Don’t blame the serial killer for Kassie’s murder

Three years ago, Bayou Justice examined the 1999 murder of Ponchatoula native, Kassie Federer. We revisit today because Kassie Lynn Federer’s killer may still walk among us. Police have conveniently blamed a serial killer for her murder, but DNA can be fallible, and even monsters need motive and opportunity.

In October 2018, the Baton Rouge Police Department charged a suspect in the 1999 shooting death of Ponchatoula native Kassie Lynn Federer. DNA found inside a glove at the crime scene, detectives said, matched that of Travis Dwight Green, a 49-year-old death row inmate in Livingston, Texas.

BRPD issued a routine warrant, but Texas has Green confined to the Polunsky Unit — Polk County’s infamous “concrete tomb” — locked down 22-hours-a-day with no phones, no media, and no contact between inmates or with the outside world. Green may not even know police have charged him with another murder.

On death row, the District Attorney’s office cannot extradite him to Louisiana. Unless the courts overturn his death sentence, he will never stand trial for Kassie Federer’s murder.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Warren Federer, Kassie’s father, told reporters. “It’s a big burden off us. We know he’s not going to be out there doing that to somebody else’s daughter.”

Kassie’s mother, Debby Durapau, also said the breakthrough in the case is a relief, especially after almost 20 years. “I appreciate everybody working on it, even the news media,” Durapau said. “I do feel like this is closing this part, but nothing’s going to ever close the hole in my heart.”

But an important question remains: did Green kill Kassie Federer?

In 2006, the Houston Police Cold Case Squad used the same DNA to charge Travis Dwight Green with the 1988 rape of 82-year-old Margaret McGinnis, only to discover later that Green was incarcerated during the attack.

The Louisiana State Police Crime Lab has an impeccable reputation.

However, the Houston Crime Lab collected and tested Green’s original DNA sample. Their technicians entered Green’s markers into CODIS — the FBI’s Combined DNA Indexing System — where the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab eventually found a match to the DNA in the glove found at Kassie’s apartment.

Unlike the LSP Crime Lab, the Houston lab’s record is less than pristine:

•        In 2002, the Houston Police Department closed the Houston Crime Lab after an independent audit revealed hundreds of convictions obtained based on incomplete or flawed testing.

•        In 2003, an independent DNA retest released Josiah Sutton after he served four years of a twelve-year sentence for a sexual assault.

•        In 2004, internal police investigators uncovered 280 boxes of lost evidence that included a fetus and body parts involved in some 8,000 cases, including rapes and murders going back to 1979.

•        In 2005, the Houston City Council authorized an independent investigation of the lab, revealing that analysts faked tests and hid evidence.

•        In 2006, the Houston Police Cold Case Squad used DNA provided by the Houston lab to wrongly charge then inmate Travis Dwight Green with the 1988 rape of 82-year-old Margaret McGinnis.

•        In 2007, a judge released Ronnie Taylor after new DNA tests proved him innocent of rape. He had served 12 years in prison.

•        In 2008, Houston’s Lab Chief resigned in an accreditation scandal.

•        In 2009, a judge released Gary Alvin Richard, 53, after he served 22 years in prison for a rape and robbery he did not commit.

•        In 2012, the lab reopened as the Houston Forensic Science Center, where a backlog of 6,600 untested rape kits persisted into 2013.

•        In 2014, Crime Lab Technician Peter Lentz resigned after an internal investigation cited him for lying, improper procedure, and tampering with official records. Lentz worked on 185 cases between January 2012 and March 2014.

•        In 2016, a new audit found 298 wrongful convictions and errors in 65 cases, including 26 homicides and 8 officer-involved shootings.

Reviewing this lab’s history, we know two things: (1) DNA testing by humans is far from infallible, and (2) the Houston lab should not test anything important.

Fortunately, detectives at the Baton Rouge Police Department reached the same conclusions. According to BRPD Sgt. Don Copolla, Jr., after the LSP Crime Lab alerted them to the match, BRPD detectives traveled to Livingston, Texas, and personally obtained a fresh DNA swab from Green.

BRPD’s Affidavit for Warrant says, “This [new] DNA swab was provided to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab where it was determined that the defendant’s DNA was the DNA located in the glove found at the scene.”

Lieutenant Nick Manale with LSP Public Affairs explained. “The evidence in the 1999 case was analyzed by the LSP Crime Lab DNA Unit in 2002 and then again in 2014 to obtain additional DNA information. We entered the profile into CODIS with no resulting CODIS hit. With the growing size of the National CODIS Database, which has reached an estimated 17 million DNA profiles, the FBI recently modified its searching parameters on August 20, 2018, to search DNA profiles more effectively. This change in search parameters resulted in the CODIS hit in the 1999 case. This investigative lead was then released to BRPD.”

I asked him exactly what tests their lab performed and how many of the 20 CODIS-required loci (genetic markers) matched between the two samples. He said he could not release that information at this time as the case is still being prepared for the District Attorney’s Office.

In the rare case that all 20 genetic markers match, there is also the problem of Green’s irregular timeline. Any case the DA will want to make hinges on Green’s abrupt detour to Baton Rouge and a glaring lack of motive.

Travis Green’s alleged 1999 timeline:

•        September 2 – At 7:30 AM, Green rapes, strangles, and beats 19-year-old college student Kristin Loesch, while her boyfriend sleeps on her couch.

•        September 10 – Houston detectives interview Green regarding the murder of Kristin Loesch.

•        September 13 – Green kicks in an apartment door in Baton Rouge and shoots 19-year-old Kassie Federer. He drops a single glove on the floor and leaves, taking the victim’s book-sack with him.

•        September 16 – Houston detectives arrest Green at his Houston residence and obtain a DNA swab.

•        September 20 – Representing himself before Judge Johnson, Green pleads guilty to the murder of Kristin Loesch, testifying that he met the couple the night before the murder and bought them marijuana.

If Green fled from Houston for Baton Rouge, why the immediate return? The question warrants a closer look at September 13.

Early that afternoon, Kassie, a Louisiana State University psychology major, returned to her Park Boulevard apartment from classes at LSU. Shortly before 3, someone kicked in her deadbolt-locked door.

Investigators believe Kassie ran towards the kitchen to escape. Her assailant fired behind her repeatedly until a bullet punctured both lungs and her heart; killing her instantly.

Multiple shots pierced the living room wall, damaging the property next door. Hours later, Kassie’s neighbor arrived and called the apartment manager, who found Kassie’s door partially open, her body inside, and a phone in her hand. Her body was fully clothed and her apartment appeared orderly.

Only the blue book sack she carried daily was missing.

If Travis Green was the assailant, why did the admitted rapist flee with only a book-sack? Why did he use a gun? What was his motive?

Travis Green’s rap sheet is long. Incarcerated from 1984 to 1989 for receiving stolen movables, and 1991 to 1998 for aggravated assault, the state discharged him from parole 4 months before he admitted to killing Kristin Loesch.

I am not suggesting that Travis Green is an innocent man, but I am questioning whether he killed Kassie Federer. Kassie’s family needs closure, but they deserve truth.