Jennifer Whipkey was murdered on May 26, 2002. That day, a paperboy found Jennifer's body in underbrush across the street from a motel. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted, and stabbed and slashed 63 times in the throat, head, chest, abdomen, back, and legs. Her shoes were on the wrong feet. Police were able to trace Jennifer's movements the night prior. She had been out with friends at the Adelphia Restaurant. However, after midnight, police could not determine what she may have done next. Jennifer left her husband Adam less than a year before her murder. The couple shared a 4-year-old daughter, and Jennifer still visited Adam weekly, usually bringing their daughter with her. The child was released into Adam's custody after Jennifer's body was found. Police had no suspects. A year later, homicide detectives were still stumped, though they had DNA evidence they thought may have come from Jennifer's killer. Up to that point, they were only able to use the DNA to rule out possible suspects, including Adam, and a man Jennifer was known to be dating. But one other piece of evidence emerged: Jennifer was with a "male friend" at the Adelphia Restaurant the night before she was found dead. They had been seen arguing, then the man left in a huff. After that, Jennifer danced and talked with other men at the bar. She was last seen in the restaurant's parking lot around 3am, standing with a group of five or six men. The Citizens Crime Commission offered a $15,000 reward for information, but no one came forward. It would take six years before police arrested a man named Brian Mertz for Jennifer's murder. Authorities had reportedly been investigating him since 2006. DNA evidence obtained from Mertz matched DNA found on Jennifer's body, and police were able to definitively link the sexual assault and stabbing to him. Mertz was living about 55 yards away from where Jennifer's body had been found. He was held on $750,000 bail. When the case went to trial in September 2012, forensic pathologist Paul Hoyer testified that Jennifer appeared to have been attacked somewhere other than where she was found, then brought to the wooded area. She was wearing a burgundy sleeveless blouse inside out, blue jeans, a black bra whose strap was not in position, socks, and ankle-high boots on the wrong feet. “The holes in her clothing corresponded to the cut wounds in the body,” Hoyer stated, “meaning that the clothing was worn as it was when she was assaulted.” Hoyer also noted that Jennifer's left carotid artery had been cut in three places. Jennifer had sustained a combination of cut wounds, bruises and scrapes to areas including the head, chest, abdomen, arms, back and thighs. Among them were 41 stab wounds, 22 slash wounds, seven scrapes and 14 bruises. A number of bruises and superficial cuts to the arms, hands and upper chest suggested a struggle. In October 2012, Brian Mertz was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Under the No Early Release Act, he is required to serve 85% of his prison term before he’s eligible for parole. Jennifer was 22 years old. #grave #cemetery #mausoleum #graves #cemeteries #cemeterylovers #cemeterywandering #cemeterybeauty #cemetery_shots #cemetery_nation #cemeteryexplorer #cemeteryexplorers #famous #famouspeople #famousgraves #famousgrave #graveyard #gravephotographer #gravestone #gravestones #taphophile #taphophilia #celebritygraves #murder #murdervictim #murdervictims #murdervictimsawareness #unsolved #unsolvedcases #unsolvedcasefiles #unsolvedcrime #unsolvedcrimes #truecrimetiktok #truecrime #truecrimecommunity #truecrimetok - @famousgraveco