lucus. However, it was determined that Lucas was in Florida, not Texas, at the time.
Lucus would also later be found to have falsely confessed to many murders in exchange for milkshakes and hamburgers from lazy detectives.
So who would kill Karen- and at such an unusual time of day? Perhaps the neighborhood prowler.
Authorities say in the months before and after Douglas's death, other women in the area were attacked by someone armed with a knife while they were home alone.
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The man was described as a slender, young white man who wore a ski mask. That person has never been identified, and it is not known if he is the same person who killed Karen.
Although nearly 45 years have passed since Karen was killed, the Texas Rangers are still on the case and are actively looking for more information that could bring closure to Karen's husband and her daughter.
The reward for information that leads to the killer's arrest has been raised to $6000.
Anyone with information can anonymously contact Texas Crime Stoppers in the following ways:
Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477) or the Crime Stoppers of Houston hotline at 713-222-TIPS (8477).
Submit a web tip through the Texas Rangers’ Cold Case website by selecting the victim’s name you have information about.
Call the Missing Persons Hotline at 1-800-346-3243. Your information will be forwarded to the Texas Ranger assigned to this case
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