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Who killed Kanika Powell? And why?

Sometime in 2008, friends and family of Kanika Powell received the following email:

[italic]I just wanted to share with you the scariest thing that happened to me this weekend. Saturday evening around 7pm a man was knocking at my door (as all of you may know I live alone). I asked who it was and he didn’t answer, so once I got close to the door and looked out of the peephole I saw a male figure that was not familiar to me at all. I asked who he was and all he stated was that he was from the FBI and that he was looking for Kanika Powell. It freaked me out completely because this man knew my name. He held a shield up but no picture ID and he never gave his name. He told me he was looking for me in regards to an investigation. I told him that I had no idea as to what he was talking about and that he would need to show me documentation as well as a warrant of some sort. So he left and I looked out my bedroom window and saw him walking. I also heard a voice tell him to walk in the opposite direction. The whole situation was scary and seemed so false. So because of this incident not only did I get NO sleep for the rest of the weekend but I am now trying to get an alarm system installed in my apartment. I had one in my old apartment, but I just hadn’t had it transferred over to my new one. As far as everything that happened with the guy. I did call the FBI and they told me that it was more than likely bogus because they never come to your door by themselves and they always leave a card of some sort so that you can contact them. I called the local police as well to give them a description just in case someone is out there trying to rape or harm single women... pass this on ladies... This is not a fake Forward this happened to ME Kanika…Who knows who these guys are and what they are doing and in what areas other than mine.[/italic]

Kanika called 911 after the incident and the police arrived 4 minutes later. They canvassed the area but found no trace of either of the men. Kanika thought that she was possibly the target of a scam. Differing reports claim that she either installed or planned to install a security system after this event. She reported the incident to the apartment complex and contacted the FBI, who confirmed that they had sent no agents to her apartment. She also vented to a friend on August 26th, who said that she seemed “messed up about the whole thing.”

On August 27th, 2008, another man came to her door. This is often erroneously reported as five days later than the first incident but would actually seem to be four days, since the first man came to her door on August 23rd. This man also addressed her by full name but this time claimed to be delivering a package. She refused to open the door again, and he walked away, claiming to be retrieving the package. He never came back to the door and left no package and no note.

It seems that there was another incident the next day on August 28th, which may be where the errors come in about the timeline. Another man knocked on the door, claiming to be delivering a package for her. He came by at 7:30 in the morning and again, used her full name. Frightened, Kanika not only did not open the door for him but called her mom. She wanted to know who delivered packages so early in the morning. The police were called again but did not find the man.

Kanika was leaving the next day for a work trip and needed to run errands. She didn’t want to wait until dark to do them, so she decided it would be safer to go out in broad daylight. She left her apartment for a few hours and arrived back home a little before noon. A man was waiting in the hallway. She was shot several times in the torso with a handgun. The police received a call at 11:50 am and she was rushed to the hospital. Kanika never regained consciousness and died the next day, August 29th. (...tbc)

by Anonymousreply 35January 10, 2022 12:53 AM

Kanika’s murder baffled the police. Her wallet and keys were found beside her body, which effectively ruled out robbery. She had no significant enemies, nor did she have a history of risky behavior. They claimed that they did not believe her job was a significant factor in her murder.

Kanika worked at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as a lab worker. This laboratory, called APL, solves “complex research, engineering, and analytical problems that present critical challenges to our nation”, as per their website. This job required top-level security clearance and Powell was often elusive about its specifics to her family and friends. Kanika signed her email with this description of her job, “Special Security, 13-S448 JHU/APL.

Thoughts? The part where she says she heard a second man's voice telling the man at the door to walk in the opposite directions gives me the heebies.

by Anonymousreply 1May 15, 2021 1:45 PM

Damn. She did everything I would have done....and it did no good....

by Anonymousreply 2May 15, 2021 1:50 PM

Creepy story OP, thanks. Could it just be a crazy stalker who figured she could ID him and killed her?

Could the second voice she heard be a random bystander that didn’t like the looks of him and said, “walk the other direction.” Like a slight threat?

Do we have a picture of her?

by Anonymousreply 3May 15, 2021 1:52 PM

If her work might’ve been a motive, it seems there’d be more involvement from the FBI...but who knows, feds have been known to be wildly incompetent.

by Anonymousreply 4May 15, 2021 1:54 PM

Sad, scary. I say mentally unstable stalker. They can do so much in the small amount of time between when their victims contact authorities and how long they take to show up.

by Anonymousreply 5May 15, 2021 1:54 PM

That's so true R2, and makes it even sadder and creepier. Sounds like she had her head screwed on right.

Oh, R3, that's an interesting thought. I assumed the second voice was involved (and maybe he was the guy who turned up with a package the next time, as she would recognise the first guy), but your theory is very credible. A neighbour in one of the other apartments, being like: "don't you come over here (onto my property), go the other way!" I like this theory!

by Anonymousreply 6May 15, 2021 1:55 PM

Oh, Crime Junkie have also done a piece on Kanika, and there's pictures of her here:

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 7May 15, 2021 1:56 PM

There was a serial killer in the area at that time, Jason Thomas Scott, who was a part-time UPS worker. A lot of people think she was likely one of his victims.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 8May 15, 2021 2:05 PM

Tragic and interesting!

by Anonymousreply 9May 15, 2021 2:47 PM

The Jason Scott theory is a good option.

The idea she was killed for her work seems unlikely. Plausible but unlikely. So then why was she targeted by this person(s)?

by Anonymousreply 10May 15, 2021 3:04 PM

Jesus christ . I had never heard of this poor woman and when reading the OP thought 'mental illness and she disappeared and died' and then when it said she was shot it blew my mind. Absolutely tragic, that poor woman.

by Anonymousreply 11May 15, 2021 3:43 PM

This Reddit thread has a lot of info, and a ton of links. The general consensus is that she was killed because of her job.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 12May 15, 2021 4:17 PM

Disgruntled coworker? Did they know too much about govt secrets?

by Anonymousreply 13May 15, 2021 4:27 PM

Creepy story. We’re never safe.

by Anonymousreply 14May 15, 2021 10:22 PM

[quote]part-time UPS worker

Oh, I hadn't heard of this before! Interesting!

by Anonymousreply 15May 15, 2021 10:25 PM

If you read the story one of her coworkers (male) was shot to death in a similar way.

by Anonymousreply 16May 16, 2021 4:44 AM

I don't think he was a coworker, from what I read, but someone who lived in the same area in a similar job.

by Anonymousreply 17May 16, 2021 6:28 AM

She was a beautiful woman, from those pictures. Not that it matters what someone looks like, but I just note that she was beautiful.

It says in the information about Jason Thomas Scott, that he sometimes worked with others in his criminal life, which could fit in with the two (or three?) men that visited Powell before her death. It seems pretty clear that the man impersonating the FBI wasn't the same guy as the man claiming to be delivering a package, or she would've mentioned that surely.

Plus, did the voice she heard on the first occasion belong to an accomplice, or as suggested above, an innocent bystander?

Sean Green worked for the National Counterterrorism Center and lived in the same county as Powell. I can't find any information so far that they knew each other, but it would be interesting if they did!

by Anonymousreply 18May 16, 2021 9:37 AM

Someone is too invested in Jacob Thomas Scott. US gave a green light to domestic assassinations as part of the PATRIOT Act. The fact is, we can never be sure our own govenment isn't killing us. Not that we ever could, really.

by Anonymousreply 19May 17, 2021 12:20 PM

Holy crap that's really scary

by Anonymousreply 20May 17, 2021 12:22 PM

The bizarre case of Cindy James is a head scratcher.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 21July 20, 2021 3:28 AM

Ugh! I posted to the WRONG thread.

by Anonymousreply 22July 20, 2021 3:31 AM

EST ALERT 🚨

by Anonymousreply 23July 20, 2021 3:31 AM

The conspiracy tilted mind would assume it had to do with her job. The reality is that if her job was so clandestine that she was potentially a target, she wouldn't have been calling 911, the local police, or her mom once she sensed she was in danger. She'd be discussing it with her bosses and taking preventative measures, possibly leaving for a while.

The serial killer thing sounds more likely (although i havent looked into his victim profile to see if she fits)

by Anonymousreply 24July 20, 2021 6:09 AM

R24 he was an African American male in his twenties, who had targeted single black women. He worked for a delivery service and had access to many names and addresses.

by Anonymousreply 25July 20, 2021 6:15 AM

Such a spooky case. "I also heard a voice tell him to walk in the opposite direction." Brr!

It could definitely have been someone not connected, as pointed out above, but the fact that more than one man visited her has me wondering...

by Anonymousreply 26July 20, 2021 11:43 AM

R21 Wow! Fascinating (unrelated) case, thanks.

by Anonymousreply 27July 20, 2021 11:46 AM

Might she have made a deal with China, Russia etc to sell classified info and then tried to back out?

by Anonymousreply 28July 20, 2021 1:40 PM

What did the men look like who came to her door? They showed up three times. The first claimed to be FBI and the second dude said he was a delivery man, who went to her apartment twice. She gave a description to the police. Where is it?? Were they white, black, brown?? Tall, short, fat, skinny…..?! It is strange that the description she gave is not public. At least not that I know of.

by Anonymousreply 29July 20, 2021 9:00 PM

I can't work out if the second and third visits were from the same man or not? Did THREE different men come to her house?

by Anonymousreply 30January 9, 2022 6:08 AM

R12, Thanks for the link. Here's one of the best analysis on that thread, If I had to guess...

A) Her job is unimportant in relation to solving the case. Since we don’t know for sure what she actually did for work (classified), just from observing that she worked in a physics lab, I find it extremely unlikely that she worked for something that could require her death for. No one is assassinating NASA engineers or nuclear physicians in the United States right now, and their jobs are highly classified. Same goes for things like the DoD, CIA or NSA.

Chances are, a breach of confidentiality would likely result in a massive, life crippling fine. This is pretty standard amongst multiple different industries (video games being a prime example) and would be a reason she didn’t talk about her job.

Her job position seems incredibly mundane and low level to have been a target warranting elimination over.

B) The multiple appearances by the suspect. This behaviour immediately leads me to believe that it was someone trying to enter her apartment. There’s a couple reasons why i believe this to be the case.

Through deception, he’s trying to enter from the front door of her apartment. If this was a burglary attempt, it is far more likely the suspect attempts to enter when she is not home. Because he comes during a time when he knows / figures she would be home. We can safely assume he is trying to get in while she is inside. He’s not worried about her seeing his face because his plan is already either lethal or at the very least, rather insidious. (I.e he’s going to cause harm)

He talks to Kanika. To me this is definitive proof that it isn’t a professional hit. A professional hit man would have no reason to discuss anything with her. He also would have no reason to get into her home. If the hit man were to gain entry into her home, it would leave him exceptionally vulnerable and is a risk a hitman would (in my opinion anyway) never take. There’s no way for a professional hit man to know if Kanika wouldnt get armed and shoot him through the door in self defense/ paranoia.

by Anonymousreply 31January 9, 2022 9:01 PM

Continued from my previous post, A professional hitman would do it as clean as possible and likely have no personal attachment whatsoever. The murder of Green is actually far more likely done by an actual professional. There’s an escape route (for the hitman), Green has no chance of escape and there is no time wasted and the kill is easily confirmed. Kanikas is none of these things. It’s far more likely a pro would have shot her in the parking lot at work for instance.

So what do I think happened?

I believe she was targeted intentionally by a man who knew she lived alone. This man attempted to gain entry intentionally when she was at home. The reasons for doing this when she was at home were to have her personally isolated and to achieve some sort of cover in her personal space. This leads me to believe the prime motive for her being targeted was because she was a single female who lived alone, and that was the primary driving factor here for her being a target.

Now if this is because of a sexual element or a financial element, we won’t know until they capture him. We also won’t know if it was a more personal reason (jilted lover or if it was a stalker with obsession) until the suspect is caught as well.

Given the personal motivations of the suspect, I find it extremely hard to believe this was a job related murder. It’s far more likely in my opinion, that the intention here from the start was likely burglary / terror and possibly intended rape. Him having terrible excuses to gain entry and also not wearing a mask (and possibly having an accomplice as well, which I believe may not actually be the case but who knows) leads me to believe the suspect was planning on killing her after he either ransacked her apartment, raped her, or both.

I believe that her being shot in the hallway was simply an impulsive reaction on behalf of the suspect. If we put ourselves in Kanikas shoes for a moment, when she walks up the stairs and sees him standing there, what does she do? Does he shoot her before she sees him?

If that was the case, why didn’t he attempt to shoot her through the door earlier on any of the previous attempts?

To me it seems likely her and the killer were arriving at the same time (he was once again heading to her door to attempt entry), yet they ran into each other in the hallway. Kanika might have recognized him immediately, something the suspect realizes, abandons what he originally planned to do and simply kills her in the hallway instead so he won’t be found out.

I don’t think he was waiting for her in the hallway, In fact I think that was extremely unlikely. Anyone could have came up those stairs or entered the hallway at that moment and then he would miss his chance. A hit man would know this and would never take the risk. But someone acting on impulse? That seems far more likely.

My 2 cents

by Anonymousreply 32January 9, 2022 9:01 PM

I think you’re right @R32

by Anonymousreply 33January 9, 2022 10:55 PM

R33, Thanks. Read all of the comments and analysis on the previously linked Reddit thread. Sad that the killer has gotten away with it and there's no real resolution for the family.

by Anonymousreply 34January 10, 2022 12:13 AM

She was very attractive - it’s possible she had a stalker and perhaps was not aware.

by Anonymousreply 35January 10, 2022 12:53 AM
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