Kill, Keys, Money, Jewelry
The Holly Harvey and |
In the un-humbled opinion of one, Poetic Justice...
On Thursday, April 14, 2005, Holly Harvey pleaded guilty to two counts
of malice murder and was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.
She will be eligible for parole in 20 years. Sandy Ketchum was sentenced
to three life terms for murder and armed robbery, to be served concurrently.
She could be eligible for parole in 10 years.
Holly Ann Harvey had occasionally stayed
with her grandparents, but in April 2004 she moved into their suburban Atlanta
home full-time. Holly's mother, Carla Harvey, was sent to prison on a drug
conviction that month and the 15-year-old was to be raised by her grandparents,
73-year-old Sarah Collier, and 74-year-old Carl Collier.
Carl and Sarah
Collier
Outwardly everything seemed normal,
but apparently Holly, who'd been using drugs and having difficulties at school,
was suffering miserably inside her grandparent's house. At the center of
Holly's troubles was her 16-year-old lesbian lover, Sandra
Ketchum.
In a poem, Holly describes how depressed she'd been and how she constantly
cried herself to sleep because the Colliers had ordered her to stop seeing
Sandy Ketchum and insisted she stop using drugs. Holly's poem also contained
the words, "All I want to do is kill."
Despite her grandparent's rules, on Wednesday, August 2, 2004, Holly snuck
Sandy into the house so they could spend the night together in Holly's make-shift
basement bedroom.
The following day, when the girls were arrested for the murder and armed
robbery of Carl and Sarah Collier, police officers found a quickly written
"to do" list scrawled on Holly's arm. It read:
kill, keys, money, jewelry.
Sandra Ketchum and
Holly Harvey
Kill
Holly and Sandy were huddled in
the Collier's basement smoking marijuana laced with cocaine. They were quietly
discussing the murder of Holly's grandparents -- when they heard them
approaching. Ketchum quickly hid herself behind a bed.
Alerted by the smell of the drugs, the elderly couple made their way down
the stairs to investigate. When the Colliers confronted Holly, she suddenly
pulled out a knife and began repeatedly stabbing her grandmother in the chest.
Carl moved in to protect his wife. Overcome, Holly yelled out for her
girlfriend's help. Sandy emerged from her hiding place wielding a knife and
joined Holly in stabbing Sarah Collier to death. Carl tried to get to a phone
but the girls chased him down, finally killing him in the kitchen.
Carl Collier had at least a dozen stab wounds. Sarah Collier suffered over
20 wounds.
Keys
After executing Sarah and Carl Collier, the teenagers executed the rest of
their plan. Drenched in blood, they located the dead couple's car keys, stole
their truck and drove into the darkness. Holly and Sandy had decided to escape
to the Georgia coast, stopping first at a friend's house to change clothes
and shower.
The plan worked. Fayette County authorities tracked the killers through the
night as they excitedly called friends from a cell phone. Sheriff Randall
Johnson remarked, "I’ve never seen it more cruel than this
one."
Harvey
Money
Why Holly Harvey desired, designed and carried out the brutal slaying of
her own grandparents is a question that will never have an answer. No level
of drug abuse or fit of rage could account for it.
Basically, it appears the two teenagers killed for money.
Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department offered
reporters his opinion. He said Holly was emotionally distraught by the forced
separation from her lover. Jordan commented, "She wished for everyone
to suffer the way she suffered." Sandy Ketchum's reason for going along
with Harvey's demented violence is also unclear. "I believe the evidence
at trial will be that the motive was to gain freedom and be able to stay
together forever," Jordan said.
Why the murders happened will likely remain a mystery, but exactly WHAT happened
is frighteningly clear.
Ketchum
Jewelry
On August 3, Holly and Sandy
were located on Tybee Island. 25 police officers descended on the
area. When the lovers were arrested, they were at the home of two brothers
they'd just met. Holly had told the boys she needed cash and wanted to sell
off some jewelry. The jewels of course were Mrs. Collier's, stolen by Holly
and Sandy after the killings.
Bruce Jordan told reporters Holly laughed at the amount of police attention
garnered by her double-murder. "She was callous and cocky. She is the
coldest and most heartless individual I've ever interviewed. It almost made
her giddy to know we had brought that many people to arrest her," Jordan
said.
Nearly 1,000 mourners gathered for the Collier's funeral. The community was
shocked and disturbed by the senseless slaughter and the case quickly surfaced
in the national press.
Defense lawyers for the teenagers argued before Superior Court Judge Paschal
English that bad publicity generated by graphic police reports have prevented
them from getting a fair trial.
Harvey and
Ketchum
Holly Harvey and Sandra Ketchum
are charged -- as adults -- with armed robbery, plus two counts of felony
murder and two counts of malice murder for the deaths of Carl and Sarah Collier.
Unless a plea bargain is reached, they face a maximum sentence of life in
prison without parole.
Holly’s attorney, Judy Chidester, said the two will be tried
seperately because Sandy has given statements to authorities that may be
damaging to her client’s case. Sandy's attorney, Lloyd Walker
blames the system. "The evidence shows that a lot of people have failed Sandy,"
Walker said. "Up until now, everybody, including the state, has failed this
child."
When asked about the bizarre "to-do list," the three bloody knives, and the
bloodstained clothes police found when the teens were arrested, Walker admitted:
"They have a very strong case."
The trials have been scheduled for late March but likely won't begin until
Spring of 2005.
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| And Poetic Justice For All |
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