Arrest made in Kirsten Hatfield's abduction from her Midwest City home in 1997 - Midwest City, OK

Midwest City Police get break in 18-year-old cold case

By Christine VanTimmeren |Tuesday, October 13th 2015



Midwest City Police think they've had a break in an 18-year-old homicide case. On Tuesday FOX 25 learned more about the man police say kidnapped and murdered a young girl. 56-year-old Anthony Palma is now in police custody.

Read more:

http://okcfox.com/news/local/arrest-made-in-midwest-city-disappearance-case-10-13-2015

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By Crimesider Staff / CBS News/AP / October 14, 2015, 9:29 AM

Affidavit: DNA links man to 1997 disappearance of Okla. girl, 8


Anthony Joseph Palma, 56, was arrested Monday, Oct. 12, 2015 in connection to the 1997 disappearance case of Kirsten Hatfield.
 / CBS affiliate KWTV

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. -- Authorities in suburban Oklahoma City have arrested a neighbor in the case of a girl who went missing from her bedroom in 1997.

An affidavit released Tuesday by Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes says investigators used DNA to link 56-year-old Anthony Palma to the disappearance and presumed death of 8-year-old Kirsten Hatfield.

Palma was arrested Monday night on first-degree murder and kidnapping complaints.

The affidavit also stated that on May 14, 1997, officers responded to a missing juvenile report at a Midwest City home, who determined that Hatfield had been abducted, according to CBS affiliate KWTV.

Blood was reportedly found on Kirsten's windowsill and her underwear was found in her backyard, but the girl has not been seen since.

Read more:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/affidavit-dna-links-man-to-1997-disappearance-of-oklahoma-girl-8/

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Family Of Kirsten Hatfield Speaks About Arrest Of Anthony Joseph Palma (Video)

Posted: Oct 13, 2015 9:09 AM CDT
Updated: Oct 13, 2015 6:59 PM CDT

By Xin Xin Liu, News9.com

MIDWEST CITY, Oklahoma - A man was arrested Monday night on murder and kidnapping complaints in connection to the 1997 disappearance of his 8-year-old neighbor, thanks to a DNA match.

Anthony Joseph Palma, 56, was arrested Monday night on complaints of first-degree murder and kidnapping, in connection to the 1997 disappearance case of Kirsten Hatfield. Hatfield was only 8 years old when she was abducted from her bed in the middle of the night 18 years ago.

According to an affidavit released by Midwest City police Tuesday morning, on May 14, 1997, officers responded to a missing juvenile report at a home in the 1100 block of Jet Drive. Police determined that Hatfield had been abducted. They began investigating numerous leads immediately after the crime was discovered, but Hatfield was never found and the trail went cold.

On June 13, 2015, an officer was assigned to follow up investigation on this case. An FBI agent also assisted Midwest City police in the investigation. Authorities said they went through all the evidence in this case and learned that some of the evidence had never been tested by the FBI or OSBI.

Police said they decided to re-submit some of the evidence to the OSBI for analysis, because technology has changed since 1997.

Read more:

http://www.newson6.com/story/30248454/family-of-kirsten-hatfield-speaks-about-arrest-of-anthony-joseph-palma

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DNA evidence helps Oklahoma police make arrest in 1997 child abduction (Video)

By Ralph Ellis, CNN
Updated 12:23 AM ET, Wed October 14, 2015 | Video Source: KFOR

~Snipped~

A former neighbor of the girl, 56-year-old Anthony Joseph Palma, was arrested Monday and charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder. Authorities filed the murder charge because they believe Kirsten is dead, Clabes said.

Authorities were led to Palma after a new investigator assigned to the case last June realized the FBI or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation had never tested some of the evidence, Clabes said.

Using DNA technology that is more advanced than it was in 1997, lab technicians discovered blood from the window sill and the girl's underwear came from an unknown male, he said. Investigators ran that DNA through a national database and didn't find a match.

Read more:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/13/us/dna-evidence-and-oklahoma-child-abduction/index.html

Danielle Dunn ‏@DanielleDunnOKC  · 6h  
Today as Anthony Palma sits in jail, @MidwestCityPD continue their search for Kirsten Hatfield's body. @OKCFOX




Danielle Dunn ‏@DanielleDunnOKC  · 6h  
Anthony Palma was moved overnight from Midwest City to the OK County Jail. Here is his new mug shot. @OKCFOX




Danielle Dunn ‏@DanielleDunnOKC  · 6h
This AM the man charged with murder in an 18 year cold case is waking up in the Oklahoma County Jail. @OKCFOX




Danielle Dunn ‏@DanielleDunnOKC  · Oct 13  
Investigators & crime scene unit at Palma's home. It looked like investigators took in a drill with them. @OKCFOX




Danielle Dunn ‏@DanielleDunnOKC  · Oct 13  
Detective writes Anthony Palma's name came up because he had possibly done work at Hatfield's house in 97. @OKCFOX




Danielle Dunn ‏@DanielleDunnOKC  · Oct 13  
Here the detective writes about why some of the evidence was re-submitted to OSBI for analysis. @OKCFOX



More ...

https://twitter.com/DanielleDunnOKC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Awful slow... At least he is still alive to be brought before a court of law.

Midwest City police continue search for cold case victim's body

The suspect Anthony Joseph Palma, remains in Midwest City police custody for questioning in the death of Kirsten Renee Hatfield. He was arrested Monday on a murder and kidnapping complaint in the disappearance of the second-grader after new DNA testing connected him to the crime scene

by Kyle Schwab   Modified: October 13, 2015 at 11:44 pm •  Published: October 14, 2015



MIDWEST CITY — For two days, police have searched the Midwest City home of the man accused in the 1997 kidnapping and killing of 8-year-old Kirsten Renee Hatfield but the girl's body has not been found.

The Midwest City police chief said the search will continue Wednesday for the victim, who lived only two houses down from the suspect.

Police Chief Brandon Clabes also revealed at a news conference Tuesday other people may have been involved in the girl's disappearance.

Read more:

http://newsok.com/article/5453373

Freckles wrote:Awful slow... At least he is still alive to be brought before a court of law.

I agree.

Kirsten Hatfield's Family 'Is Hopeful' After Anthony Joseph Palma's Arrest (Video)

http://www.news9.com/Clip/11919075/kirsten-hatfields-family-is-hopeful-after-anthony-joseph-palmas-arrest

http://foxct.com/2015/10/13/dna-evidence-helps-oklahoma-police-make-arrest-in-1997-child-abduction/

Neighbor Arrested in 1997 Disappearance of Oklahoma Girl (Video)

http://www.onenewspage.com/video/20151013/3423839/Neighbor-Arrested-in-1997-Disappearance-of-Oklahoma-Girl.htm

Neighbor is arrested for 1997 murder of Oklahoma girl, 8 - after he VOLUNTEERED a DNA sample that matched

. Anthony Palma, 56, has been charged with the first-degree murder and kidnapping of Kirsten Hatfield
. The eight-year-old girl went missing from her Midwest City, Oklahoma, home on May 14, 1997  
. Her body has never been recovered - if she were alive today, she'd be 26
. DNA found on the windowsill of her bedroom and a pair of her underwear recovered from backyard led to Palma's arrest 18 years after the crime
. Police say DNA test results showed a match of one in 293 sextillion
. Palma served more than a year in prison for assault in the 1980s

By Associated Press and Snejana Farberov For Dailymail.com
Published: 09:59 EST, 13 October 2015  | Updated: 16:44 EST, 13 October 2015


Kirsten, a blonde second-grader, vanished from her room in May 1997 after being put to bed by her mom

~Snipped~


Kirsten disappeared from her bedroom (pictured) overnight. Blood was found on the windowsill


Kirsten's mother said she had tucked her into bed (pictured) the evening before but when she checked on her the next morning, the girl had disappeared


Kirsten (seen in video stills) was a second-grader at the time of her disappearance. Her body has not been recovered but she is presumed dead


The windowsill of Kirsten's room after police dusted it for prints and recovered a small amount of blood from it


A pair of torn underwear belonging to Kirsten was found in the backyard (pictured) after she vanished

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3270820/Neighbor-arrested-1997-disappearance-Oklahoma-girl-8.html#ixzz3oaIBPUfK

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3270820/Neighbor-arrested-1997-disappearance-Oklahoma-girl-8.html

By Crimesider Staff / CBS News / October 15, 2015, 12:57 PM

Police search suspect's property in 1997 Oklahoma abduction case


Authorities search the property of Anthony Palma in Midwest City, Oklahoma, on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015.
/ CBS affiliate KWTV

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. -- Investigators with the Medical Examiner's office are assisting police near Oklahoma City in a search of Anthony Palma's property, after he was arrested Monday in connection with the 1997 disappearance of Kirsten Hatfield, reports CBS affiliate KWTV.

The 8-year-old girl was abducted from her bedroom in Midwest City, about 10 miles east of Oklahoma City.

Palma, 56, lived just two doors away from Hatfield, and was linked to the case after his DNA matched blood evidence from the scene.

Read more:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-search-suspects-property-in-1997-oklahoma-abduction-case/

Search Continues For The Body Of Kirsten Hatfield (Video)

Posted: Oct 15, 2015 6:15 PM CDT  Updated: Oct 15, 2015 8:44 PM CDT

By Adrianna Iwasinski, News 9

MIDWEST CITY, Oklahoma - On Thursday, a team from Midwest City Police, the OSBI and the Medical Examiner's office were back at the home of Anthony Palma.

Palma is accused of kidnapping and killing 8-year-old Kirsten Hatfield back in 1997. Those investigators are putting in long hours during their search for clues. And they've brought in volunteers to see if they can help find Hatfield's body.

A view from above shows investigators have been using a backhoe to dig up parts of Anthony Palma's backyard. They've also brought in these cadaver dogs to detect if a body has been buried here.

“We have contracted out with a group out of individuals from Eastern Oklahoma that have cadaver dogs that are certified,” said Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes. “They've come in on a volunteer basis to assist us with this search.”

Clabes says so far, all they've dug up are animal bones. But they are not only doing a thorough search of the backyard, but a complete search inside and under the Palma house as well. And they have the OSBI's mobile analysis on standby should anything arise.

“And we may expand the search,” said Clabes. “We don't know at this point.”

Read more:

http://www.news9.com/story/30273555/search-continues-for-the-body-of-kristen-hatfield

Search continues at Midwest City cold case suspect's home

UPDATED 9:57 AM CDT Oct 16, 2015


Photo by Jimmy Taylor

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. —The search for evidence that will lead to finding the remains of a Midwest City girl who was taken from her bedroom window in 1997 continues Friday morning.

Investigators with the medical examiner's office and Midwest City CSI are at Anthony Palma's home on Jet Drive, near South Air Depot Boulevard. They cleared out the garage and are breaking up the garage floor.

Police have been searching Palma's house and property all week.

Read more:

http://www.koco.com/news/search-continues-at-midwest-city-cold-case-suspects-house/35875546