In the late summer of 2012, 62-year-old Katherine "Kathy" Paquin, a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, vanished. She was last seen at her home near Eubank and Indian School on August 15, 2012, and from that day forward, no one in her life would hear from her again. Katherine, who lived a relatively quiet life and was known to have some mental health challenges, had neighbors who would soon become the central figures in the investigation into her disappearance.
The initial concerns for her welfare grew into a full-fledged investigation when financial irregularities began to surface, painting a grim picture of her fate.
Shortly after Katherine was last seen, a significant amount of money began to disappear from her bank accounts. Her neighbors, Christopher and Brittany Blattner, were soon identified as having withdrawn approximately $63,000 using her ATM card. The couple used these funds to purchase various items, including computers, jewelry, clothing, and two motorcycles. This financial activity led to fraud and forgery charges against both Christopher and Brittany. The investigation took a more sinister turn when, according to court documents, Christopher confessed to his wife, Brittany, that he had murdered Katherine, dismembered her body, and disposed of her remains. This disturbing admission shifted the focus of the case from a missing person with financial exploitation to a homicide investigation.
The legal proceedings that followed revealed a series of systemic failures and a history of criminal behavior. Christopher Blattner had been released from prison on parole just a few months before Katherine's disappearance due to a miscalculation of his sentence; he should have remained incarcerated until September 2015. In 2014, Christopher Blattner pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Katherine Paquin's case. As part of a plea agreement, he also pleaded guilty to the 2007 second-degree murder of another individual and aggravated assault on a police officer from a separate incident. This agreement resulted in a 28-year prison sentence for Blattner, and the fraud and forgery charges against both him and his wife were dropped. Despite the plea deal requiring him to reveal the location of Katherine's body, he has never done so, and her remains have never been found. The case of Katherine Paquin is a tragic story of a vulnerable woman who was preyed upon by her neighbor, a violent criminal who was free due to a clerical error. The investigation uncovered a cold-blooded crime motivated by financial greed, and while a conviction was secured, the failure to recover her remains has left her family without the closure of a proper burial.Last Seen: Aug 15, 2012
