Kriti Mehrotra
It was on August 19, 1975, when the entire world turned upside down for three young girls in Indianapolis, Indiana, only for them to then have to live with trauma for the rest of their lives. That’s because, as explored in ID’s ‘People Magazine Investigates: The Indiana Slasher,’ all three of them were horrifically brutalized by a single man upon deciding to hitchhike. However, arguably the worst part of it all is that despite their as well as the authorities’ unwavering efforts over almost five decades, it wasn’t until 2024 that they finally got some answers and closure.
Kathie Rottler, Sheri Rottler Trick, and Kandice Smith Were in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time
With summer vacation almost coming to an end, the only thing 14-year-old Kathie admittedly cared about was making the most of her free time before school started all over again. Therefore, when a family friend offered to teach her how to play pool at a local teen hangout known as The Barn on the evening of August 19, she readily agreed and even got permission from her parents. The only stipulation her father put forth was that she had to let her younger sister, 11-year-old Sheri, tag along, so she made it a group outing by inviting her friend, 13-year-old Kandice Smith, too.
According to Kathie’s own accounts, the trio left her home not long after sunset on that fateful evening before stopping at a gas station to buy cigarettes since they believed smoking to be cool. It was then that she had the idea of hitching to The Barn even though it was less than a mile away – a 15-minute walk – asserting it would be okay because she had done it before. Neither Sheri nor Kandice really wanted to do this owing to safety concerns, but the eldest pursued them to give it a try, only to manage to flag down a light-colored station wagon almost immediately.
Little did Kathie know this driver would essentially turn out to be the trio’s worst nightmare, and it started with him having all of them sit right beside him in the front passenger seat. As per their narrative, they didn’t realize this was strange until he missed the turns they had pointed him to take before speeding up to take them far, far away from their original destination. Their panic was ignored by him, so they tried to open the door or window to maybe jump out of the moving vehicle, yet they never stood a chance since the paneling on the door had been completely removed.
Kathie Rottler, Sheri Rottler Trick, and Kandice Smith Remember Every Aspect of the Cruelty They Endured To This Day
According to records, the strange as well as elderly clean-shaven man with short, wavy, reddish-brown hair that was streaked gray and curled at the ends drove east for at least 5 miles. He actually left Indianapolis for rural Hancock County before stopping near a cornfield just past County Road 700 West and getting out to ensure they were all alone for what he was about to do. He opened the passenger door from the outside, bound Kathie, Sheri, as well as Kandice’s hands with a rope, and asked them their names as well as ages, all the while brandishing around a gun.
Little did the trio know this stranger’s intentions were much worse than any of them could have ever imagined because the very first thing he did was tell 11-year-old Sheri she was first. As per reports, he led her in front of the car, tore her shirt, lifted her on the hood, ensured it was her first time, and raped her in front of the older two girls before returning without her. All throughout this, Kathie and Kandice were also trying to figure out ways to defend themselves, but to no avail – the stranger physically attacked the 13-year-old next, and then finally came for the eldest.
However, this time around, he had a knife in his hand, and he led Kathie to the back of his vehicle before making her stop at the rear tire and have her sit cross-legged on the ground. He stabbed her in the neck five times before walking away to stab Kandice all over again and doing the same with Sheri, that is, until he was sure all three of them were dead. However, it turned out that both Kathie and Kandice pretended to be dead, whereas Sheri couldn’t escape his torture since he pressed her chest to check for a heartbeat. Whenever he saw her regaining consciousness or felt her heart, he stabbed her in the chest, again and again and again. While she had 17 stab wounds on her upper chest alone, with others scattered around, Kathie and Jandice were stabbed over five times.
Kathie Rottler, Sheri Rottler Trick, and Kandice Smith Were Left Traumatized in More Ways than One
With Kathie and Kandice only having pretended to be dead, they were able to stand up once the stranger fled the scene and decided they needed to find help and fast. However, owing to the blood loss, the 13-year-old soon started hallucinating things like a lit-up drive-in movie theater, all the while stumbling to the road hand in hand with Kathie. Thankfully, a car passing by stopped after noticing the state they were in and quickly rushed them to a nearby motel, where they used the phone to dial emergency services. All this time, Kathie was burning the details of what they had endured in her mind, and Kandice was simply fighting to stay alive.
Thanks to the authorities’ immediate response, quick medical intervention, Kathie’s statements, and an extensive search for Sheri – who was found four rows into the cornfield – all three girls survived. It was at the Community Hospital East in Indianapolis where they were treated, unaware that returning to their ordinary lives would then be impossible no matter how hard they tried. Not only did the events of the fateful night leave physical, mental, and emotional scars on them all, but they were then also subjected to countless police interviews and public opinions.
While the girls understood the police involved and were actually willing participants since they wanted their perpetrator to face justice, they never asked for what came alongside it. In fact, according to their accounts, while a teacher essentially placed the blame of what transpired on Sheri by stating she shouldn’t have hitchhiked, Kathie and Kandice were subjected to peer bullying over their scars. Therefore, sadly, it’s no surprise that Kathie, who had to relearn to talk owing to her injuries, dropped out of school and had to earn her GED separately. Kandice was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as well as depression, and Sheri developed anxiety and flashback attacks.
Kathie Rottler, Sheri Rottler Trick, and Kandice Smith Now Lead Quiet Lives
Despite everything Kathie, Sheri, and Kandice endured, they wanted to see their assailant face justice and know for sure he couldn’t harm any other girl in the way he did them. However, officials only came across one dead end after another, even when they believed they had potential leads, resulting in the case growing cold. It was in 1990 that this case was revisited once again by a cold case specialist, but even this led nowhere. It was only in 2018 that Kathie’s efforts to find some answers led her to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s cold case unit, which agreed to look over their case.
It turns out there was a lot of physical evidence available in this case – 54 items to be exact – but it was locked in a vault at the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office. Because the re-investigation was official, detectives were thankfully able to access all of this, including blood spots, rope, a knife, a Marlboro cigarette butt, the girls’ clothes, and samples taken from Sheri during a medical examination, and send them for DNA testing. But alas, it wasn’t until 2023 that this analysis produced a sure result, and the case was closed for good in early 2024 after the girls were told the truth. Their assailant was Thomas Edward Williams, who had died at the age of 49 in Texas on November 13, 1983. He used to live 4 miles from the Rottler’s house in 1975.
By this point, although Kathie was 64, Kandice was 63, and Sheri was 60, this news brought them some much-needed closure. The women had lived their lives to the best of their abilities and even built families of their own, but this part of their past had continued haunting them. Sheri had admittedly forgiven the perpetrator, named the Indiana Slasher by the media, for her own sake decades prior, yet this definitely helped her close the chapter for good. Coming to Kathie, Kandice, and Sheri’s standing, unfortunately, we don’t know much regarding their recent experiences since they have preferred to stay away from the limelight, yet we do know they all are still in close contact and seem to be based in Indiana.
Read More: Najah Ferrell and Angie Barlow: What Happened to Indianapolis Women?
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